In this article, what was the contribution of the Regulating Act of 1773 in the legal history of India? Along with the provisions, features of the Regulating Act 1773 and what were the faults in the Regulating Act, some main points related to the Regulating Act of 1773 have been clarified in this article –
When and why was the Regulating Act 1773 passed –
The East India Company, which came to India only for the purpose of trade, gradually started establishing its dominance in India and ultimately after acquiring the Civil of the states of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1772, the East India Company established its rule there. Established control over administrative power. In this way, along with trade, the influence of the East India Company also increased in administration and judicial system.
Due to which the British government was worried about this expansion of the company, hence the British government appointed a Select Committee and a Secret Committee by the British Parliament to control the activities of the company and to investigate the affairs of the company before giving loan amount to the company. Two committees were formed named (Secret Committee).
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The work of these committees was to investigate the work related to the Bengal province of the East India Company and study the arrangements of the company and submit their report. Many reports were presented to the British Government by these committees regarding the judicial and administrative malpractices of the Company, as a result of which an Act was passed in 1773 to establish the control of the British Parliament on the Company and to remove the judicial and administrative malpractices of the Company passed, which is known as the Regulating Act of 1773
Provisions of Regulating Act 1773 –
On the suggestion of the secret committee formed by the British government, the Regulating Act of 1773 was passed by the British government, whose main objective was to improve the governance of the Company ruled Indian territories. Many provisions were made by this Act to improve the administrative and judicial system, the main provisions of which were the following –
(i) Reconstitution of the Board of Directors –
The East India Company was supervised and managed by two institutions – the Court of Proprietors and the Court of Directors. Both these institutions were reorganized by sections 1 to 6 of the Regulating Act.
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There were a total of 24 members in the board of directors of the company who were called directors, they were selected by the general meeting of the shareholders. By this Act, their tenure was fixed and it was arranged that out of these 24 members, one-fourth i.e. 6 members would retire every year and new members would be selected in their place.
The main objective of this arrangement was to establish control over the tenure of the members of the Board of Directors. For membership, it was necessary that the person concerned should not have served in the army or other civil service in the Eastern countries or other specified areas and if so, he should have resided in England for at least two years after retirement.
Voting rights were now given only to those people who had a minimum deposit of 1000 pounds. This capacity for the Court of Directors was set at 2000 pounds. The voting capacity for the Court of Proprietors was kept at only 1000 pounds, but two votes at 3000 pounds, three votes were kept for 6000 pounds and for 10,000 pounds or more, four votes were kept. Thus, by the Regulating Act of 1773, necessary changes were made in the election, tenure and voting rights of the members of the Board of Directors.
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(ii) Parliamentary control over the Board of Directors –
An attempt was made to establish parliamentary control over the Board of Directors through the Regulating Act. For this, it has now been made necessary that all revenue related correspondence and copies of letters or documents received –
(a) in the case of the Government of India or the Governor-General, the Treasury and
(b) In case of civil or military administration, it will be sent to the concerned Secretary.
(iii) Supreme Government or Council –
Sub-sections 7 to 12 of the Regulating Act relate to the reorganization of the administrative system of Calcutta Presidency. To strengthen the administrative system of Calcutta, by sub-section 7 of the Act, arrangements were made for the appointment of a Governor General in place of the Governor and the Council and a council of four members to assist him, this council It was headed by the Maharaja.
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The Governor General, appointed as per sub-section 7, was the supreme government for the whole of British India, which was entrusted with the military and public administration of the Calcutta Presidency and the revenue of the provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Its decisions were based on majority and in case of equality of votes on any subject, the Governor General had the right to give a special vote (Casting Vote).
The tenure of the Governor General and the members of his council was kept for five years and before the completion of their term, only the King of England had the right to remove them from the post on the request of the directors of the Company. Warren Hastings was appointed its first Governor General and Colonel Monsom, Clavering, Philip Francis and Richard Barbell were appointed as the first four members. In the context of India, it was called the supreme government.
