Historical Background - Acts

8/12/2019 Historical Background - Acts

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H I S T O R I C A L B CKGROUND


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m e n d ~Act of 1781, also known as the Act= ;..of Settlement he next important act was t e

Pitt s Inata ~ t of 1784.

Features of the Act1. t distinguished between the commercial

and political functions of the Company.2. t allowed the Court of Directors to man

age the commercial affairs but created anew body called Board of Control to manage the political affairs. Thus, it established a system of double government.

3. t empowered the Board of Control to supervise and direct all operations of thecivil and military government or revenuesof the British possessions in India.

Thus, the act was significant for tworeasons : first, the Company s territories in Indiawere for the first time called the Britishpossessions in India ; and second, the BritishGovernment was given the supreme control overCompany s affairs and its administration inIndia.

Charter Act of 833

This Act was the final step towardscentralisation in British India.

Features of the Act1. t made the Governor-General of Bengal

as the Governor-General of India andvested in him all civil and military powers. Thus, the act created, for the firsttime, a Government of India having authority over the entire territorial area possessed by the British in India . LordWilliam Bentick was the first governorgeneral of India.

2. t deprived the governor of Bombay andMadras of their legislative powers. TheGovernor-General of India was given exclusive legislative powers for the entireBritish India. The laws made under theprevious acts were called as Regulationswhile laws made under this act werecalled as Acts.

3. It ended the activities of the East India

Companyas

a commercial body, whichbecame a purely administrative body. t

provided that the company s territories inIndia were held by it in trust for HisMajesty, His heirs and successors .

4. The Charter Act of 1833 attempted to introduce a system of open competition forselection of civil servants, and stated th' rtthe Indians should not be debarred fromholding any place, office and employment

under the Company. However, this pro-. vision was negated after opposition fromthe Court of Directors.

Charter Act o 853

This was the last of the series of Charter Actspassed by the British Parl iament between 1793and 1853. t was a significant constitutionallandmark.

Features of the Act1. t separated, for the first time, the legis

lative and executive functions of the Gov

ernor-General s council. t provided foraddition of six new ~ e m e r scalled legislative councillors to the council. In otherwords, i t established a separate Governor-General s legislative council whichcame to be known :;ts the Indian (Central)Legislative Council. This legislative wingof the council functioned as a miniParliament, adopting the same proceduresas the British Parliament. Thus, legislation, for the first time, was treated as aspecial function of the government,requiring special machinery and specialprocess.

2. t introduced an open competition systemof selection and recruitment of civil servants. The covenanted .civil service 3 wasthus thrown open to the Indians also: Accordingly, the Macaulay Committee (theCommittee on the Indian Civil Service)was appointed in 1854.

3. It extended the Company s rule and allowed it to retain the possession of Indianterritories on trust for the British Crown.But, it did not specify any particular period,

unlike the previous Charters. This was aclear indication that the Company s rule


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could be terminated at any time the Parliament liked.

4. t introduced, for the first time, local representation in the Indian (Central) Legislative Council. Of the six new legislativemembers of the governor-general s council, four members were appointed by the

local (provincial) governments of Madras,Bombay, Bengal and Agra.

THE CROWN RULE

1858-1947)

Government of India Act of 1858

This significant Act was enacted in the wakeof the Revolt of 1857 also known as the FirstWar of Independence or the sepoy mutiny .The act known as the Act for the Good Gov-ernment o India abolished the East IndiaCompany, and transferred the powers of government, territories and revenues to the BritishCrown .

Features of the Act1 t provided that India henceforth was to

be governed by, and in the name of, HerMajesty. t changed the designation of theGovernor-General of India to that of Viceroy of India. He (viceroy) was the directrepresentative of the British Crown in India. Lord Canning thus became the firstViceroy of India.

2 t ended the system of double government by abolishing the Board of Controland Court of Directors.

3 t created a new offtce, Secretary of Statefor India, vested with complete authorityand control over Indian administration.The secretary of state was a member ofthe British cabinet and was responsibleultimately to the British Parliament.

4 . t established a 15-member Council ofIndia to assist the secretary of state forIndia . The council was an ,advisory body .

