Indian Constitution: Historical Underpinnings - Company Rule 2

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Contents

• Indian Constitution: Historical underpinnings  (Historical Background) 

• Diwani

• THE COMPANY RULE (1773-1858) 

• Regulating Act of 1773 (British Government’s control begins here) 

• Pitt's India Act of 1784

• Charter Act of 1793 and 1813

• Charter Act of 1833

• Charter Act of 1853 

Indian Constitution: Historical underpinnings  (Historical Background) 

• The British came to India in 1600 as traders,  in the form of East India Company with exclusive right of trading in India under a  charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I.

Diwani

• In 1765,  the Company, which till now had purely trading functions obtained the ‘diwani' (i.e., rights  over revenue and civil justice) of Bengal, Bihar  and Orissa. (Beginning of the new avatar of the company from a purely trading body to an administrative body)
• Charter = a written grant by a sovereign or legislature, by which a body is created or its rights and privileges defined. 
• Governor General = the chief representative of the Crown in a Commonwealth country of which the British monarch is head of state.

THE COMPANY RULE (1773-1858) 

Regulating Act of 1773 (British Government’s control begins here) 

• This act is of great constitutional importance  as

Government’s control begins

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

From a trading body to an administrative body

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

Central administration (federalism weakened and unitary state came into existence L)

• 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 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 (first killing of federalism). 

Supreme British Court in the then capital

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

Anti-corruption policy

• It prohibited the servants of the Company from engaging, in any private trade  or accepting presents or bribes from the ‘natives’. 

Accountability

• 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. 

Pitt's India Act of 1784 (Distinguished Commercial And Political Functions)

• In a bid to rectify the defects of the Regulating  Act of 1773, the British Parliament passed the Amending Act of 1781, also known as the Act of Settlement.
• The next important act was the  Pitt's India Act of 1784. 

Features of the Act 

• It 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 Board of Control(six members) to manage the political affairs(civil, military and revenue) of the British possessions in India.
• Thus, it established a system of double government. 

Thus, the act was significant for two  reasons

1. first, the Company's territories in India  were for the first time called the 'British  possessions in India'; and
2. second, the British  Government possessed supreme control over Company's affairs and its administration in  India. 

Charter Act of 1793 and 1813

• Renewed the company’s charter for a further period of 20 years.

Charter Act of 1833 (Final Step Towards  Centralisation)

• This Act was the final step towards centralization in British India. 
• 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  Madras of their legislative powers. The  Governor-General of India was given exclusive legislative powers for the entire  British India.
• The laws made under the  previous acts were called as  Regulations  while laws made under this act were  called as  Acts. 
• It ended the activities of the East India Company as a commercial body, which  became a purely administrative body.
• It  provided that the company's territories in  India were held by the company 'in trust for His  Majesty
• The Charter Act of 1833 attempted to introduce 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. However, this provision was negated after opposition from  the Court of Directors. 

Charter Act of 1853 

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

Features of the Act 

• 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.
• In other  words, 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 miniParliament, adopting the same procedures  as the British Parliament)
• It introduced an open competition system  of selection and recruitment of civil servants (Thrown open to Indian’s also). Accordingly, the Macaulay Committee (the  Committee on the Indian Civil Service)  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 new legislative  members of the governor-general's council, four members were appointed by the  local (provincial) governments of Madras,  Bombay, Bengal and Agra.  

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