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Indian Councils Act of 1861
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. In pursuance of this policy of
association, three acts were enacted by the British Parliament in
1861, 1892 and 1909. The Indian Councils Act of 1861 is an
important landmark in the constitutional and political history of
India.
The features of this Act were as follows:
1. It made a beginning of the representative institutions by
associating Indians with the law-making process. It, thus,
provided that the Viceroy should nominate some Indians as
non-official members of his expanded council. In 1862, Lord
Canning, the then Viceroy, nominated three Indians to his
legislative council–the Raja of Benaras, the Maharaja of
Patiala and Sir Dinkar Rao.
1. It initiated the process of decentralisation by restoring the
legislative powers to the Bombay and Madras Presidencies.
It, thus, reversed the centralising tendency that started from
the Regulating Act of 1773 and reached its climax under the
Charter Act of 1833. This policy of legislative devolution
resulted in the grant of almost complete internal autonomy to
the provinces in 1937.
1. It also provided for the establishment of new legislative
councils for Bengal, North-Western Provinces and Punjab,
which were established in 1862, 1886 and 1897,
respectively.
1. It empowered the Viceroy to make rules and orders for the
more convenient transaction of business in the council. It
also gave a recognition to the ‘portfolio’ system, introduced
by Lord Canning in 1859. Under this, a member of the
Viceroy’s council was made in-charge of one or more
departments of the Government and was authorised to issue
final orders on behalf of the council on matters of his
department(s).
1. It empowered the Viceroy to issue ordinances, without the
concurrence of the legislative council, during an emergency.
The life of such an ordinance was six months.
Indian Councils Act of 1892
The features of this Act were as follows:
1. It increased the number of additional (non-official) members
in the Central and provincial legislative councils, but
maintained the official majority in them.
1. It increased the functions of legislative councils and gave
them the power of discussing the budget5 and addressing
questions to the executive.
1. It provided for the nomination of some non-official members
of the (a) Central Legislative Council by the viceroy on the
recommendation of the provincial legislative councils and the
Bengal Chamber of Commerce, and (b) that of the provincial
legislative councils by the Governors on the
recommendation of the district boards, municipalities,
universities, trade associations, zamin-dars and chambers.
‘The act made a limited and indirect provision for the use of
election in filling up some of the non-official seats both in the
Central and provincial legislative councils. The word “election”
was, however, not used in the Act. The process was described as
nomination made on the recommendation of certain bodies6 .’
Indian Councils Act of 1909
This Act is also known as Morley-Minto Reforms (Lord Morley was
the then Secretary of State for India and Lord Minto was the then
Viceroy of India).
The features of this Act were as follows:
1. It considerably increased the size of the legislative councils,
both Central and provincial. The number of members in the
Central legislative council was raised from 16 to 60. The
number of members in the provincial legislative councils was
not uniform.
1. It retained official majority in the Central legislative council,
but allowed the provincial legislative councils to have non-
official majority.
1. It enlarged the deliberative functions of the legislative
councils at both the levels. For example, members were
allowed to ask supplementary questions, move resolutions
on the budget and so on.
1. It provided (for the first time) for the association of Indians
with the executive councils of the Viceroy and Governors.
Satyendra Prasad Sinha became the first Indian to join the
Viceroy’s executive council. He was appointed as the Law
Member.
1. 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.
1. It also provided for the separate representation of
presidency corporations, 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 India7 .
The Government of India Act of 1919 was thus enacted, which
came into force in 1921. This Act is also known as Montagu-
Chelmsford Reforms (Montagu was the Secretary of State for
India and Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India).
The features of this Act were as follows:
1. It relaxed the central control over the provinces by
demarcating and separating the central and provincial
subjects. The central and provincial legislatures were
authorised to make laws on their respective list of subjects.
However, the structure of government continued to be
centralised and unitary.
1. It further divided the provincial subjects into two parts–
transferred and reserved. The transferred subjects were to
be administered by the Governor with the aid of Ministers
responsible to the legislative council. The reserved subjects,
on the other hand, were to be administered 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-
arche which means double rule. However, this experiment
was largely unsuccessful.
1. It introduced, for the first time, bicameralism and direct
elections in the country. Thus, the Indian legislative council
was replaced by a bicameral legislature consisting of an
Upper House (Council of State) and a Lower House
(Legislative Assembly). The majority of members of both the
Houses were chosen by direct election.
1. It required that the three of the six members of the Viceroy’s
executive Council (other than the Commander-in-Chief)
were to be Indian.
1. It extended the principle of communal representation by
providing separate electorates for Sikhs, Indian Christians,
Anglo-Indians and Europeans.
1. It granted franchise to a limited number of people on the
basis of property, tax or education.
1. It created a new office of the High Commissioner for India in
London and transferred to him some of the functions hitherto
performed by the Secretary of State for India.
1. It provided for the establishment of a public service
commission. Hence, a Central Public Service Commission
was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil servants8 .
1. It separated, for the first time, provincial budgets from the
Central budget and authorised the provincial legislatures to
enact their budgets.
1.  It provided for the appointment of a statutory commission to
inquire into and report on its working after ten years of its
coming into force.
