Administrative Changes in British India after 1858 — Complete UPSC Notes

1. 1858 — Why a Watershed

The Sepoy Mutiny — or Revolt of 1857 (Topic 06) — lasted from 10 May 1857 to mid-1859. Even before the last embers were extinguished, the British Parliament concluded that the East India Company's rule had become indefensible. On 2 August 1858, Lord Derby's Conservative government passed the Government of India Act 1858 — "An Act for the Better Government of India" — transferring the government, territories, and revenues of India from the EIC to the British Crown.

1.1 Why the Crown Had to Step In

• Financial collapse: The Revolt cost the EIC approximately £40 million; the Company was effectively bankrupt and could not raise loans without Crown guarantees.
• Political indefensibility: Parliament had been embarrassed before the world that a trading company governed 150 million Indians; the Mutiny made dual control untenable.
• Strategic considerations: India was now critical to British global strategy — Russia in Central Asia, China trade, Suez (the canal would open in 1869). The Crown wanted direct control of military and foreign policy.
• The Mutiny's lessons: The British concluded that aggressive reform (annexations, Christian missionary penetration, social reform like the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act 1856) had alienated the Indian elite. The post-1858 settlement was self-consciously cautious — "no innovation in religion, no annexation of princely states, no interference with custom".

1.2 Four Continuities and Four Discontinuities

2. Government of India Act 1858 — Crown Takeover

Passed by Parliament on 2 August 1858; came into force on 1 November 1858 by Queen Victoria's Proclamation at Allahabad (read by Lord Canning). Also known as the "Act for the Good Government of India".

2.1 Key Provisions

• Abolition of the East India Company: The Company was dissolved as a governing body; all its territories, troops, debts, treaties, and liabilities transferred to the Crown.
• Abolition of the Court of Directors and Board of Control: The "double government" in London established in 1784 (Topic 05) was ended.
• Secretary of State for India: A new office in the British Cabinet — a member of the British government, accountable to Parliament — who would exercise the powers previously held by the Directors and the Board of Control. Lord Stanley became the first Secretary of State for India (effective 2 September 1858).
• Council of India: A 15-member advisory council to the Secretary of State, sitting in London; at least nine members had to have served in India for at least 10 years. Eight members initially nominated by the Crown; seven elected by the Court of Directors (for the first time only).
• Governor-General and Viceroy: The GG of India was now also styled the Viceroy — the personal representative of the Sovereign. Lord Canning became the first Viceroy (effective 1 November 1858).
• Indian Civil Service: The Covenanted Civil Service was formally renamed the Indian Civil Service; recruitment continued by open competitive examination (introduced by the Charter Act 1853).
• Crown control of armed forces: All EIC troops transferred to Crown service; the British forces in India henceforth a part of the regular British Army (the actual amalgamation of Company & Royal forces was completed by the Army Acts of 1860).

2.2 What Did Not Change

• The Indian Council Act 1861 (next year) was still needed to restore legislative powers to the Presidencies.
• The High Courts Act 1861 was still needed to unify the dual judicial system.
• The Police Act 1861 was still needed to create a modern police force.
• There was no Indian on the Viceroy's Council until 1909.
• No elections to any legislative body till the Indian Councils Act 1892.

3. Secretary of State for India & the Council of India

The post-1858 London end of the Indian administration consisted of two new offices: the Secretary of State for India (SoS) — a Cabinet minister — and the Council of India — an advisory body to assist him. Together they replaced the EIC's Court of Directors and the Crown's Board of Control.

3.1 Secretary of State for India

• A member of the British Cabinet — usually held simultaneously by a senior politician.
• Held the powers of the former Board of Control and Court of Directors combined — "to superintend, direct, and control all acts, operations and concerns" relating to the government of India.
• Answerable to Parliament; Parliament could (and did) question the Secretary of State on Indian affairs.
• Salary and expenses of the India Office and Council of India were paid from Indian revenues — a deeply controversial practice critiqued by Naoroji and the early Congress (charged in the "drain" account).
• Notable holders — with the dates they took office:
  • Lord Stanley (1858; first holder)
  • Sir Charles Wood (1859–66) — author of Wood's Despatch 1854
  • Marquess of Salisbury (1866–67, 1874–78)
  • Lord John Morley (1905–10) — co-author Morley-Minto Reforms 1909
  • Edwin Samuel Montagu (1917–22) — co-author Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919
  • Sir Samuel Hoare (1931–35) — co-author GoI Act 1935
  • Lord Pethick-Lawrence (1945–47) — led Cabinet Mission March 1946
  • Lord Listowel (Apr–Aug 1947) — last Secretary of State; the office was abolished on 15 August 1947

