Legislations in British India - Important Acts of British India

The British acts that influenced the making of indian constitution is defined under two headlines.

1. The Company Rule (1773 - 1858)

2. The Crown Rule (1858 - 1947)

The Company Rule (1773 - 1858)

■ Regulating Act - 1773

■ Pitt's India Act - 1784

■ Charter Act - 1793

■ Charter Act - 1813

■ Charter Act - 1833

■ Charter Act - 1853

The Crown Rule (1858 - 1947)

■ Government of India Act - 1858

■ Indian Councils Act - 1861

■ Indian Councils Act - 1892

■ Indian Councils Act - 1909

■ Government of India Act - 1919

■ Government of India Act - 1935

■ Indian Independence Act - 1947

Important Acts of British India (Company Rule)

■ Regulating Act - 1773

The first step taken in consolidation of british rule in india is Regulating Act - 1773. This is the first act passed by british parliament to improve and manage the activities of English East India Company. The documentation of political and administrative management of East India Company was defined in this act. The act laid the foundation of central administration in India. The Governor of Bengal was made the Governor General of Bengal. Warren Heistings became the first governor general of Bengal. In 1774, first supreme court of british india was established in calcutta. The court is headed by a chief justice and three judges. Sir Elijah Impey is the first chief justice of calcutta supreme court. This Act required the Company's governing body, the Court of Directors, to report regularly to the British government on the Company's income, operations, and military affairs in India. The Amending Act of 1781 (Act of Settlement) was passed by the British Parliament in 1781 to remedy the shortcomings of the Regulating Act of 1773.

■ Pitt's India Act - 1784

The East India Company Act, also known as Pitt's India Act of 1784, was an act passed by the British Parliament to address the shortcomings of the Regulating Act of 1773. This act established a system of double government. Indian affairs came under the direct control of the British government. William Pitt was the British Prime Minister and Warren Hastings was the Governor-General at the time the Act was passed. This act separated the commercial and political activities of the East India Company. This act required the 'Court of Directors', the administrators of the company, to retain power over commercial activities, while forming another body called the 'Board of Control' to manage the political affairs of the company. Thus, this act became the impetus for implementing a two-tier system of commercial and political governance. With this, the Board of Control was vested with the supreme power to control the various activities of the company. According to this act, the capital of India was unified at Calcutta. This Act brought the Indian territories under the Company's control under the definition of 'British possessions in India'. The Pitts India Act was the East India Act that gave the British government full control over all the activities and administration of the Company in India. The Act failed to define the scope of the powers of the East India Company and the British administration.

■ Charter Act - 1793

The Charter Act of 1793, which is also called as East India Company Act 1793 was passed in the British Parliament in which the company charter was renewed. This act allowed the company’s rule over the British territories in India. According to this act, the monopoly of trade with India for another twenty years was given to the company.

■ Charter Act - 1813

The Charter Act - 1813 was an act that ended the East India Company's trading monopoly. However, the company retained its monopoly on trade with China and the tea trade. This act allowed Christian missionaries to come to India with the aim of enlightening the people. This act also gave the power to the local governments of India to levy taxes on individuals.

■ Charter Act - 1833

The Charter Act of 1833 is also known as the Saint Helena Act. Lord William Bentinck was the Governor General at the time of the passing the Charter Act of 1833. This Act made the title of 'Governor General of Bengal' as the 'Governor General of India'. Lord William Bentick was the first Governor General of India under this Act. While the earlier Acts were known as 'Regulations', the provisions within the ambit of this Act were known as 'Acts'. Under this Act, the East India Company ceased to function as a commercial institution. Instead, it became a purely administrative institution. This Act provided for public competition in the election of civil servants. However, this Act was blocked due to the opposition of the Court of Directors. The first Law Commission was formed in British India under the Charter Act of 1833. Lord Macaulay was the head of this Law Commission. Lord Macaulay was also the first person to codify the laws in India.

