Regulating Act, 1773

The Act had the following provisions:

● The Regulating Act, 1773 established the office of the Governor General.
● Introduction of parliamentary control over the East India Company.
● The Governor of Bengal was made the Governor General of Bengal.
● Accordingly, Warren Hastings became the first Governor General of Bengal.
● Establishment of Governor General's Council
● Establishment of the Supreme Court for the First time at Fort William, Calcutta.
● The Diarchy was established in Bengal in 1765 AD.
● Under this arrangement, the authority of administration, revenue collection and
civil justice was with the Company and internal law and order and criminal justice
were given to the Nawab of Bengal.
● This diarchy was ended by Warren Hastings.

PITT’S India Act, 1784

● It was a Regulating Act named after the British Prime Minister William Pitt and
was passed to address the shortcomings of The Regulating Act 1773
● It distinguished between the commercial and political function of the East India
Company.
● It gave the British government supreme control over the Company’s affairs and
its administration in India.
● A Dual Control system within Company was started
➔ Board of Control:- to supervise and direct all operations of the civil and military
government i.e. Political duty
➔ Court of Directors :- to manage the commercial affairs
● This act is also important in the sense that for the first time Company’s territories
in India were called the British Possessions in India.

Charter Act, 1813

● By this act, the trade monopoly of the British East India Company in India was
ended.
● By this act, the British Parliament ended the East India Company's trade
monopoly with India, except for trade with tea and China.
 ● Through this act financial provision was made for the education of Indians.
● Christian missionaries were allowed to spread Christianity in India.

Charter Act, 1833

● By this act all the commercial rights of the Company were abolished.
● The Company's monopoly on the tea trade and trade with China was abolished.
● By this Act, the Governor General of Bengal was made the Governor General of
the whole of India.
● Lord William Bentinck was the first Governor General of India under this
provision.
● The Law Commission was set up under the chairmanship of Lord Macaulay to
codify Indian laws.

Government of India Act, 1858

● Under the Government of India Act 1858, the rule of the East India Company was
abolished and the administration of India was handed over to the British Crown.
● During this act, the 'Court of Directors' and 'Board of Control' were abolished and
in its place a 15-member council was established, whose chairman was given the
status of the Secretary of State for India.
● The British Parliament stated that a member of the British Cabinet was appointed
Secretary of State for India.
● According to this Act, the Governor General of India came to be known as the
Viceroy of India.
● Thus Lord Canning became the last Governor General and first Viceroy of India.
● Under the Act of 1858, the office of the Mughal Emperor was abolished.
● Under this Act, the office of the first Accountant General was established in India.

Indian Councils Act, 1861

● By this Act, the Governor General was given the power to issue ordinances.
● By this Act, the Viceroy's Council was given the power to make laws, under which
Lord Canning introduced the departmental system.
● Lord Canning laid the foundation of the cabinet system in a way by assigning
different portfolios to different members.
 ● Through this Act, the Viceroy's Executive Council was expanded, in which a fifth
member was included, who was a jurist.

Indian Councils Act, 1892

● The most important feature of this act is that it introduced the electoral system,
although the word election was not used.
● In this act, the powers, functions and structure of the Indian Legislative Council
were described.
● For the first time, Indian representatives were allotted seats for election to the
Indian Legislative Council under the Indian Councils Act 1892.
● Through this act, the right to express their views on the budget was given.
● In matters of public interest, the right to ask questions was also given by giving 6
days' notice.

Indian Councils Act, 1909

● It is also known as the Morley-Minto Reforms.
● Morley was the Secretary of State, while Minto was the Indian Viceroy.
● It increased the size of the legislative councils at both Central and Provincial
levels.
● It retained an official majority in the Central Legislative Council.
● It provided 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.
● It introduced the System of communal representation for Muslims by accepting
the “Separate electorate’’.
● Under this, the Muslim members were to be elected only by Muslims voters.
● This act legalized communalism and that is Lord Minto came to be known as
“Father of Communal Electorate".

Government of India Act, 1919

● It is called the “ Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms.
 ● Objective of this act was the gradual introduction of “Responsible
government” in India.
● It relaxed the central control over the provinces by introducing the concept
of the central and provincial subjects.
● Dyarchy System at Provincial level⇒ separation of Subjects into two parts
➔ Transferred Subjects → Administered by Governor with the aid of the
minister.
➔ Reserved Subjects → Administered by Governor with the help of
executive council.
● Introduced Bicameralism and direct election in the country.
● The Indian Legislative Council was replaced by a Bicameral legislature
consisting of the Upper house ( Council of State) and Lower House (
Legislative Assembly).
● Extended communal representation by providing a separate electorate for
Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans.
● Created a new office of High Commissioner for India in London to perform
some of the function of Secretary of State.
● A Central Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 for recruiting civil
servants.
● Lloyd George was the Prime Minister of England at the time of
Montague-Chelmsford Act.

