Political Policies
Regulating Act of 1773
Introduction:
The Regulating act of 1773 got introduced to establish a central administrative system in British India. The act was brought to regulate the activities of the British East India company. It was an initiative of the British parliament to bring an administrative reform in British India.
Facts for Prelims
- This act permitted the company to retain its territorial possessions in India
- It changed the post of Governor of Bengal to “Governor-General of Bengal”.
- Establishment of Supreme Court in Calcutta
- For the first time, the British cabinet was given the right to exercise control over Indian affairs.
Key Provisions of the Act (Major features):
- Introduction of the office of the Governor-General of Bengal: The office of the Governor of Bengal was redesignated as the Office of the Governor of the Presidency of Fort William, also known as Governor-General of Bengal. Lord Warren Hastings was the first person to hold this designation.
- Creation of Executive Council to Assist the Governor-General: the Executive Council of four members was created to assist the Governor-General.
- Governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies subordinate to the Governor-general of Bengal: The Governors of Bombay and Madras were made subordinate to the Governor General of Bengal, thereby making the Governor General of Bengal as the ultimate authority.
- Establishment of the Supreme Court at Judicature at Fort William: In the year 1774, Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William was established at Calcutta with one Chief Justice and three other judges. The jurisdiction of this court extended to all areas lying under the Bombay, Madras and Bengal Presidency.
- Reforms to curb corruptions: This act brought prohibition on the servants of the company from engaging in any private trade or accepting bribes and gift from the local people. The directors of the company were to be elected for a period of five years and one-fourth of them used to retire every year. There was no procedure for re-election available.
The Contribution of the Act:
- Changes in the structure of judiciary: This enactment is considered to be a landmark enactment as it brought a lot of dynamic and significant changes in the structure of judiciary in the country.
- Court of Directors (COD): The act brought changes some important changes in the Constitution of Court of Directors (COD)
- For the first time, the political and administrative functions of the company were recognized.
- This act also laid down the foundation of the Central Administration in the country.
- This act created for the first time the Supreme Court at Calcutta thereby, making a proper judicial system and Judiciary got regulated to an extent and for the first time learned judges from England were made part of the Supreme Court in India.
Defects in the Regulating Act 1773:
- The act rendered the Governor-General without any veto power. He was overruled most of the time by the majority decision of the members of his council. He was responsible for all his acts to the court of directors and answerable for the administrative decisions taken in India.
- Debilitation of administration: The governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies were subordinate and ultimate powers were laid in the governor’s hands. It led to debilitation of administration at subordinate levels and persistence of corruption.
- Lack of division of powers: The provisions regarding the powers and jurisdictional issue of the supreme court at fort Williams were vague and defective. It did not specify the division of powers of the governor-general and the supreme court. Company officials’ conduct was under the supreme court’s purview, resulting in tensions between the governor-general and the apex court.
- The act was silent on the status or concern of people of India who were paying revenue to the East Indian Company.
- The parliament was ineffective in scrutinizing the reports sent by the governor-general.
Conclusion:
The regulating act brought the system of central administration and parliament control with the concept of a supreme court acting as a supreme judicial body. Regulating act also depicted the status of the central government under the control of parliament for all its acts, and all central government decisions will be taken by the majority.
Pitt’s India Act 1784
Features:
- It was the Pitts India Act which distinguished between the commercial and political functions of the Company.
- It was the first step taken by the British Government to control and regulate the affairs of the East India Company in India
- It recognized, for the first time, the political and administrative functions of the Company
- It laid the foundations of central administration in India.
- It designated the Governor of Bengal as the ‘Governor-General of Bengal’ and created an Executive Council of four members to assist him. The first such Governor-General was Lord Warren Hastings.
- It provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774) comprising one chief justice and three other judges.
- It prohibited the servants of the Company from engaging in any private trade or accepting presents or bribes from the ‘natives’.