The secretary of state was made the chairman of the council.

5 t constituted the secretary of state-in.council as a body corporate , capable ofsuing and being sued in India and i nEngland.

The Act of 1858 was, however , largely confined to the improvement of the administrativemachinery by which the Indian Government

was to be supervised and controlled in England.t did not alter in any substantial way the sys

tem of government that prevailed in India 4 .

Indian Councils ct of 1861 1892and 1909

After the great revolt of 1857 , the British Govermnent felt the necessity of seeking the cooperation of the Indians in the administration oftheir country . In pursuance of this policy ofassociation, three acts were enacted by th e British Parliament in 1861, 1892 and 1909. The

Indian Councils Act of 1861 is an importantlandmark in the constitutional and political history of India.

Features of the Act of 18611 t made a beginning of representative in

stitutions by associating Indians with thelaw-making process. t thus provided thatthe viceroy should nominate some Indians as non-official members of his expanded council. In 1862, Lord Canning ,the then viceroy, nominated three Indians to his legislative council the Rajaof Benaras, the Maharaja of Patiala andSir Dirikar Rao .

2, t initiated the process of decentralisationby restoring the legislative powers to theBombay and Madras Presidencies. t thusreversed the centralising tendency thatstarted from the Regulating Act of 1773and reached its climax under the CharterAct of 1833. This policy of legislativedevolution resulted in the grant of almostcomplete internal autonomy to the provinces in 1937.

3 It also provided for the establishment ofnew legislative councils for Bengal,


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North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP)and Punjab, which were established in1862, 1866 and 1897 respec .tively.

4 t empowered the Viceroy to make rulesand orders for the more convenient transaction of business in the council. t alsogave a recognition to the 'portfolio' sys

tem, introduced by Lord Canning in 1859.Under this, a member of the Viceroy'scouncil was made in-charge of one ormore departments of the government andwas authorised to issue final orders on.behalf of the council on matters of hisdepartment( s).

5 t empowered the Viceroy to issueordinances, without the concurrence ofthe legislative council, during anemergency. The life of such an ordinancewas six months.

Features of the Act of 8921 t increased the number of additional

(non-official) members in the Central andprovincial legislative councils, but maintained the official majority in them.

2. t increased the functions of legislativecouncils and gave them the power of discussing the budget 5 and addressing questions to the executive.

3. t provided for the nomination of somenon-official members of the (a) CentralLegislative Council by the viceroy on therecommendation of the provincial legis

lative councils and the Bengal Chamberof Commerce, and (b) that of the Provincial legislative councils by the Governorson the recommendation of the districtboards , municipalities, universities , tradeassociations, zamindars and chambers.

The act made a limited and indirect provision for the use of election in filling up someof the non-official seats both in the Centraland provincial legislative councils . The wordelection was, however, not used in the act.

The process was described as nomination rnadeon the recommendation of certain bodies 6 .

Features of the Act of 19 9 ThisAct is also known as Morley-Minto Reforms (Lord Morley was the then Secretary of Statefor India and Lord Minto was the then Viceroyof India).

1 t considerably increased the size of thelegislative councils, both Central and pro

vincial. The number of members in theCentral Legislative Council was raisedfrom 16 to 60. The number of membersin the provincial legislative councils wasnot uniform

2. t retained official majority in the CentralLegislative Council but allowed the provincial legislative cOUJ;lcils to have nonofficial majority.

3 . t enlarged the deliberative functions ofthe legislative councils at both the levels.For example, members were allowed toask supplementary questions, move resolutions on the budget , and so on.

4 . t provided (for the first time) for the association of Indians with the executiveCouncils of the Viceroy and Governors.Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the firstIndian to join the Viceroy's ExecutiveCouncil. He was appointed as the lawmember .

5 t introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting theconcept of 'separate electorate'. Underthis, the Muslim members were to be

elected only by Muslim voters. Thus , theAct 'legalised communalism' and LordMinto came to be known as the Fathero Communal Electorate

6. t also provided for the separate representation of presidency corporations,chambers of commerce, universities andzamindars.

