Lakshmikant chapter -1 (Historical background)

 Historical Background 

• The British came to India in 1600 as trader, in the form of East India Company.
•  British had the exclusive right of trading in India under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth first.
•  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 1947 .
•  The need of constitution was suggested by MN Roy in 1934.
•  A constituent assembly was formed for this purpose in 1946.
•  On January 26 ,1950 the constitution came into Being. 

The Company rule (1773-1858) 

Regulating act of 1773

 This act is of great constitutional importance as

• It was the first step taken by the British government to control and regulate the affairs of the East India company in India.
• It recognised for the first time, the political and administrative functions of the company .
• It laid the foundation of Central administration in India 

Feature of the act 

• It designated  the governor of Bengal as the governor general of Bengal .
• The first governor general of Bengal 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 Presidency weye independent of one another .
• It  provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta 1774 comparising one chief justice and three other judge .
• It prohibited the servants of the company from in engaging in any private trade or accepting present or bribes from the 'native'

Pitt's India Act of 1784 

• In a bid to rectify the defects of regulating act of 1773, the British Parliament passed the amending act of 1781, also known as 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 directed to manage the commercial affairs but create a new body called Board of Control to manage the political affairs. Thus ,it established  system of double government.
•  It empowered the Board of Control to superevise and direct all operations of the Civil and military government or revenue of the British possession  in India.

 The Act was significant for two reason

•  First, the company's territories in India were for the first time called the " British ppossessions  in India" 
• Second,  the British government was given the supreme control over company affair and its administration in India 

Charter act of 1833 

• This act was the final step towards centralisation in British India .

Feature of the Act 

• It  made the governor general of Bengal as governor general of India and vested in him all civil and military powers. 
•  Lord William Bentinck 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 act were called as regulation while laws made under this act were called as Acts. 

Charter act of 1853

•  This was the last of the series of charter act passed by the British Parliament between 1793 and 1853.
•  It was a significant constitutional Landmark 

Features of Act

•  It is separate, for the first time, the legislative and executive function of the governor general's counicl. 
• It provided for addition of six new members called Legislative Councilors to the Council.
•  It introduced an open competition system of selection and recruitment of Civil Servant.
•  The convented civil service was thus  thrown open to the Indian also .the macaulay committee was appointed in 1854 .

The Crown rule (1858 - 1947)

 Government of India Act of 1858.

•  This significant Act was enacted in the wake of the revolt of 1857 also known as the first war of independence or the 'sepoy mutiny'.
• The act known as the Act for the Good Government of India, abolished the East India company, and transferred the power of government territories and revenues to the British Crown .

Features of the Act

• It provided that India hence forth was to be governed by, and in the name of,Her Majesty.
•  It change the designation of the governor general of India to that of viceroy of India .
• Viceroy was the direct representative of the British Crown in India Lord Canning thus became the first Viceroy of India 
• It ended the system of double government by abolishing the Board of Control and court of directors .
• It create a new office, secretary of state for India,vesed with complete authority and control o over Indian Administration
•  The secretary of the state was a member of the British cabinet and was responsible ultimately to the British Parliament .
• It established a 15 member Council of India to assist the secretary of state for India .
• The Council was an advisory body.
•  The secretary of state was made the chairman of the Council.

 Indian Councils Act of 1861,1892 and 1909 

• After the great revolt of 1857, the British government felt the necessity of seeking the cooperation of the Indians in the administration of their country .
• Three Act was enacted by the British parliament in 1861, 1892 and 1909. 
•  The Indian Council act of an important landmark in the constitutional and political history of India.

 Feature of the act of 1861 

• Some Indians to be nominated as non official members of Viceroy Legislative Council
•  Decentralization giving legislative power to provinces of Madras and Bombay.
•  It also provided for the establishment of new Legislative Council for Bengal in 1862, North Western Frontier province in 1866 and Punjab in 1897.
• It empowered the viceroy to make rules and orders for the more convenient transaction of business in the Council .
• It also gave a recognization to the portfolio system, introduced by Lord Canning in 1859.
•  It empowered the viceroy to issue orfinances,  without the concurrence of Legislative Council, during emergency .
• The life such an Ordinance was six months 

Feature of the 1892

•   It increased the number of additional (non official )members in the central and provincial Legislative Council ,but maintained the official majority in them.
•  It increase the function of Legislative councils and give them the power of discussing the budget and addressing question to the executive.
•  It provided for the nomination of some non official member of the central Legislative Council by the viceroy on the Recommendation of the provincial legislative councils and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce.

 Feature of 1909. 

• This act is also known as morley Minto Reform( Lord morley was the then secretary of state for Indian and Lord Minto was the viceroy of India).
• It considerably increased the size of the Legislative Council, both Central legislative and provincal.
•  The number of member in the central Legislative Council was raised from 16 to 60 
• The number of member in the provincial Legislative Council was not-uniform.
•  It retained official majority in the central Legislative Council but allowed the provincial Legislative Council to the the have non official majority.
•  It enlarged the deliberative function of the Legislative Council at both the level.
•  It provided for the association of Indians with the executive Council of the viceroy and governor Satyendra Prasad Sinha become the first Indian to join the viceroy executive Council he was appointed as the law member.
•  It introduced a system of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the concept of separate electorate .
• Under this, the Muslim members were to be elected only by Muslim voters thus the act legalised communalism and Lord Minto came to be known as the father of communal electorate .
• It also provided for the separate representation of Presidency Corporation Chambers of Commerce, Universities and Zamindars.