- It strengthened the control of the British Government over the Company by requiring the Court of Directors (governing body of the Company) to report on its revenue, civil, and military affairs in India.
- It made the governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies subordinate to the Governor General of Bengal, unlike earlier, when the three presidencies were independent of one another.
- It was the Pitts India Act which distinguished between the commercial and political functions of the Company.
Charter acts of 1784, 1793, 1813,1833, 1853
Charter act of 1813
Features:
- Charter act of 1813 ended the monopoly of the East India Company in India, the company’s monopoly in trade with china and trade in tea with India was kept intact.
- The company’s rule was extended to another 20 years.
- The act granted permission to the persons who wished to go to India for promoting moral and religious improvements. (Christian Missionaries)
- This act regulated the company’s territorial revenues and commercial profits. It was asked to keep its territorial and commercial accounts separate.
- The company’s dividend was fixed at 10.5% per annum.
- There was also a provision that Company should invest Rs. 1 Lakh every year on the education of Indians.
- It empowered the Local Governments in India to impose taxes on persons and to punish those who did not pay them.
Charter act of 1833
Features:
- The charter act of 1833 legalized the British colonization of India. It ended the activities of the East India Company as a commercial body, it became a administrative body. It provided that the company’s territories in India were held by government ‘in trust for His Majesty, His heirs and successors’.
- It made the Governor-General of Bengal as the Governor-General of India and vested in him all civil and military powers. This made Lord William Bentinck the first Governor-General of India { centralization of the administration of India}
- The Governors of Bombay and Madras lost their legislative powers. Governor-General of India had legislative powers over entire British India.
- The laws made under the previous acts were called as Regulations while laws made under this act were called as Acts.
- This Act introduced a system of open competition for selection of civil servants, and stated that the Indians should not be debarred from holding any place, office and employment under the Company. It also provided the Hailey bury college of London should make quota to admit the future civil servants. However, this system of an open competition was not effectively operated in near future.
- The Governor-General in council had the authority to amend, repeal or alter any law British Indian territories . The Governor-General’s council was to have four members again, fourth member had limited powers only.
- For the first time, the Governor-General’s government was called Government of India and the council was called India Council.
- Indian Law Commission was established to codify all Indian laws. The first Law Commission had Lord Macaulay as its chairman.
- This act also directed the Governor General-in-Council to adopt measures to mitigate the state of slavery, persisting in India since sultanate Era.
- It laid down regulation of establishment of Christian establishments in India and the number of Bishops was made 3.
Charter act of 1853
Features:
- The Charter Act of 1853 empowered the British East India Company to retain the territories and the revenues in India in trust for the crown not for any specified period, Unlike the previous charter acts of 1793, 1813 and 1833 which renewed the charter for 20 years.
- This Act was passed when Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India.
Governor-General’s office :
- It separated, for the first time, the legislative and executive functions of the Governor- General’s council.
- It provided for addition of six new members called legislative councillors to the council {12 in total}. The Governor-General could nominate a vice president to the council and his assent is required for all legislative actions. It established a separate Governor-General’s legislative council 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.
- The Law member (fourth member) became a full member with the right to vote.
- The 12 members were – 1 Governor-General, 1 Commander-in-Chief, 4 members of the Governor-General’s Council, 1 Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at Calcutta, 1 regular judge of the Supreme Court at Calcutta, and 4 representative members drawn from company’s servants with at least 10 years tenure, appointed by the local governments of Bengal, Bombay, Madras and North Western Provinces.
- It introduced an open competition system of selection and recruitment of civil servants. The covenanted civil service was thus thrown open to the Indians also. Accordingly, the Macaulay Committee (the Committee on the Indian Civil Service) was appointed in 1854.
- The number of Board of Directors was reduced from 24 to 18 out of which 6 people were to be nominated by the British Crown.
- This act served as the foundation of the modern parliamentary form of government. The legislative wing of the Governor-General’s Council acted as a parliament on the model of the British Parliament.
