Constitutional evolution under British rule
Constitutional evolution under British rule
- Regulating Act 1773
- beginning of British parliamentary control over the East India Company
- subordination of the presidencies of Bombay and Madras to Bengal
- Governor of Bengal made Governal-General
- council of Governor-General established
- Supreme Court established in Calcutta
- Pitt’s India Act 1784
- commercial and political activities of the Company separated
- established a board of control over the Company
- Charter Act 1813
- trade monopoly of the Company abolished
- missionaries allowed to preach in India
- Charter Act 1833
- Governor-General of Bengal becomes Governor-General of India
- first Governor-General Lord William Bentick
- ends commercial activities of the Company
- Charter Act 1853
- legislative and executive functions of the Governor-General’s council separated
- open competition for Indian Civil Services established
- Indian Council Act 1861
- establishes legislative councils at the centre, presidencies and provinces
- Governor-General’s executive council to have Indians as non-official members
- restores legislative power to Bombay and Madras presidencies
- recognises portfolio system of governance
- Indian Council Act 1892
- introduces indirect elections
- enlarges the function of legislative councils giving the power to discuss the budget and address questions to the executive
- enlarges the size of the legislative councils
- Government of India Act 1898
- administration taken over directly by the British crown
- office of the Governor-General replaced by the Viceroy
- first Viceroy is Lord Canning
- Indian Council Act 1909 (Minto-Morley Reforms)
- first attempt to introduce representative and popular element to government
- changed name of Central Legislative Council to Imperial Legislative Council
- increased the non-official members in the Imperial and Provincial legislative councils
- non-official members hold majority in the provincial legislative councils, but official members hold majority in the central
- appointed Indians to the Viceroy’s Executive Council and provincial executive councils
- established separate electorate for Muslims
- Government of India Act 1909 (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms)
- classified government subjects into central and provincial
- established dyarchy in the provinces
- provincial subjects divided into Reserved and Transferred. Reserved subjects administered by the Governor, Transferred subjects by Indian ministers
- central legislature covered all central subjects and some provincial subjects
- all bills of the legislatures required Governor-General’s assent, while the Governor-General could enact bills without assent from legislatures
- established the Public Service Commission
- Government of India Act 1935
- provided for the establishment of a Federation of India consisting of the Provinces and Princely States
- dyarchy withdrawn from the provinces and established at the Centre. Introduced ‘provincial autonomy’
- introduced direct elections
- proposed the Federal Legislature to be bicameral
- administrative subjects divided into Federal, Provincial and Concurrent
- reserved subjects at the Centre to be administered by the Governor-General
- Governor-General to be assisted by a Council of Ministers
- provided for the establishment of a Federal Court with original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction. Appeals from the Federal Court went to the Privy Council in London
- Burma and Aden separated from India
- Indian Independence Act 1947
- sovereignty and responsibility of the British Parliament for India abolished
- Governor-General and provincial Governors become constitutional heads
- the British crown ceases to be the source of authority
The Constituent Assembly (1946 – 1950)
- first met on 09 Dec 1946
- consisted of 389 members. 292 were elected from the Provinces, 93 were nominated by the Princely States, and 4 were nominated from the Chief Commissioners Provinces
- Dr. Sachidananda Sinha was the first President of the Constituent Assembly
- The Preamble of the Constitution was a modification of the ‘Objective Resolution’ introduced Jawarharlal Nehru
- The Assembly appointed 22 committees
- The most important of these committees was the Drafting Committee, set up in Aug 1947
- The Drafting Committee had 7 members. B.R. Ambedkar was its Chairman
- The Drafting Committee published the Draft Constitution in Feb 1948, which was adopted on 26 Nov 1949
- The Constitution came into effect on 26 Jan 1950. However, certain provisions regarding citizenship, elections, provisional parliament and presidential election procedures came into effect earlier, on 26 Nov 1949.
- 26 Jan was chosen in significance of the informal ‘Independence Day’ observed in 1930
- The term of the Constituent Assembly ended on 24 Jan 1950. However, it re-emerged as the Provisional Parliament on 26 Jan 1950, and remained so until the first Lok Sabha elections
- The President of the Constituent Assembly, Rajendra Prasad, became the first President of India
- Gandhi and Jinnah were not members of the Constituent Assembly
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