■ Charter Act - 1853

The Charter Act - 1853 was the last Charter Act passed by the British Parliament between 1793 and 1853. It was the first act to separate the executive and legislative powers of the Governor General's Council. It introduced an open competitive system for the selection and recruitment of civil servants. This act also allowed Indians to write the Covenanted Civil Service (a higher civil service examination set up by the Company). For this purpose, a council called the 'Macaulay Committee' was formed in 1854. This council was known as the 'Committee on the Indian Civil Service'. The Charter Act - 1853 was the first law to allow regional representation in the Indian Legislative Council. Four out of the six legislative members of the Governor General's Council were appointed from the provinces of Madras, Bombay, Bengal and Agra.

Important Acts of British India (Crown Rule)

■ Government of India Act - 1858

Rule of East India Company in India ended and rule of the Crown began. This important law was enacted after the First War of Independence/Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. According to the Government of India Act of 1858, the entire administration of India came under the British Crown. According to this law, the Secretary of State is the post created by the British Government to govern the Indian people. The Secretary of State is a member of the British Cabinet. A fifteen-member council was formed to assist the officer called the Secretary of State. The chairman of this council was the Secretary of State. According to this law, the 'double government' that was in force till then was abolished. The double government system was ended by abolishing the Board of Control and the Court of Directors. This law led to the end of the rule of the East India Company. As a result of the change of government, the 'Prohibition of Adoption Act', an act of the East India Company, was repealed. Government of India Act of 1858 is known as the 'Act for the Good Government of India.' This act is also known as the Magna Carta of the people of India. It came into force on 1 November 1858, when the British Queen's proclamation was read out at the Durbar held at Allahabad. The Governor-General of India then came to be known as the Viceroy. The Viceroy was the direct representative of the British Crown in India. The Government of India Act, 1858 received Royal Assent on 2 August 1858.

■ Indian Councils Act - 1861

Policy of Association of Indians in legislation started. The Indian Councils Act - 1861 was the first law to introduce Indians into the legislative process of the Houses of Parliament. Under this act, the Viceroy provided for the nomination of some Indians as non-official members of his enlarged council. Under the Indian Councils Act of 1861, the Raja of Banaras, the Maharaja of Patiala and Sir Dinakaran Rao, Indians, were nominated to the Legislative Council in 1862. This act brought an end to the gradual establishment of central government from the Regulating Act of 1773 to the Charter Act of 1833. Under this act, new legislative councils were formed in Bengal, the North-Western Provinces and the Punjab in 1862, 1886 and 1897 respectively. This act approved the portfolio system introduced by Lord Canning in 1859. This Act allowed the Viceroy to issue ordinances with a 6-month grace period during times of emergency.

■ Indian Councils Act - 1892

It was the beginning of representative system in India. This Act increased the number of additional members (non-official) in the Central Province Legislative Councils. The functions of the Legislative Councils were enhanced. (They were given the power to discuss the budget and ask questions to the Executive)

■ Indian Councils Act - 1909

Introduced for the first time, an element of election to the legislative councils. When this Act was passed, Lord Minto was the British Viceroy and Lord Morley was the Secretary of State. Hence, this Act is also known as the Minto Morley Administrative Reforms.

Features of this Act

1. The number of members of the Central and Provincial Legislative Councils was increased.

2. The number of members in the Central Legislative Council increased from sixteen to sixty.

3.For the first time, an Indian was represented in the Executive Councils of the Viceroy and the Governor.

4. Satyendra Prasad Sinha was the first Indian to be appointed as an official member of the Viceroy's Executive Council.

5. This Act introduced the system of providing communal representation to the Muslim communities by accepting the concept of separate electorate.

■ Government of India Act - 1919

The British Government announced on 20 August 1917 that they would establish a responsible government in India. The Government of India Act, 1919, received Royal Assent on 23 December 1919. When the Government of India Act, 1919 came into force, Chelmsford was the Viceroy and Edwin Montagu was the Secretary of State. Therefore, this Act is also known as the Montagu-Chelmsford Administrative Reforms.

Features of this Act

1. This Act relaxed the central control over the provinces.

2. This Act divided the provincial subjects into two. They were known as the transferred and reserved subjects. The transferred subjects were administered by the Governor with the help of the ministers in charge of the Legislative Council, and the reserved subjects were administered by the Governor and the Governor's Executive Council. This dual administration system was also known as Diarchy.

