Indian Constitution: Historical Underpinnings - Constitutional Significance of THE COMPANY RULE (1773-1858)

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Constitutional Significance of THE COMPANY RULE (1773-1858) 

Acts	Provisions	Constitutional Significance
Regulating Act of 1773 (British Government’s control begins here)	Central administration 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.	The concept of Unitary and Federal governments. In this case, the nature of the government is Unitary. But now we have a Quasi – Federal System.
	Supreme Court in 1774	The structure of the present judicial system is based on the judicial system introduced by British.
Pitt's India Act of 1784 (Distinguished Commercial And Political Functions)	Double government 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.	Closely related to to the concept of ‘Separation of Powers’. When the powers and functions of two government bodies are not properly delineated, conflicts arise. But now, conflicts rarely arise because of well delineated powers and responsibilities between various organs of the state.
Charter Act of 1833 (Final Step Towards  Centralisation)	It made the Governor-General of Bengal  as the Governor-General of India and  vested  in  him all civil and military powers.	Compare this with present day’s relations between Prime Minister and Chief Ministers. Chief Ministers enjoy greater authority.
	This Act was the final step towards  centralisation 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.	Centralization è Unitary Government. But, now we have a Quasi – Federal system of government. [Government with strong  centre, but with many federal features. (we will see more about this later)]
Charter Act of 1853	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)	Separation of Powers The present Parliamentary System has it’s roots here.
	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	The present structure of Central Civil Services has its roots here. [Role, functions of Bureaucracy etc. have not changed much since the inception of Indian Civil Service]
	It introduced, for the first time, local representation in the Indian (Central) Legislative Council.	Representative Democracy that we follow now has its roots here.

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