The Company Rule (1773- 1858)- Part IV : Charter Act (1853)

The Company Rule (1773- 1858) - Part IV

Charter Act of 1853:

This was the last of the series of Charter Acts passed by the British Parliament between 1793 to 1853. It was a significant constitutional landmark.

Features of Act:

• It separated, for the first time, the legislative and executive functions of the Council of Governor-General. It provided for the addition of six (6) new members called legislative councilors to the council.

• It established a separate legislative council of Governor-General, which came to be known as the Indian (Central) Legislative Council. This legislative wing of the council functioned as a 'Mini Parliament' adopting the same procedures as the British Parliament. Thus, legislation for the first time was treated as a special function of the government, requiring special machinery and special process.

• It introduced an open competition system of selection and recruitment of civil servants. The covenanted civil service was thus thrown open to Indians also. According to Macaulay Committee (the Committee on the Indian Civil Servants) was appointed in 1854.

• It extended the Company's rule and allowed it to retain the possession of Indian territories on trust for the British Crown. But, it did not specify any particular period, unlike the previous Charters. This was a clear indication that the Company's rule could be terminated at any time the Parliament liked.

• It introduced, for the first time, local representation in the Indian (Central) Legislative Council. Of the six (6) new legislative members of the council of Governor-General, four (4) were appointed by the local (provincial) governments of Madras, Bombay, Bengal, and Agra.

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The Company Rule (1773- 1858)- Part III : Charter Act (1833)

The Company Rule (1773- 1858) - Part III

Charter Act of 1833:

This act was the final step towards centralization in British India.

Features of Act:

• It made the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor-General of India and vested in him all civil and military powers. Thus, the act created, for the first time, a Government of India having authority over the entire territorial area possessed by the British in India. Lord William Bentick was the first governor-general of India.

• It deprived the governor of Bombay and Madra of their legislative powers. The Governor-General of India was given exclusive legislative powers for entire British India. The laws made under the previous acts were called as Regulations while laws made under this act were called ac Acts.

• It ended the activities of the East India Company (EIC) as a commercial body, which became purely as an administrative body. It provided that the company's territories in India were held by it "in trust for His Majesty, His heirs, and successors".

• The Charter Act of 1833 attempted to introduce a system of open competition for the selection of civil servants and stated that the Indians should not be debarred from holding any place, office, and employment under the Company. However, this provision was negated after opposition from the Court of Directors. 

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The Company Rule (1773- 1858)- Part II : Pitt's India Act (1784)

The Company Rule (1773- 1858) - Part II

Pitt's India Act of 1784:

In a bid to rectify the defects of the Regulating Act of 1773, the British Parliament passed the Amending Act of 1784, also known as the Act of Settlement. The next important act was the Pitt's India Act of 1784.

Features of the Act:

• It is distinguished between the commercial and political functions of the Company.

• It allowed the Court of Directors to manage the commercial affairs but created a new body called the Board of Control to manage the political affairs. Thus, it established a system of double government.

• It empowered the Board of Control to supervise and direct all operations of the civil and military government or revenues of the British possessions in India.

Thus, the act was significant for two (2) reasons:

• The Company's territories in India were for the first time called the 'British possessions in India'.

• The British Government was given supreme control over Company's affairs and its administration in India.

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The Company Rule (1773- 1858)- Part I : Regulating Act (1773)

The Company Rule (1773- 1858) - Part I

Regulating Act of 1773:

This act is of great constitutional importance as:

• It was the first step taken by the British Government to control and regulate the affairs of the East India Company (EIC) in India.

• It recognized, for the first time, the political and administrative functions of the Company.

• It laid the foundations of central administrations in India.

Features of the Act:

• It is designated the Governor of Bengal as the 'Governor-General of Bengal' and created an Executive Council of four (4) members to assist him. The first such Governor-General was Lord Warren Hastings.

• It made the governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies subordinate to the governor-general of Bengal, unlike earlier when the three (3) presidencies were independent of one another.

• It provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774) comprising one chief justice and three (3) other judges.

