India is a Union of States which is Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of Government. The Constitution distributes the legislative power between Parliament and State Legislatures.
Constitution is the fundamental law of a country which establish the fundamental principles on which the government of that country is based. The constitution lays down the framework and principal functions of various organs of the government as well as the method of interaction between the government and its citizens. The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, but it came into full operation from 26 January 1950.
Evolution of Indian Constitution
Here evolution of Indian Constitution has been divided into two parts, one part includes all the important acts before 1900 and another part includes acts and reforms after 1900 till independence.
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Though the systems of Ancient India have its reflections in the Constitution of India. A brief and chronological order of the Acts, documents and events that culminated in the framing of the world's largest written Constitution are as follows:
1. Regulating Act of 1773
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- This Act was based on the report of a committee headed by the British Prime Minister Lord North and after this Act the Governance of the East India Company was put under British Parliamentary control.
- Governor of Bengal was nominated as Governor General for all the three presidencies (Calcutta, Bombay and Madras). Warren Hastings was the first such Governor General.
- A Supreme Court was established in Calcutta and Governor General was empowered to make rules, regulations and ordinances with the consent of Supreme Court.
2. Pitts Act of 1784
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- This Act was enacted to improve upon the provisions of Regulating Act of 1773 to bring about better discipline in the Company's system.
- A 6-member Board of Controllers was set up which was headed by a minister of the British Government, and all the political responsibilities were given to this board.
- Provinces had to follow the instructions of the Central Government and Governor General was empowered to dismiss the failing provincial government.
3. Charter Act of 1793
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- In this Act main provisions of the previous act were consolidated.
- It provided the payment of salaries of the members of the Board of Controllers from Indian Revenue.
- And courts were now given the powers to interpret rules and regulations.
4. Charter Act of 1813
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- Trade monopoly of the East India Company came to an end from this Act. Powers of the three Councils of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta were enlarged, and they were also subjected to greater control of the British Parliament.
- Local autonomous bodies were empowered to levy taxes.
- Christian Missionaries were allowed to spread their religion in India.
5. Charter Act of 1833
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- The Governor General and his Council were given vast powers. The Council got full powers regarding revenue, and a single budget for the country was prepared by the Governor General.
- For the first time the Governor-General's Government was known as the 'Government of India' and his Council as the 'Indian Council'.
6. Charter Act of 1853
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- It was the last of the Charter Acts and it made important changes in the system of Indian Legislation. This Act followed a report of the then Governor General Dalhousie.
- A separate Governor for Bengal was to be appointed, recruitment of the Company's employees was to be done through competitive exams.
- After this Act, the Legislative and administrative functions of the Council were separately identified.
7. Government of India Act, 1858
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- From this Act, British Crown decided to assume sovereignty over India from the East India Company in an apparent consequence of the Revolt of 1857.
- It provided for absolute British control over India without any popular participation in the administration of the country. The powers of the crown were to be exercised by the Secretary of State for India, assisted by a council of fifteen members, known as the Council of India.
- The country was divided into provinces headed by a Governor or Lieutenant Governor aided by his Executive Council.
- All the authority for the governance of India was vested in the Governor General-in-Council who was responsible to the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State was ultimately responsible to the British Parliament.
8. Indian Councils Act, 1861
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- From this Act, the powers of the crown were to be exercised by the Secretary of State for India, assisted by a council of fifteen member also known as Council of India.
- This Act enabled the Governor General to associate representatives of the Indian people with the work of legislation. This Act also provided that the Governor General's Executive Council should include certain additional non-official members also.
- This Act decentralised the legislative powers of the Governor General's Council and vested them in the Governments of Bombay and Madras.
9. Indian Councils Act, 1892
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- The non-official members of the Indian Legislative Council were to be nominated by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and the Provincial Legislative Councils.
- The non-official members of the Provincial Council were to be nominated by certain local bodies such as universities, district boards, municipalities, zamindars etc.
- This Act also provided the Councils to have the power of discussing the budget and addressing questions to the Executive.
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End of Part 1 of Evolution of Constitution, for Part 2 click the link given below:👇
Evolution of Constitution Part 2.
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