3.2 Council of India

• 15 members originally (1858); reduced to 10 by the Government of India Act 1869, restored to 15.
• Nine members must have served in India at least 10 years.
• Initially — 8 nominated by Crown, 7 by Court of Directors (transition only); from 1869 onwards all 15 by Crown.
• Tenure 10 years initially, later 5 (Indian Councils Act 1907).
• The SoS was bound to consult the Council in some matters (e.g. revenue, civil service) but could overrule it in others (war, peace, secret instructions through the Secret Committee).
• Council of India abolished by the Government of India Act 1935 (effective 1 April 1937) — replaced by a smaller advisory body.

3.3 The Secret Committee

For matters of war, peace, and high diplomacy, the Secretary of State could bypass the full Council of India and consult only the Secret Committee — a sub-committee of the Council. Despatches transmitted via the Secret Committee were not laid before Parliament. This procedure was used for the most sensitive imperial communications — e.g. the Younghusband Expedition to Tibet 1903–04, the Afghan policy of the 1880s.

3.4 The India Office

• Located at Whitehall, London (the building on King Charles Street still exists as the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's India Office Wing).
• Housed the SoS, the Council of India, and the entire London staff — about 1,000 officials by 1900.
• India Office Library (now part of the British Library, since 1982) holds an enormous archive — primary source for most modern Indian history.
• The India Office was abolished on 15 August 1947 and merged into the new Commonwealth Relations Office (later, in 1968, into the Foreign & Commonwealth Office).

4. Viceroy and Governor-General & the Executive Council

The 1858 Act renamed the Governor-General of India as Viceroy and Governor-General of India. The two titles served distinct functions: "Viceroy" was the personal representative of the Sovereign and held diplomatic functions (especially with princely states); "Governor-General" was the head of the executive government and the chief legislative authority. In practice, both titles were always held by the same person.

4.1 The First Eight Viceroys

4.2 The Executive Council

• By the GoI Act 1858, the Viceroy's Executive Council retained the structure of the late EIC period — GG + 3 (later 4) members + Law Member + Finance Member.
• Portfolio system: Introduced by Lord Canning informally in 1861 — each Council member was assigned a "portfolio" of departments (Home, Foreign, Finance, Military, Law). This is the origin of the modern Cabinet system in India.
• Members of the Viceroy's Executive Council were exclusively British until Sir S. P. Sinha became the first Indian (Law Member) in 1909, appointed under the Indian Councils Act 1909.
• Sinha was followed by Sir Krishna Govind Gupta, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Sir Sankaran Nair and others.
• By the GoI Act 1919 (in force 1921) the Viceroy's Executive Council had to include at least 3 Indians out of 6 members — the first major Indianisation at the central level.

4.3 The Viceroy's Powers

• Executive: Supreme civil and military authority in India; appointed Governors of Provinces; conducted diplomacy with princely states.
• Legislative: Could veto any Bill passed by the legislature; could promulgate Ordinances; reserved subjects for the SoS.
• Judicial: Highest authority for clemency, pardon, commutation of death sentences.
• Financial: Approved the annual budget; could overrule the Finance Member in cases of imperial interest.

5. Queen Victoria's Proclamation — 1 November 1858

The first formal document of the new regime was the Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria on 1 November 1858 and read out simultaneously at Allahabad (by Lord Canning), Lahore, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and other Presidency capitals. It is sometimes called the "Magna Carta of India" — though, as later events showed, its promises were honoured chiefly in the breach.

5.1 Key Pledges

• Princely states: The Doctrine of Lapse was abandoned. The Crown undertook to "respect the rights, dignity and honour of native Princes as our own" and would not annex states. (Implemented — no further annexations till 1947.)
• Religious neutrality: "We disclaim alike the right and the desire to impose Our Convictions on any of Our Subjects." The state would not patronise missionary activity nor interfere with religious customs.
• Civil employment: Indians would be "admitted to offices in Our Service, the duties of which they may be qualified, by their education, ability and integrity, duly to discharge". (Honoured chiefly in the breach — ICS remained 95% European till 1920s; only progressive Indianisation after the Lee Commission 1924.)
• Land tenures: Existing rights of zamindars, taluqdars and others to be respected; no agrarian disturbance.
• Amnesty: Amnesty for all sepoys and rebels except those who had committed murder. (Selective in practice; key leaders like Tantia Tope hanged 18 April 1859, Rani Lakshmibai killed in battle 18 June 1858, Nana Sahib fled to Nepal.)
• Religious laws: Pre-existing religious and customary laws of India to be respected by the courts.

