hus, it became necessary to bring uniformity in the
administration of these three towns.
These all circumstances forced the British government to pass the
Regulating Act of 1773 in order to regulate the affairs of British East India Company.
And, accordingly, Lord North (Prime Minister of England at that
time) decided to revamp the affairs of the East India Company with the Regulating Act. And, so in May 1773 Lord North presented a bill in the British Parliament which when passed was known as ‘Regulating Act of 1773 ‘. An interesting point to note here is that by this act the, British Parliament only ‘regulated’ the affairs of the company but, didn’t take all power completely to itself.
The Aim of the Act
The basic objectives of implementing the Regulating Act of 1773
are listed below.
To control and regulate the affairs of East India Company
To remove the political power from the hands of the Trading Company To recognize the political and administrative power of the Company To provide new administrative reforms which were to provide a Central Administration System To improve the despotic state of affairs (situation) of the company To sort out the chaos created by the introduction of the system of dual government To bring anti-corruption practices via the medium of the act by prohibiting the servants of the company, from engaging in any form of private trade and from accepting bribes, gifts, and presents from the people
Key Provisions of the Act (Major features)
This was the first step taken by the British Parliament to interfere in the administration of the company, directly. The key features of the have described in the following paragraphs.
Introduction of the office of the Governor-General
of Bengal The office of the Governor of Bengal was redesignated as the Office of the Governor of the Presidency of Fort William, also known as Governor-General of Bengal. Lord Warren Hastings was the first person to hold this designation.
Creation of Executive Council to Assist the
Governor-General Also, the Executive Council of four members was created to assist the Governor-General.
Governors of Bombay and Madras presidencies
subordinate to the Governor-general of Bengal The Governors of Bombay and Madras were made subordinate to the Governor General of Bengal, thereby making the Governor General of Bengal as the ultimate authority.
Establishment of the Supreme Court at Judicature
at Fort William In the year 1774, Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William was established at Calcutta with one Chief Justice and three other judges. The jurisdiction of this court extended to all areas lying under the Bombay, Madras and Bengal Presidency. It was a Court of Record and its power extended to try both Civil, Criminal cases (only over the British subjects not on natives) as well as it had jurisdiction over admiralty cases. Judges were to come from England. The first Chief Justice of the court was Sir Elijah Impey.
Reforms to curb corruptions
This act brought prohibition on the servants of the company from engaging in any private trade or accepting bribes and gift from the local people.
The directors of the company were to be elected for a
period of five years and one-fourth of them used to retire every year. There was no procedure for re-election available. The Contribution of the Act to Indian Legal History (Impacts)
1. This enactment is considered to be a landmark enactment
as it brought a lot of dynamic and significant changes in the structure of judiciary in the country.
2. The act brought changes some important changes in the
Constitution of Court of Directors (COD)
3. For the first time, the political and administrative
functions of the company were recognized.
4. This act also laid down the foundation of the Central
Administration in the country. 5. This act created for the first time the Supreme Court at Calcutta thereby, making a proper judicial system and Judiciary got regulated to an extent and for the first time learned judges from England was made part of the Supreme Court in India.
Drawbacks of the Act
Though the act is considered to be a very significant one in the Indian legal history, still there was a lacuna left behind as the act failed to resolve the issues prevailing at that time in the legal system. The major drawbacks of the Act are listed below.
1. The situation was a paradoxical situation for the
Governor-General had no veto power and the Governor- General was made answerable to the Directors and was held responsible for all the acts related to the administration in India. But, the Governor-General had no free hand to give an independent decision as he was bound by the decision of the majority decision of the council. Because of this situation, the council used the Governor- General as the puppet to make their decision.
2. Though the Governors were subordinate to the GG in
actual practice, led to the ultimate power in the hands of the Governor and his subordinates resulting in widespread corruption and weakening of the administration at lower levels.
3. There was a lot of confusion regarding the powers and
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. Also, there was ambiguity between the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and that of the Council of the Governor-General. Also, the Act failed to address the concerns of the Indian natives who were the actual sufferers.
Bibliography V.D.Kulshrestha, “Landmarks in Indian Legal and Constitutional History” 8th edition in 2005.
Wolpert, Stanley (2009). A New History of India (8th ed.)