(iv) Establishment of the Supreme Court –
Before the Regulating Act of 1773, there was a system of Mayor Court whose decisions could be appealed to the Presidency and Council of Calcutta and the King-in-Council of England. The Mayor Court had no control over the executive.
This was the reason that a Supreme Court of Judicature was established under this Act. It consisted of a Chief Justice and three other judges. Such persons could be appointed to the post of judge who had at least five years’ experience as a barrister in England or Ireland. They were appointed by the Emperor of Britain. Sir Elijah Impey was appointed as the first Chief Justice and Stephen Cancer, Le Maistry, John Haigh and Robert Chambers as other judges.
It was given the jurisdiction to hear all types of civil, criminal, maritime and religious cases. Appeal against its decisions could be made to the King-in-Council (Privy Council).
(v) Reforms in civil services –
Through this Act, extensive reforms were also made in civil services. The annual salary was fixed at 20,000 pounds for the Governor General, 10,000 pounds for other council members, 8,000 pounds for the Chief Justice and 6000 pounds for other judges. They could not accept any kind of gift etc. nor could they accept any other kind of trade, business etc. People who violated these were liable to punishment.
The Governor General, council members and judges were all Justices of Peace in their respective areas. The Supreme Court of Judicature was also given the power to issue writs like Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Certiorari etc.
(vi) Legislative powers –
There was intervention of both the Supreme Council and the Supreme Court in the legislative field. Such laws, acts and ordinances could be passed by the Governor General and Council as were applicable to Fort William and the settlements under it. Such laws could not be inconsistent with English laws. Prior publication of such laws was necessary.
To make the general public aware of such laws, it was also expected that they should be displayed in a visible place in the court. It was also necessary for them to be registered in the Supreme Court. Provision regarding all this was made in Section 36 and 37 of the Regulating Act.
Features of Regulating Act –
The Regulating Act, 1773 was very important in many ways and contained many features in itself, such as –
(i) Through this, the influence and control of British rule was established over the company.
(ii) The Supreme Court of Judicature was established in Calcutta, which was a wonderful event in the judicial field
(iii) The administration of justice was freed from the executive for the first time and from here the tradition of separation of judiciary and executive was started.
(iv) Legal experts i.e. persons versed in law were appointed to the posts of judges.
(v) For fair and independent administration of justice, the Governor General, council members and judges were banned from accepting gifts, etc.
(vi) Private trade, business etc. were also prohibited for them so that discipline, loyalty and impartiality could be maintained among them.
(vii) To improve civil services, the salaries of the Governor General, council members and judges were increased
(viii) The Supreme Court of Judicature was given the jurisdiction to issue various writs.
Demerits of Regulating Act –
Despite having many features, the Regulating Act was full of many defects. The main defects of this Act were as follows –
(i) Most of the members of the Governor General and Council were not aware of the conditions in India, hence they were not able to give suggestions suitable to the Indian conditions.
(ii) Decisions were taken by majority due to which the Governor General was not able to implement important policies in the absence of majority.
(iii) Due to differences among themselves between the Governor General and the Council members, neither favorable policies could be made nor implemented.
(iv) The Governor General of Calcutta now became extremely powerful, because the Governors and councils of Bombay and Madras Presidencies were made subordinate to him. Due to this, bitterness started arising among themselves.
(v) The experience of establishing the Supreme Court of Judicature was also very bitter. On many matters, a situation of conflict would arise between the Governor General and Council and the Supreme Court of Judicature. There was a competition between the two to test their strength.
(vi) The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Judicature was also not clear. It was also not certain under which law the decisions would be taken, i.e. as per Indian customs and traditions or as per English law. The reality is that decisions were taken according to English law.
In this way, due to many flaws in the Regulating Act of 1773, a situation of conflict and tension was created between the Governor General and Council and the Supreme Court of Judicature. Therefore, to remove the shortcomings and defects of this Act, the Act of Settlement was passed in 1781.
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Note :- Care has been taken in preparing this article but still our website lawstudys.com will not be responsible for any kind of error or grammatical and linguistic inaccuracy.
Reference – Basanti Lal Babel &
Book – Legal and Constitutional History of India (Dr. Paranjape)
