Historical Background
The British came to India in 1600 as traders, in the form of East India
Company, which had the exclusive right of trading in India under a
charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I. 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.1 This started its career as a
territorial power. In 1858, in the wake of the ‘sepoy mutiny’, the British
Crown assumed direct responsibility for the governance of India. This rule
continued until India was granted independence on August 15, 1947.
With Independence came the need of a Constitution. As suggested by M N
Roy (a pioneer of communist movement in India) in 1934, a Constituent
Assembly was formed for this purpose in 1946 and on January 26, 1950, the
Constitution came into being. However, various features of the Indian
Constitution and polity have their roots in the British rule. There are certain
events in the British rule that laid down the legal framework for the
organisation and functioning of government and administration in British
India. These events have greatly influenced our constitution and polity. They
are explained here in a chronological order:
THE COMPANY RULE (1773–1858)
Regulating Act of 1773
This act is of great constitutional importance as (a) it was the first step taken
by the British Government to control and regulate the affairs of the East India
Company in India; (b) it recognised, for the first time, the political and
administrative functions of the Company; and (c) it laid the foundations of
central administration in India.
Features of the Act
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. It provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774)
comprising one chief justice and three other judges.
4. It prohibited the servants of the Company from engaging in any private
trade or accepting presents or bribes from the ‘natives’.
5. 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
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 Act2 of 1784.
Features of the Act
1. It distinguished between the commercial and political functions of the
Company.
2. It allowed the Court of Directors to manage the commercial affairs but
created a new body called Board of Control to manage the political
affairs. Thus, it established a system of double government.
3. It empowered the Board of Control to supervise and direct all operations
of the civil and military government or revenues of the British
possessions in India.
Thus, the act was significant for two reasons: first, the Company’s
territories in India were for the first time called the ‘British possessions in
India’; and second, the British Government was given the supreme control
over Company’s affairs and its administration in India.
Charter Act of 1833
This Act was the final step towards centralisation in British India.
Features of the Act
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 it ‘in trust for His Majesty,
His heirs and successors’.
4. 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.