Government of India Act of 1919 

• On August 20, 1917,the British government declared for the first time, that its objective was the gradual introduction of responsible government in India.
•  The Government of India Act of 1919 was thus in enacted,  which came into force in 1921 this act is also known as mostatue Chelmsford reform ( Montague was the secretary of state for India and lord Chelmsford was the viceroy of India) 

Features of the act 

• It relaxed the central control over the provinces by demarcating and separating the central and provincial subjects. 
•  The central and provincial legislature were authorised to make laws on their respective list of subjects however, the structure of government continued to be centralised and unitary.
•  It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts transferred and reversed 
• The transferred subjects were to be administratred by the Governor with the aid of ministers responsible to the Legislative Council.
•  The reserved subjects were to be administratered by the Governor and his executive Council without being responsible  to the Legislative Council .
• This dual scheme of governance was known as dyarchy a term derived from the Greek word di arch which means double rule however, this experiment was largely unsuccessful.
•  It introduced, for the first time, bicameralism and direct election in the country .
• The Indian Legislative Council was replaced by a bicameralism legislature consisting of an upper house (Council of state) and the lower house (Legislative Assembly ).
• The majority of member of both the houses were chosen by direct election.
•  It required that the three of the six member of the viceroy executive Council were to be Indian .
• It extended the principle of communal representation by providing separate for sikh, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.
•  It granted franchise to a Limited number of people on the basis of property, tax or education .
• It create a new office of the high commission for India in London and transferred to him some of the function neither to performed by the secretary of state for India.
•  It provided for the establishment of a public service commission hence, a Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting Civil Servants. 
• It separated, for the first time, Provincial budgets from the central budget and authorities the provincial legislature to enact their budgets. 
• It  provided for the appointment of a statutory Commission to uniquire into and report on its working after 10 year of its coming into force. 

Simon Commission 

• In November 1927, the British government announced the appointment a 7 member statutory Commission under the chairmanship of six john Simon to report on the condition of Indian Under its new constitution.
•  All the members of the commission were British and hence, all the parties boycotted the commission.
•  The commission submitted its report in 1935 and Recommended the abolition of dyarchy,  extension of responsible government in the provinces establishment of a Federation of British India and princely states, continuation of communal electorate and so on.
•  A white paper on constitution Reform was prepared and submitted for the the consideration of the joint select committee of the British Parliament .
• The Recommendation of this committee were in corporate in the next government of India Act 1935

Communal award

•  In August 1932,Ramsoy MacDonald,  the British Prime Minister announced a scheme of Representation of the minorities which came to be known as the communal award .
• The award not only continue separate electorate rate for the Muslim, Sikh ,Indian Christian, Anglo Indian and Europeans but also extend to the depressed classes .
• Gandhiji was distressed over this extension of the principle of communal representation to the depressed classes and undertook into death in yeravada jail to get the award modified.
•  At last ,there was an agreement between the leaders of the Congress and the depressed classes .
• The agreement known as Poona  pact, retain the Hindu joint electorate and gave reserved seats to the depressed classes.

Government of India Act of 1935

• The  Act marked a second milestone towards a completely responsible government in India.
•  It was a lengthy and detailed document having 321 section and 10th schedules.

 Feature of the act

•  It provided for the establishment of an all Indian Federation consisting of provinces and princely state as units.
•  The act divide the power between the centre and unit in term of three list Federal list, provincial list andconcurrent list .
• Residue power were given to Viceroy.
•  It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced provincial autonomy in its place.
•  The provinces were allowed to act as autonomous unit of administration in their define spheres. 
•  It provide for the adoption of the dyarchy  at the centre.
•  The federal subject were divided into reserved subject and transfer subject however, this provision of the act did not come into operation at all.
•  It abolished the Council of India, established by the government of India Act of 1858, the secretary of state for India was provided with a team of advisors.
•  It provided for the establishment of a Reserve Bank of India to control the currency and credit of the country.
•  It extend franchise about 10% of the total population got the voting right.
•  It provided for the establishment of a federal court, which was set up in1937.
•  It provided for the establishment of Reserve Bank of India to control the currency and credit of the country.

Indian Independence Act of 1947 

• On February 20, 1947 the British Prime Minister Clement attlee declared that the British rule in India would be end  by June 30,1948 after which the power would be transferred to responsible India hands.
•  This announcement was followed by the agitation by the Muslim League demanding partition of the country.
•  On June 3, 1947 the British government made it clear that any constitution framed by the constituent assembly of the India .
• On June 3, 1947 Lord Mountbatten, the viceroy of India put forth the partition plan known as Mountbatten plan.
•  The plan was accepted by the Congress and the Muslim League. immediate effect was given to the plan by enacting the Indian Independence Act(1947).