Government of India Act of 1919

On August 20, 1917, the British Governmentdeclared , for the first time , that its objective


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was the gradual introduction of responsiblegovernment in India 7 .

The Government of India Act of 1919 wasthus enacted, which came into force in 1921.This Act is also known as Montagu-ChelmsfordReforms (Montagu was the Secretary of State

for India and Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy oflndia .

Features of the ct1 t relaxed the central control over the

provinces by demarcating and separatingthe central and provincial subjects. Thecentral and provincial legislatures wereauthorised to make laws on their respective list of subjects. However, the structure of government continued to becentralised and unitary.

2 t filrther divide.d the provincial subjects

into two parts - transferred and reserved.The transferred subjects were to be administered by the governor with the aidof ministers responsible to the legislativeCouncil. The reserved subjects on theother hand, were to be administered bythe .governor and his executive councilwithout being responsible to the legislative Council. This dual scheme of governance was known as dyarchy - a termderived from the Greek word di archewhich means double rule. However, thisexperiment was largely unsuccessful.

3 t introduced, for the first time, bicameralism and direct elections in the country.Thus, the Indian Legislative Council wasreplaced by a bicameral legislature consisting of an Upper House (Council ofState) and a Lower House (LegislativeAssembly). The majority of members ofboth the Houses were chosen by directelection.

4. t required that the three of the six members of the Viceroy s executive Council(other than the commander-in-chief) were

to be Indian.5 t extended the principle of communal

representation by providing separate elec- .

torates for Sikhs , Indian Christians ,Anglo-Indians and Elrropeans .

6 t granted franchise to a limited numberof people on the basis of property , tax oreducation.

7 t created a new office of the High Com

missioner for India in London and transferred to him some of the functionshitherto perfonned by the Secretary ofState for India.

8 t provided for the establishment of a public service commission . Hence, a CentralPublic Service Commission was set up in1926 for recruiting civil servants 8.

9 t separated, for the first time, provincialu d ~ e t sfrom the Central budget and

authorised the provincial legislatures toenact their budgets.

10 t provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to inquire into and report on its working after ten years of itscoming into force.

Simon Commission In November 1927itself (i.e., 2 years before the schedule) , theBritish Government announced the appointmenta seven-member statutory commission underthe chairmanship of Sir John Simon to reporton the condition of India under its new Consti- tution. All the members of the commission wereBritish and hence, all the parties boycotted thecommission. The commission submitted its report in 1930 and recommended the abolitionof dyarchy, extension of responsible government in the provinces, establishment of a federation of British India and princely states ,continuation of communal electorate and so on.o consider the proposals of the commission,

the British Government convened three roundtable conferences of the representatives of theBritish Government, British India and Indianprincely states. On the basis of these discussions, a White Paper on Consitutional Reforms was prepared and submitted for theconsideration of the Joint Select Committee ofthe British Parliament. The recommendationsof this committee were incorporated (with


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certain changes) in the next Government ofInida Act of 1935.

Communal Award In August 1932,Ramsay MacDonald, the British Prime Minister, flnnounced a scheme of representation ofthe minorities, which came to be known as theCommunal Award. The award not only continued separate electorates for the Muslims SikhsIndian Christians, Anglo-Indians and u r o p e ~ans but also extended it to the depressed classes(scheduled castes). Gandhiji was distressed overthis extension of the principle of communalrepresentation to the depressed classes and undertook fast unto death in Yeravada Jail(Poona) to get the award modified. At last,there was an agreement between the leaders ofthe Congress and the depressed classes. Theagreement, known as Poona Pact, retained theHindu joint electorate and gave reserved seatsto

the depressed classes.GovernmentoflndiaActof 935The Act marked a second milestone towards acompletely responsible government in India. twas a lengthy and detailed document having321 Sections and 10 Schedules.

Features o the Act1 t provided for the establishment of an

All-India Federation consisting of provinces and princely states as units . TheAct divided the powers between the Cen

tre and units in terms of three l ists-Federal List (for Centre, with 59 items),Provincial List (for provinces, with 54items) and the Concurrent List (for both,with 36 items). Residuary powers weregiven to the Viceroy. However, the federation never came into being as theprincely states did not join it.