Simon Commission
In November 1927 itself (i.e., 2 years before the schedule), the
British Government announced the appointment a seven-member
statutory commission under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon
to report on the condition of India 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 1930 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. To consider the
proposals of the commission, the British Government convened
three round table conferences of the representatives of the British
Government, British India and Indian princely states. On the basis
of these discussions, a ‘White Paper on Consitutional Reforms’
was prepared and submitted for the consideration of the Joint
Select Committee of the British Parliament. The recommendations
of this committee were incorporated (with certain changes) in the
next Government of India Act of 1935.
Communal Award
In August 1932, Ramsay 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
continued separate electorates for the Muslims, Sikhs, Indian
Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans but also extended it to
the depressed classes (Scheduled Castes). Gandhiji was
distressed over this extension of the principle of communal
representation to the depressed classes and undertook fast unto
death in Yerawada Jail (Poona) 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,
retained 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 Sections and 10 Schedules.
The features of this Act were as follows:
1. It provided for the establishment of an All-India Federation
consisting of provinces and princely states as units. The Act
divided the powers between the Centre and units in terms of
three lists–Federal List (for Centre, with 59 items), Provincial
List (for provinces, with 54 items) and the Concurrent List
(for both, with 36 items). Residuary powers were given to the
Viceroy. However, the federation never came into being as
the princely states did not join it.
1. It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced
‘provincial autonomy’ in its place. The provinces were
allowed to act as autonomous units of administration in their
defined spheres. Moreover, the Act introduced responsible
Governments in provinces, that is, the Governor was
required to act with the advice of ministers responsible to the
provincial legislature. This came into effect in 1937 and was
discontinued in 1939.
1. It provided for the adoption of dyarchy at the Centre.
Consequently, the federal subjects were divided into
reserved subjects and transferred subjects. However, this
provision of the Act did not come into operation at all.
1. It introduced bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces.
Thus, the legislatures of Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Bihar,
Assam and the United Provinces were made bicameral
consisting of a legislative council (upper house) and a
legislative assembly (lower house). However, many
restrictions were placed on them.
1. It further extended the principle of communal representation
by providing separate electorates for depressed classes
(Scheduled Castes), women and labour (workers).
1. 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.
1. It extended franchise. About 10 per cent of the total
population got the voting right.
1. It provided for the establishment of a Reserve Bank of India
to control the currency and credit of the country.
1. It provided for the establishment of not only a Federal Public
Service Commission, but also a Provincial Public Service
Commission and Joint Public Service Commission for two or
more provinces.
1.  It provided for the establishment of a Federal Court, which
was set up in 1937.
Indian Independence Act of 1947
On February 20, 1947, the British Prime Minister Clement Atlee
declared that the British rule in India would end by June 30,1948;
after which the power would be transferred to responsible Indian
hands. This announcement was followed by the agitation by the
Muslim League demanding partition of the country. Again on June
3, 1947, the British Government made it clear that any
Constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly of India (formed
in 1946) cannot apply to those parts of the country which were
unwilling to accept it. On the same day (June 3, 1947), Lord
Mountbatten, the Viceroy of India, put forth the partition plan,
known as the 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 Act9 (1947).
The features of this Act were as follows:
1. It ended the British rule in India and declared India as an
independent and sovereign state from August 15, 1947.
1. It provided for the partition of India and creation of two
independent dominions of India and Pakistan with the right
to secede from the British Commonwealth.
1. It abolished the office of Viceroy and provided, for each
dominion, a governorgeneral, who was to be appointed by
the British King on the advice of the dominion cabinet. His
Majesty’s Government in Britain was to have no
responsibility with respect to the Government of India or
Pakistan.
1. It empowered the Constituent Assemblies of the two
dominions to frame and adopt any constitution for their
respective nations and to repeal any act of the British
Parliament, including the Independence act itself.
1. It empowered the Constituent Assemblies of both the
dominions to legislate for their respective territories till the
new constitutions were drafted and enforced. No Act of the
British Parliament passed after August 15, 1947 was to
extend to either of the new dominions unless it was
extended thereto by a law of the legislature of the dominion.
1. It abolished the office of the Secretary of State for India and
transferred his functions to the Secretary of State for
Commonwealth Affairs.
1. It proclaimed the lapse of British paramountcy over the
Indian princely states and treaty relations with tribal areas
from August 15, 1947.
1. It granted freedom to the Indian princely states either to join
the Dominion of India or Dominion of Pakistan or to remain
independent.
1. It provided for the governance of each of the dominions and
the provinces by the Government of India Act of 1935, till the
new Constitutions were framed. The dominions were
however authorised to make modifications in the Act.
1.  It deprived the British Monarch of his right to veto bills or ask
for reservation of certain bills for his approval. But, this right
was reserved for the GovernorGeneral. The Governor-
General would have full power to assent to any bill in the
name of His Majesty.
1.  It designated the Governor-General of India and the
provincial governors as constitutional (nominal) heads of the
states. They were made to act on the advice of the
respective council of ministers in all matters.
1.  It dropped the title of Emperor of India from the royal titles of
the King of England.
1.  It discontinued the appointment to civil services and
reservation of posts by the secretary of state for India. The
members of the civil services appointed before August 15,
1947 would continue to enjoy all benefits that they were
entitled to till that time.
At the stroke of midnight of 14-15 August, 1947, the British rule
came to an end and power was transferred to the two new
independent Dominions of India and Pakistan10. Lord Mountbatten
became the first GovernorGeneral of the new Dominion of India.
He swore in Jawaharlal Nehru as the first Prime Minister of
independent India. The Constituent Assembly of India formed in
1946 became the Parliament of the Indian Dominion.