• It prohibited the servants of the Company from engaging in any private trade or accepting presents or brines from the natives.

• It strengthened the control of the British Government over the Company by requiring the Court of Directors (the governing body of the Company) to report on its revenue, civil, and military affairs in India. 

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The Crown Rule (1858- 1947) - Part IV : Morley-Minto Reforms (1909)

The Crown Rule (1858- 1947) - Part IV

Morley- Minto Reforms (1909): 

The Indian Council Act (1909) also known as Morley-Mito Reforms (Lord Morley was the then Secretary of State for India and Lord Minto was the then Viceroy of India).

Features of the Act:

• It considerably increased the size of the legislative councils of both Central and provincial. The number of members in the Central legislative council was raised from sixteen (16) to sixty (60). The number of members in the provincials was not uniform.

• It retained the official majority in the Central legislative council but allowed the provincial legislative council to have the non-official majority.

• It enlarged the deliberative functions of the legislative councils at both levels. For example, members were allowed to ask supplementary questions, move resolutions on the budget, and so on.

• It provided for the first time for the association of Indians with the executive councils of the viceroy and Governors, Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the first Indian to join the Viceroy's Executive Council. He was appointed as a law member.

• It introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the concept of a 'separate electorate'. Under this, the Muslim members were to be elected by the Muslim voters. Thus, the Act 'legalized communalism' and Lord Minto came to be known as the 'Father of Communal Electorate'.

• It also provided for the separate representation of presidential corporations, chambers of commerce, universities, and zamindars. 

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The Crown Rule (1858- 1947) - Part III : Indian Council Act (1892)

The Crown Rule (1858- 1947) - Part III

Indian Council Act (1892): 

Features of the Act:

• It increased the number of additional (non-official) members in the Central and provincial legislative councils but maintained the official majority in them.

• It increased the functions of legislative councils and gave them the power of discussing the budget and addressing questions to the executive.

It provided for the nomination of some non-official members of the;

• Central Legislative Council by the viceroy on the recommendations of the provincial legislative councils the Bengal Chamber of Commerce; and

• Provincial legislative councils by the Governors on the recommendations of the district boards, municipalities, universities, trade associations, zamindars, and chmabers.

The act made a limited and indirect provision for the use of election in filing up some of the non-official seats both in the Central and provincial legislative councils.

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The Crown Rule (1858- 1947) - Part II : Indian Council Act (1861)

The Crown Rule (1858- 1947) - Part II

Indian Council Act: 

After the great revolt of 1857, the British Government felt the necessity of seeking the cooperation of the Indians in the administration of their country. In pursuance of this policy of association, three acts were enacted by the British Parliament in 1861, 1892, and 1909.

The Indian Councils Act of 1861 is an important landmark in the constitutional and political history of India.

Features of the Act of 1861:

• It made a beginning of representative institutions by associating Indians with the law-making process. It thus provided that the viceroy should nominate some Indians as non-official members of his expanded council. In 1862, Lord Canning, the then viceroy, nominated three (3) Indians to his legislative council- the Raja of Benaras, the Maharaj of Patiala, and Sir Dinkar Rao.

• It initiated the process of decentralization by restoring the legislative powers to the Bombay and Madra Presidencies. It thus reversed the centralizing tendency that started from the Regulating Act of 1773 and reached its climax under the Charter Act of 1833. This policy of legislative devolution resulted in the grant of almost complete internal autonomy to the provinces in 1937.

• It also provided for the establishment of new legislative councils for Bengal (established in 1862), North-Western Frontier Province, NWFP (established in 1866), and Punjab(established in 1897).

• It empowered the Viceroy to make rules and orders for the more convenient transactions of the business in the council. It also gave recognition to the 'portfolio' system, introduced by Lord Canning in 1859. Under this, a member of the council of Viceroy was made in charge of one or more departments of the government and was authorized to issue final orders on behalf of the council on matters of his department(s).

• It empowered the Viceroy to issue ordinances, without the concurrence of the legislative council, during an emergency. The life of such an ordinance was six (6) months.

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