Constitutional antecedents of the Indian Constitution

Introduction
The historical background of Indian Constitution can be traced back to British
rule in the country. The British Rule in India came in two phases; Company rule
and Crown rule. The company ended with the revolt of 1857 after which the
British Imperial Crown took over the administration of the country. The
historical background of Indian Constitution and its evolution started with the
Regulating act of 1773 which was the first time the Parliament of British passed
a law to regulate the affairs of the East India Company in India.
The very fact that the constitution of Indian republic is the product not of the
political revolution but of the research and deliberations of a body of eminent
representatives of people who sought to improve upon the existing system of
administration, makes the retrospect of the constitutional development
indispensable for a proper understanding of this constitution.
All these systems owe their legacy to the British administration. So, let us see
the historical background of the Indian Constitution and its development
through the years marking the constitutional antecedents of the Indian
constitution.
Government of India Act 1858
For our present purposes we need to go beyond the year 1858 when British
Crown assumed sovereignty over India from the east India company and
parliament enacted the first law for the governance under the direct rule of the
British government. The rule of Company was replaced by the rule of the
Crown in India and the powers of the British Crown were to be exercised by the
Secretary of State for India. He was assisted by the Council of India, having 15
members and was vested with complete authority and control over the Indian
administration through the Viceroy as his agent. The Governor-General was
made the Viceroy of India wherein Lord Canning was the first Viceroy of India.
It also abolished Board of Control and Court of Directors.
Indian Councils Act 1861
The Indian councils Act of 1861 introduced a grain of popular element in so far.
It introduced for the first time Indian representation in the institutions like
Viceroy’s executive and legislative council as non-official members. The
councils were established in Centre and provinces. It provided that the
Viceroy’s Executive Council should have some Indians as the non-official
members while transacting the legislative businesses. It accorded statutory
recognition to the portfolio system and initiated the process of decentralisation
by restoring the legislative powers to the Bombay and the Madras Provinces.
Indian Council Act of 1892
This act Introduced indirect elections those were basically the non-official
members of Indian legislative councils to be nominated by the Bengal chamber
of commerce and the non-official members of Provincial Legislative Councils to
be nominated by certain local bodies such as universities, district boards and
municipalities. It enlarged the size of the legislative councils. And this
enlargement of the functions of the Legislative Councils and gave them the
power of discussing the Budget and addressing questions to the Executive.
Morley-Minto reforms and the Indian Councils Act of 1909
The first attempt at introducing a representative and popular element was
made by the Morley-Minto reforms, known by the names of the then Secretary
of the State, lord Morley and the Viceroy Lord Minto which were implemented
by the Indian Council Act of 1909. It changed the name of the Central
Legislative Council to the Imperial Legislative Council. The members of the
Central Legislative Council were increased to 60 from 16. It introduced a system
of communal representation for Muslims by accepting the concept of ‘separate
electorate’ and thus sowed the seeds of separatism.
Montagu-Chelmsford Report and Government of India Act 1919
The next development in the constitutional development of India is the
Montagu-Chelmsford Report which led to the enactment of the Government of
India Act but the amendments introduced substantive changes into the existing
system. The Central subjects were demarcated and separated from those of the
Provincial subjects. The scheme of dual governance, ‘Dyarchy’, was introduced
in the Provincial subjects. Under the system, the provincial subjects were
divided into two parts – transferred and reserved. On reserved subjects,
Governor was not responsible to the Legislative council but the ministers were
accountable to the legislative councils for the transferred subjects. The Act
introduced, for the first time, bicameralism at the centre introducing the upper
and the lower house. The upper house or the council of state composed 60
members and lower house or the legislative assembly composed 144
members. The Act also required that the three of the six members of the
Viceroy’s Executive Council were to be Indians.
Government of India Act 1935
To accommodate the limitations of the Government of India Act, 1919, a report
was presented by the Simon commission. It was discussed in the round table
conferences and resulted in the Government of India Act 1935. It is also known
as the mini constitution of India. The Act provided for the establishment of
an All-India Federation consisting of the Provinces and the Princely States as
units, though the envisaged federation never came into being. The Act divided
the powers between the Centre and the units into items of three lists,
namely the Federal List, the Provincial List and the Concurrent List. The Federal
List for the Centre consisted of 59 items, the Provincial List for the
provinces consisted of 54 items and the Concurrent List for both consisted of
36 items. The residuary powers were vested with the Governor-General. The
Act abolished the Dyarchy in the Provinces and introduced ‘Provincial
Autonomy’. It provided for the adoption of Dyarchy at the Centre but in
practice it was not implemented. The Act also introduced bicameralism in 6 out
of 11 Provinces. These six Provinces were Assam, Bengal, Bombay, Bihar,
Madras and the United Province. It also Provided for the establishment of
Federal Court and abolished the Council of India.
Indian Independence Act, 1947
In pursuance of the Indian Independence Act, the Government of India Act,
1935 was amended by the adaptation orders, both in India and Pakistan, in
order to provide an interim Constitution to each of the two dominions until the
Constituent Assembly could draw up the future constitution. The act declared
India as an Independent and Sovereign State with the abolition of the
sovereignty and responsibility of the British Parliament. The crown would no
longer be the source of authority. It established responsible Governments at
both the Centre and the Provinces and designated the Viceroy of India and the
provincial Governors as the Constitutional. It assigned dual functions as
Constituent and Legislative to the Constituent Assembly and declared this
dominion legislature as a sovereign body.
Conclusion
The Constitution of a nation, in essence, is adjectival rather than being
substantive. It does not seek to direct what should be done but does lay down
how the authority of the government of a nation should be exercised. India is a
diverse nation with respect to its culture, the citizens, and it's territory which is
why it is the result of the combined administration of the Crown and the Indian
legislative councils; therefore, the historical growth of the Constitution of India
can be traced back to many statutes before the nation gained independence.
The background of the Indian Constitution started with the establishment of
the East India Company by the British. The British started introducing different
Acts under the East India Company rule, and they made a renewal of their East
Indian Company agreement every twenty years. After a few years, they
gradually started conquering India and made rules that suited them. By the end
of the Company phase, the British had completely conquered India. After the
Crown rule of the British, India gained its independence. After getting
independence in 1947, it took almost three years for the Indian Constitution to
be established.