3. The Act granted women the right to vote.

4. The Act introduced direct elections and a bicameral system in the country.

5. Under the bicameral system, the Indian Legislative Council was divided into two houses, the Upper House (Council of State) and the Lower House (Legislative Assembly).

6. The majority of members were elected directly.

7. The right to vote was granted in elections on the basis of landholding, taxation and education.

8. The Act stipulated that out of the six members of the Viceroy's Executive Council, at least three members, excluding the Commander-in-Chief, should be Indians.

9. The Act created a new post of 'High Commissioner for India' in London and transferred some of the functions of the Secretary of State to this officer.

10. The Act led to the formation of the Central Public Service Commission in 1926 to recruit civil servants.

11. This law separated the provincial budget from the central budget and gave the provincial legislatures the power to enact their budgets.

■ Government of India Act - 1935

The Government of India Act - 1935 is the largest law passed by the British Parliament for India. The basis for the Government of India Act of 1935 was the Simon Commission Report, the recommendations of the Round Table Conferences, and the 'White Paper' published by the British Government in 1933 after the Third Round Table Conference. The Government of India Act of 1935 was the biggest turning point in the history of the Indian Constitution. This is the law to which the Indian Constitution owes the most. Samuel Hoare is the architect of the Government of India Act 1935. Lord Wellington was the Viceroy when the Act was passed and Linlithgow was the Viceroy when the Act came into force.

Features of Government of India Act - 1935 

1. The sections of the Government of India Act 1935 defining the powers of the Centre and the provinces

- Federal List containing 59 items regarding the functions of the Centre

- Provincial List containing 54 items regarding the functions of the provinces.

- Concurrent List containing 36 items containing general details of the administration of the Centre and the provinces.

2. This Act brought about a system of 'provincial autonomy' which ended the two-tier administration in the provinces and gave more freedom to the provinces.

3. The Act provided for the establishment of two-tier administration at the Centre.

4. Bicameral system was proposed in six out of eleven provinces.

5. Legislative Council (Upper House) and Legislative Assembly (Lower House) were formed in Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Bihar, Assam and the United Provinces.

6. This Act provided for the creation of separate electorates for the backward classes, women and workers.

7. 10% of the total population was also given the right to vote.

8. The Act abolished the term Council of India, which had been introduced by the Government of India Act, 1858, and provided for the establishment of an advisory council to the Secretary of State.

9. It provided for the formation of the Federal Public Service Commission, the Provincial Public Service Commission and the Joint Public Service Commission.

10. It provided for the establishment of a Federal Court in India. (The Federal Court, established in Delhi on 1 October 1937, became the Supreme Court of India from 28 January 1950).

11. The Government of India Act - 1935 is known as the 'blueprint' of the Indian Constitution.

12. It gave rise to the formation of the Reserve Bank of India.

13. Sindh and Orissa were carved out of the provinces of Bombay and Bihar respectively.

14. Burma was completely separated from India (1935).

15.The Government of India Act of 1935 had 321 sections and 10 schedules.

16. A Federal Railway Authority was formed to regulate the Indian Railways.

■ Indian Independence Act - 1947

On 20 February 1947, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced that British rule in India would end on 30 June 1948. Following this, the Muslim League came forward with its demand for an independent country. On 3 June 1947, the 'Mountbatten Plan' was formulated as part of the partition of India. The Mountbatten Plan is also known as the June Third Plan, the Balkan Plan, and the Dickey Bird Plan. This plan was accepted by the Congress and the Muslim League. The 'Indian Independence Act - 1947' came into force under the Mountbatten Plan. This was the last law passed by the British Parliament for India. This act led to the partition of India and the formation of the countries of India and Pakistan. This act led to the abolition of the post of Viceroy and the establishment of the post of Governor General appointed by the British King. The title of Secretary of State for India was abolished and his responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs. The title 'Emperor of India' was removed from the King's documents in England. Thus, at midnight on 14 August 1947, British rule in India came to an end and Jawaharlal Nehru was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India.