Constitutional Frame Work
Historical Background
- The British Came to India around 1600 as traders. (East India Company)
- They had the right of trading in India under a charter granted by Queen Elizabeth.
- 1765 - Emperor Shah Alam granted 'Diwani' of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa to East India Company.
- Diwani - Rights over revenue and civil justice
Benjamin West's painting - Shah grant of the Diwani to Rober Clive
- 1858 - In the wake of 'sepoy mutiny, the British Crown assumed direct responsibility for the governance of India.
This Sepoy Mutiny is the first outbreak of the Indian independence movement against British rule.
- 1934 - M.N.Roy proposed the idea of the constitution.
- 1935 - Congress Party-led this idea as an official demand.
- 1940 - British Accepted the demand
- 1946 - Constituent Assembly was formed.
- A constituent assembly or constitutional assembly is a body or assembly of popularly elected representatives which is assembled to draft or adopt a constitution or similar document
- 1947 - Finally India became an independent nation.
Above is a brief timeline for a better understanding of the need for a constitution.
- 1950 January 26 - Constitution came into force.
- ( actually, it is passed and adopted by the assembly on 26 November 1949)
However,
various features of the Indian Constitution and polity have their
roots in British rule. Certain events in the British
rule laid down the legal framework for the organization and
functioning of government and administration in British India.
These events have greatly influenced our constitution and polity.
- The Company Rule (1773 -1858)
- The Crown Rule (1858 - 1947)
The Company Rule (1773-1858)
Regulating Act of 1773
- It has great constitutional importance
- because
- 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 recognized, the political and administrative functions of the company for the first time
- it laid the foundations of central administration in India.
Features
- It designated the Governor of Bengal as the ‘GovernorGeneral of Bengal’ and created an Executive Council of four members to assist him.
- The first such Governor-General 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 presidencies were independent of one another.
- It provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court at Calcutta (1774) comprising one chief justice and three other judges.
- It prohibited the servants of the Company from engaging in any private trade or accepting presents or bribes from the ‘natives’.
- 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.
Amending Act of 1781
Also known as the Act of Settlement, this act is introduced by the the British parliament to rectify the defects of the Regulating act of 1781.
Features
- It exempted the Governor-General and the Council from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for the acts done by them in their official capacity. Similarly, it also exempted the servants of the company from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for their official actions.
- It excluded the revenue matters and the matters arising in the collection of revenue from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
- It provided that the Supreme Court was to have jurisdiction over all the inhabitants of Culcutta. It also required the court to administer the personal law of the defendants i.e., Hindus were to be tried according to the Hindu law and Muslims were to be tried according to the Mohammedan law.
- It laid down that the appeals from the Provincial Courts could be taken to the Governor-General-in-Council and not to the Supreme Court.
- It empowered the Governor-General-in council to frame regulations for the Provincial Courts and Councils.
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