Government of India Act, 1935

● The report submitted by the Simon Commission in 1927-28 was based on
the Government of India Act 1935.
● Later this Act became the main source of the Indian Constitution.
● The Act divided the powers between the Centre and Princely units in terms
of three lists
➔ Federal List { List for Centre with 59 items}
➔ Provincial List {For provinces with 54 items }
➔ Concurrent List {for both with 36 items}
 ● Residuary powers were given to the Governor General in the Union
established by the 1935 Act.
● It abolished Dyarchy in provinces and introduced provincial autonomy.
● The provinces were allowed to act as autonomous units of administration
● It introduced Dyarchy at the Centre.
● It introduced Bicameralism in six out of eleven provinces:- Bengal, Bombay,
Madras, Bihar, Assam and the United Provinces.
● Established a Reserve Bank of India.
● It provided for a Federal Court which was established in 1937.
● Provincial elections were conducted as per the Government of India Act,
1935.
● As a result of this act, Burma was separated from India.

Indian Independence Act, 1947

● After the passage of this act, independent India's own constitutional history
started.
● According to this act, India was divided into two colonies, the Indian Union
and Pakistan.
● After 15 August 1947, the jurisdiction of the British Parliament over India
and Pakistan ended.
● There was provision for a Governor-General in each Dominion who would
be responsible for the effective administration of the Act.
● The control of the British crown over the princely states came to an end.

Constituent Assembly and Constitution Making Process

● In the year 1934, for the first time, MN Roy gave the idea of forming a Constituent
Assembly in India.
● At the level of the Indian National Congress, in May 1934, a Constituent Assembly
was officially demanded in Patna to frame the Constitution.
● In the year 1942, the Cripps Mission proposed the framing of the Constitution of
India by an elected Constituent Assembly.
 ● The Indian Constituent Assembly was formed on the basis of representative
election by the Cabinet Mission Plan, 1946.
● According to this, the members of the Constituent Assembly were to be elected
on the basis of population.
● Under this, arrangements were made for the election of one representative for
every ten lakh people.
● The total number of members of the Constituent Assembly was fixed at 389, in
which 296 seats were given to British India and 93 seats to the princely states.
● Out of 296 seats given to British India, 292 members were to be elected from 11
provinces and 4 from Chief Commissioner's provinces.
● The representatives of the princely states were to be elected by the heads of the
princely states.
● A total of 207 members participated in the first meeting of the Sabha on 9
December 1946, in which 9 were women.
● This meeting was presided over by Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha.
● On 11 December 1946, the Constituent Assembly appointed Dr. Rajendra Prasad
as the permanent President of the Constituent Assembly.
● Benegal Narasimha Rao was appointed advisor to the Constituent Assembly.
● Jawaharlal Nehru presented the 'Objectives Resolution' in the Constituent
Assembly on 13 December 1946.
● On 3 June 1947, a separate Constituent Assembly was formed for Pakistan under
the Mountbatten Plan, due to which the number of members of the Indian
Constituent Assembly decreased to 299.
● It took a total of 2 years 11 months 18 days to prepare and adopt the Indian
Constitution.
● A total of 11 sessions were held during this period. The constitution was adopted
on 26 November 1949, the last day of the 11th session.
● The Constitution of India was signed by the Constituent Assembly on 24 January
1950 by all the members (total 284 members).
● The total number of women members in the Constituent Assembly of India was
15.

Important personalities Related with Constituent Assembly

Role/Position Person
Temporary Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Dr. Sachchidanand Sinha

Permanent Chairman of the Constituent Assembly Dr. Rajendra Prasad

Advisor to the Constituent Assembly Benegal Narsing Rau

Main Calligrapher of the Indian Constitution Prem Behari Narayan Raizada

Decorator of the original Hindi version of the

Nandalal Bose
Constitution

Chief Draftsman of the Constituent Assembly L.N. Mukherjee

Important Date

22 July 1947 National flag adopted

24 January 1950 National anthem adopted

24 January 1950 National anthem adopted

24 January 1950 Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected the first President of India

26 November 1949 Preamble adopted

26 January 1950 Constitution of India came into force

Q. How many Sessions of the Indian Constituent Assembly were conducted for the
formulation of the Indian Constitution?
भारतीय संविधान के निर्माण के लिए भारतीय संविधान सभा के कितने सत्र आयोजित किए गए
थे?
(a) 7
(b) 11
(c) 12
(d) 15
Ans: b
Q.Members of Constituent Assembly were:
संविधान सभा के सदस्य थे:
(a) Elected by provincial assemblies / प्रांतीय विधानसभाओं द्वारा चन
ु े गए
(b) Elected directly by the people / लोगों द्वारा सीधे चन
ु े गए
(c) Nominated by government / सरकार द्वारा मनोनीत
(d) Represented only by the princely state / केवल रियासत द्वारा प्रतिनिधित्व
Ans: a)

Q. How much time did the Constituent Assembly take to frame the Constitution of India
?
संविधान सभा को भारत के संविधान को बनाने में कितना समय लगा?
(a) 2 years 7 months 23 days / 2 साल 7 महीने 23 दिन
(b) 2 years 11 months 18 days / 2 साल 11 महीने 18 दिन
(c) 3 years 4 months 14 days / 3 साल 4 महीने 14 दिन
(d) 3 years 11 months 5 days / 3 साल 11 महीने 5 दिन
Ans: b

Q. Who presided over the first meeting of the Indian Constituent Assembly?
भारतीय संविधान सभा की पहली बैठक की अध्यक्षता किसने की?
(a) Dr. Rajendra Prasad / डॉ राजेंद्र प्रसाद
(b) Sachchidananda / सच्चिदानंद
(c) B.R. Ambedkar / बी.आर. अम्बेडकर
(d) H.V. Kamath / एच.वी. कामत
Ans: b