Government of India Act 1935

Presented by:
Nikhil Mahant
Darshan Garjur

 TheGovernment of India Act 1935wasoriginallypassedinAugust1935(25&

26Geo.5c.42),andissaidtohavebeenthelongest(British)ActofParliament
everenactedbythattime.
With 321 sections and 10 schedules, this was the longest act passed by
British Parliament so far
TheActwasretroactivelysplitbytheGovernmentofIndia(Reprinting)Act1935
(26Geo.5&1Edw.8c.1)intotwoseparateActs:
1.TheGovernmentofIndiaAct1935(26Geo.5&1Edw.8c.2)
2.TheGovernmentofBurmaAct1935(26Geo.5&1Edw.8c.3)

Overview
thegrantofalargemeasureofautonomytotheprovincesofBritishIndia(ending
thesystemofdyarchyintroducedbytheGovernmentofIndiaAct1919)
provisionfortheestablishmentofa"FederationofIndia",tobemadeupofboth
BritishIndiaandsomeorallofthe"princelystates"
theintroductionofdirectelections,thusincreasingthefranchisefromseven
milliontothirty-fivemillionpeople

 apartialreorganizationoftheprovinces:
SindhwasseparatedfromBombay
BiharandOrissawassplitintoseparateprovincesofBiharandOrissa
BurmawascompletelyseparatedfromIndia
AdenwasalsodetachedfromIndia,andestablishedasaseparateCrowncolony
membershipoftheprovincialassemblieswasalteredsoastoincludemoreelected
Indianrepresentatives,whowerenowabletoformmajoritiesandbeappointedto
formgovernments
theestablishmentofaFederalCourt.

 ThepartsoftheActintendedtoestablishtheFederationofIndianevercameinto
operation,duetooppositionfromrulersoftheprincelystates.Theremainingparts
oftheActcameintoforcein1937,whenthefirstelectionsundertheactwerealso
held.
InthisactThefederaltypeofGovernmentwasselectedbutwhentheActwas
giventhentheIndianNationalCongressopposeditbecausetheywantedthe
unitaryGovernment.

 Indianshadincreasinglybeendemandingagreaterroleinthegovernmentoftheir
countrysincethelate19thcentury.TheIndiancontributiontotheBritishwareffort
duringtheFirstWorldWarmeantthateventhemoreconservativeelementsinthe
Britishpoliticalestablishmentfeltthenecessityofconstitutionalchange,resulting
intheGovernmentofIndiaAct1919.
ThatActintroducedanovelsystemofgovernmentknownasprovincial"diarchy",
i.e.,certainareasofgovernment(suchaseducation)wereplacedinthehandsof
ministersresponsibletotheprovincialevenforthoseareasoverwhichtheyhad
gainednominalcontrol,the"pursestrings"werestillinthehandsofBritish
officialdom.

Diarchy
ThediarchysystemincludedalistofsubjectsreservedbytheBritishGovernment
andalistofsubjectstransferredtotheIndians.
TheBritishhadcompletecontroloverthereservedsubjectsandcouldexert
"specialpowers"(theycouldchangeanyactorprojectproposedbytheIndians)
intothetransferredsubjects.
TheReservedsubjectswere:Taxation,Revenue,ForeignRelations/Policies,Justice
department,Police,PowerResourcesandPublications/Press.
TheTransferredSubjectsincluded:ForestDepartment,LocalGovernment,
Education,PublicHealthandSocialWelfare.

Features of the Act

Nopreamble:theambiguityofBritishcommitmenttodominionstatus
NoBillofRights
RelationshiptoaDominionConstitution
RealityofResponsibleGovernmentUndertheActIstheCupHalf-Fullor
Half-Empty?
FalseEquivalences
BritishPoliticalNeedsvs.IndianConstitutionalNeedstheOngoing
Dysfunction

Terms of the Act

TheActprovidedforDyarchyattheCentre.TheBritishGovernment,intheperson
oftheSecretaryofStateforIndia,throughtheGovernor-GeneralofIndia
ViceroyofIndia,wouldcontinuetocontrolIndiasfinancialobligations,defence,
foreignaffairsandtheBritishIndianArmyandwouldmakethekeyappointments
totheReserveBankofIndia(exchangerates)andRailwayBoardandtheAct
stipulatedthatnofinancebillcouldbeplacedintheCentralLegislaturewithoutthe
consentoftheGovernorGeneral.
atleast80percentofthefederalexpenditures,wouldbenon-votableandbetaken
offthetopbeforeanyclaimscouldbeconsideredfor(forexample)socialor
economicdevelopmentprograms.

Objectives of the British Government

win the support of moderate nationalistssinceitsformalaimwastolead
eventuallytoaDominionofIndiawhich,asdefinedundertheStatuteof
Westminster1931virtuallyequalledindependence;
retain British control of the Indian Army, Indian finances, and Indias foreign
relationsforanothergeneration;
win Muslim supportbyconcedingmostofJinnah'sFourteenPoints;
convince the Princes to join the FederationbygivingthePrincesconditionsfor
entryneverlikelytobeequaled.

ensuring that the Congress could never rule alone or gain enough seats to
bring down the government

The Working of the Act

TheBritishgovernmentsentoutLordLinlithgowasthenewviceroywiththeremit
ofbringingtheActintoeffect.Linlithgowwasintelligent,extremelyhardworking,
honest,seriousanddeterminedtomakeasuccessoutoftheAct.However,hewas
alsounimaginative,stolid,legalisticandfounditverydifficultto"getonterms"
withpeopleoutsidehisimmediatecircle.

In1937,aftertheholdingofprovincialelections,ProvincialAutonomy
commenced.Fromthatpointuntilthedeclarationofwarin1939,Linlithgow
tirelesslytriedtogetenoughofthePrincestoaccedetolaunchtheFederation.

Cont
InthishereceivedonlytheweakestbackingfromtheHomeGovernmentandin
theendthePrincesrejectedtheFederationen masse.InSeptember1939,
LinlithgowsimplydeclaredthatIndiawasatwarwithGermany.
ThoughLinlithgow'sbehaviourwasconstitutionallycorrectitwasalsooffensiveto
muchofIndianopinionthattheViceroyhadnotconsultedtheelected
representativesoftheIndianpeoplebeforetakingsuchamomentousdecision.This
leddirectlytotheresignationoftheCongressprovincialministries.
From1939,Linlithgowconcentratedonsupportingthewareffort.

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