Historical Background of India Constitution

he British came to India in 1600 as traders, in the form of East India Company given Gazette by Queen ELIZABETH
which had the exclusive right of trading in India
In 1765, the Company, which till now had purely trading functions obtained the ‘diwani’ (i.e., rights over revenue and civil justice) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

Constitutional Reforms in British India

End of Dual government.
Governor of Bengal to be the Governor – General of British territories of India.
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.
Establishment of Supreme Court in Calcutta (1774) comprising one chief Justice and three other judges.
Court of directors to be elected for 4 years.

Actions of public servants of the Company in their official capacity were exempted from the jurisdiction of Supreme Court
Jurisdiction of Supreme Court was defined. SC had to take into consideration and respect the religious and social customs and usages of the Indian while enforcing its decrees and processes.
The rules and regulations made by GG-in-Council were not to be registered with SC.

Introduced Dual System of Government by the company and by a Parliamentary board of directors.
gave the British Government a measure of control over the company‘s affairs
Company became a subordinate department of the State.
Reduced the number of members of Executive Council of the GG to three.
the act was significant for two reasons:

The Company’s territories in India were for the first time called the ‘British possessions in India.
The British Government was given the supreme control over Company’s affairs and its administration in India.

Act of 1786:

Governor General given the power to over-ride the Council and was made the Commander-in-chief also to prevail upon Cornawalis to accept the GG-ship of India

Charter Act of 1793:

Charter Act of 1813

Company deprived of its trade monopoly in India except in tea and trade with China.
An amount of one lakh rupees was set aside for the promotion of Education in India.

Charter Act of 1833

Charter Act of 1853:

The Act renewed the powers of the Company and allowed it to retain the possession of Indian territories in trust of the British crown.
Recruitment to Civil Services was based on open annual competition examination (excluding Indians).
Accordingly, the Macaulay Committee (the Committee on the Indian Civil Service) was appointed in 1854.

Government of India Act of 1858

Rule of Company in India ended and that of the Crown began.
A post of Secretary of State (a member of the British cabinet) for India created.
He was to exercise the powers of the Crown.
Secretary of State governed India through the Governor General.
Governor General received the title of Viceroy. He represented Secretary of State and was assisted by an Executive Council, which consisted of high officials of the Govt.
The system of double government introduced by Pitt‘s Act 1784 was finally abolished.

Indian Council Act, 1861:

The Executive Council was now to be called Central Legislative Council.
The Governor General was conferred power to promulgate ordinance.
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.
It also gave a recognition to the ‘portfolio’ system, introduced by Lord Canning in 1859.

Indian Council Act, 1892:

Indian Council Act, 1909 or Minto-Morley Reforms:

It envisaged a separate electorate for Muslims.
the Act ‘legalized communalism’ and Lord Minto came to be known as the Father of Communal Electorate.
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.

Government of India Act, 1919 Or Montague-Chelmsford Reforms:

Transferred =administered by the Governor with the aid of ministers responsible to the Legislative Council
Reserved=The Governor and the Executive Council were to administer the reserved subjects without any responsibility to the legislature.

Indian legislature became bicameral for the first time, it actually happened after 1935 Act.
Post of Commissioner of India.

Government of India Act, 1935:

Provided for the establishment of All-India Federation consisting of  British Provinces
Princely States.
The joining of Princely States was voluntary and as a result the federation did not come into existence as the minimum number of princes required to join the federation did not give their assent to join the federation.
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)
Diarchy was introduced at the Centre (e.g. Department of Foreign Affairs and Defence were reserved for the Governor General).
Provincial autonomy replaced Diarchy in provinces. They were granted separate legal identity.
Burma (now Myanmar) separated from India.

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.
June 3, 1947, Lord Mountbatten, the viceroy of India, put forth the partition plan, known as the Mountbatten Plan.
It ended the British rule in India and declared India as an independent and sovereign state from August 15, 1947.

Finally India azaad…………..