2 t abolished dyarchy in the provinces andintroduced provincial autonomy in itsplace. The provinces wet:e allowed to actas autonomous units of administration intheir defined spheres. Moreover, the Actintroduced responsible governments inprovinces, that is, the governor was re-

quired to act with the advice of ministersresponsible to the provincial legislature.This came into effect in 1937 and wasdiscontinued in 1939.

3 t provided for the adoption of dyarchy atthe Centre. Consequently , the federal subjects were divided into reserved subjects

and transferred subjects. However, thisprovision of the Act did not come intooperation at all.

4 t introduced bicameralism in six out ofeleven provinces. Thus, the legislaturesof Bengal Bombay Madras Bihar ,Assam and the United Provinces weremade bicameral consisting of a legislative council (upper house) and a legislative assembly (lower house). However ,many restrictions were placed on them.

5 t further extended the principle qf communal representation by providing separate electorates for depressed classes(scheduled castes), women arid labour(workers).

6 t abolished the Council of India, established by the Government of India Act of1858. The secretary of state for India wasprovided with a team of advisors .

7 t extended franchise. About 10 per centof the total population got the voting right.

8 t provided for the establishment of a~ s e r v eBank of India to control the

currency and credit of the country.

9.t

provided for the establishment of notonly a Federal Public Service Commission but also a Provincial Public ServiceCommission and Joint Public ServiceCommission for two or more provinces.

10 t provided for the establishment of aFederal Court, which was set up in 1937.

Indian Independence Act of 947On February 20, 1947, the British Prime Minister Clement Atlee declared that the Britishrule in India would end by June 30, 1948; afterwhich the power would be transferred to responsible Indian hands. This annotmcement wasfollowed by the agitation by the Muslim League


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demanding partition of the country. Again onJune 3, 1947, the British Government made itclear that any Constitution framed by the Con- stituent Assembly of India (formed in 1946)cannot apply to those parts of the country whichwere unwilling to accept it. On the same day(June 3, 1947), Lord Mountbatten, the viceroy

of India, put forth the partition plan, 1mown asthe Mountbatten Plan The plan was acceptedby the Congress and the Muslim League. Immediate effect was given to the plan by enacting the Indian Independence Act 9 (1947).

Features of the ct1. t ended the British rule in India and de

clared India as an independent and sovereign state from August 15,1947.

2. t provided for the partition of India andcreation of two independent dominionsof India and Pakistan with the right to

secede from the British Cornn10nwealth.3. t abolished the office of viceroy andprovided, for each dominion, a governorgeneral, who was to be appointed by theBritish King on the advice of the dominion cabinet. His Majesty s Governmentin Britain was to have no responsibilitywith respect to the Government of Indiaor Pakistan.

4. t empowered the Constituent Assembliesof the two dominions to frame and adoptany constitution for their respective nations and to repeal any act of the British

Parliament, including the Independenceact itself .

5. t empowered the Constituent Assembliesof both the dominions to legislate for theirrespective territories till the new constitutions were drafted and enforced. No Actof the British Parliament passed afterAugust 15, 1947 was to extend to eitherof the new dominions unless it wasextended thereto by a law of the legislature of the dominion.

6. t abolished the office of the-secretary ofstate for ndia and transferred hisfunctions to the secretary of state forCommonwealth Affairs .

7 . t proclaimed the lapse of British paramountcy over the Indian princely statesand treaty relations with tribal areas from:August 15,1947.

8. t granted freedom to the Indian princelystates either to join the Dominion of India or Dominion of Pakistan or to remainindependent.

9. t provided for the governance of each ofthe dominions and the provinces by theGovernment oflndia Act of 1935, till thenew Constitutions were framed. The dominions were however authorised to makemodifications in the Act.

10. t deprived the British Monarch of hisright to veto bills or ask for reservationof certain bills for his approval. But, thisright was reserved for the Governor-General. The Governor-General would have

full power to assent to any bill in thename of His Majesty.

11. t designated the Governor-General ofIndia and the provincial governors as constitutional (nominal) heads of the states.They were made to act on the advice ofthe respective council of ministers in allmatters.

12. t dropped the title of Emperor of Indiafrom the royal titles of the king of England.

13. t discontinued the appointment to civilservices and reservation of posts by th esecretary of state for India . The member sof the civil services appointed before August 15, 1947 would continue . to enjoyall benefits that they were entitled to tillthat time.

At the stroke of midnight of 14-15 August,194 7 the British rule came to an end and powerwas transferred to the two new independentDominions of ndia and Pakistan 10 LordMountbatten became the fiTst governor-generalof the new Dominion of India. He swore inJawaharlal Nehru as the first prime minis .ter ofindependent India. The Constituent Assemblyof India formed in 1946 became the Pailia- . ment of the Indian Dorrlinion.


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Table 1.1 Interim Government (1946}

Sf No

1

2.3.

4.5.6

7.8.9.

10.11.12.13.14.

Members

Jawaharlal NehruSardar Vallabhbhai PatelDr. Rajendra Prasa d

Dr. John MathaiJagjivan RamSardar Baldev SinghC.H. BhabhaLiaquat Ali KhanAbdur Rab NishtarAsaf AliC RajagopalachariI.I. ChundrigarGhaznafar Ali KhanJoginder Nath Mandai

Portfolios Held

External Affairs & Commonweal th RelationsHome, Information & BroadcastingFood Agriculture

Industries & SuppliesLabourDefenceWorks, Mines & PowerFinancePosts AirRailways & TransportEducation ArtsCommerceHealthLaw

Note: The members of the interim government were members of the Viceroy s Executive Council. The

Viceroy continued to be the head of the Council. But, Jawaharlal Nehru a s designated as the VicePresident of the Council.

Table 1.2 First Cabinet of Free India (1947}

Sf No Members

r Jawaharlal Nehru

2. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel3. Dr. Rajendra Prasad4. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad5. Dr. John Mathai

6 R.K. Shanmugham Chetty7. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar8 Jagjivan Ram9 Sardar Baldev Singh

10. Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur11. C.H. Bhabha12. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai13. Dr. Shyam Prasa d Mukherj i14. V.N. Gadgil

Notes and References

f.3 ~ ~ hMughal Emperor, Shah Alam, granted'j ' Diwani' to the Comp nJ: after its victory i i ithe Battle of Buxar 7 6 ~ -

Portfolios Held

Prime Minister; External Affairs &Commonwealth -Relations; Scientific ResearchHome, Infori:nation Broadcasting; StatesFood AgricultUreEducationRailways & Transport

FinanceLawLabourDefenceHealthCommerceCommunicationIndustries & SuppliesWorks, Mines & Power

2 t was introduced in the British Parliament bythe then Prime Minister, William Pitt.

3 At that time, the Civil Services of the company were classified into covenanted civil ser-


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vices (higher civil services) and uncovenanted civil services (lower civil services). Theformer was created by a law of the Company,while the later was created otherwise.

4. Subhash C. Kashyap, Our Constitution National Book Trust, Third Edition, 2001, P . 14 .

5 The system of Budget was introduced in British India in 1860.

6 V . N. Shukla, The Constitution o ndia Eastem Book Company, Tenth Edition, 2001, P.A-10.

7 The declaration thus stated: The policy ofHis Majes ty s Government is tha t of the increasing association oflndians in every branchof the administration, and the gradual development of self-government institutions, witha view to the progressive realisation of re-

sponsible government in India as an integralpart of the British Empire .

8 This was done on the recommendation of theLee Commission on Superior Civil Servicesin India (1923 - 24).

9 The Indian Independence Bill was introducedin the British Parliament on July 4, 1947 andreceived the Royal Assent on July 18, 1947.

The act came into force on ~ u g u s t15 , 1947.10. The boundaries between the two Dominions

were determined by a Boundary Commissionheaded by Radcliff. a k i ~ t a nincluded theprovinces of West Punjab, Sind, Baluchistan,East Bengal, North-Western Frontier Provinceand the district of Sylhet in Assam. Thereferendum in the North-Western FrontierProvince and Sylhet was in favour of Pakistan.

Documents

Historical Background - Acts