5.2 What the Proclamation Did Not Promise

• Self-government, representative institutions, dominion status, or any form of Indian voice in central government — the Proclamation was a paternalist document of dynastic loyalty, not a constitutional bill of rights.
• Equal civil rights with Europeans — the Ilbert Bill controversy of 1883 showed how thinly the equality before the law actually went.
• Any time-frame for the development of Indian self-rule.

6. Indian Councils Act 1861

The first major reform after the Crown takeover. Passed by Parliament; came into force on 1 August 1861. Its central purpose was to restore the legislative powers that the Charter Act 1833 had centralised in the GG-in-Council, by giving back limited legislative authority to the Presidencies (and to allow non-official Indian voices to be heard in the legislatures, however informally).

6.1 Key Provisions

• Expansion of the Viceroy's Executive Council: The Council was expanded for legislative purposes by 6 to 12 additional members nominated by the GG (the "Legislative Council") — at least half had to be non-official.
• Non-official Indians: For the first time, Indians could be nominated as non-official members of the Legislative Council. Three Indians were nominated in 1862: the Raja of Banaras, the Maharaja of Patiala, and Sir Dinkar Rao (Diwan of Gwalior).
• Restoration of legislative powers to Presidencies: Madras and Bombay had Legislative Councils restored (4–8 members, similarly with non-official Indians). Other provinces could be granted Legislative Councils by the GG — Bengal 1862, NWP 1886, Punjab and Burma 1897, Bihar/Orissa 1912.
• Portfolio system formalised: Each member of the Executive Council was responsible for one or more "portfolios" of departments. This Cabinet-style allocation was Canning's innovation, now given statutory recognition.
• Ordinances: The Viceroy could issue Ordinances during the recess of the Legislative Council; valid for six months. (The constitutional ancestor of Article 123 of the Indian Constitution.)
• Three subjects reserved for the GG-in-Council: Foreign relations, religion, customs of land revenue — the Provincial Councils could not legislate on these without the GG's prior sanction.

6.2 What the 1861 Act Did Not Do

• No principle of election — all Indians on the Council were nominated by the Viceroy.
• The "Council" had no real legislative initiative — it merely advised on Bills brought forward by the official side; the official majority always carried the vote.
• No questions could be asked on government policy; no resolutions could be moved; no discussion of the budget.
• The Indian members were ornamental "loyalists" — rajas, taluqdars, diwans — not yet representatives of the educated middle class.

7. Indian High Courts Act 1861 — Unified Judiciary

The dual judicial structure inherited from the Company era — Crown's Supreme Courts at the Presidency towns and Company's Sadar Adalats in the mofussil (Topic 05) — was finally unified by the Indian High Courts Act 1861.

7.1 Key Provisions

• Authorised the Crown to establish, by Letters Patent, one High Court of Judicature in each of the three Presidencies (Calcutta, Madras, Bombay).
• The High Court would replace and inherit the jurisdiction of the existing Supreme Court (Presidency town) and Sadar Adalats (mofussil) — consolidating the two systems.
• Each High Court to consist of a Chief Justice and not more than 15 other judges. At least one-third had to be barristers of at least 5 years' standing; at least one-third had to be members of the Covenanted Civil Service of at least 10 years' standing; the rest could be drawn from pleaders or sub-judges with experience.
• Jurisdiction: original (in the Presidency town), appellate (over the entire province), supervisory (over subordinate courts), criminal (with original and appellate jurisdiction).
• Direct appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (London) in all civil matters above a specified valuation; in criminal matters, certified questions of law.

7.2 The Three Original High Courts

7.3 Subsequent High Courts

• Allahabad High Court — 17 March 1866 (for NWP/Agra; under the Indian High Courts Act 1861, extended by Letters Patent).
• Patna High Court — 2 March 1916 (for Bihar and Orissa, carved off Calcutta).
• Lahore High Court — 21 March 1919 (for Punjab; from 1947, became Pakistan's Lahore HC; today's High Court of Punjab & Haryana inherited part of its jurisdiction in 1947).
• By 1947 there were 17 High Courts in undivided India; today the Indian Union has 25 High Courts.

7.4 The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

• Continued as the apex court of appeal from Indian High Courts (and Federal Court after 1937) till 1949.
• Famous Indian appeals to JCPC: Empress v. Burah (1878 — on the doctrine of delegated legislation), Queen Empress v. Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1898; appeal dismissed; sedition under §124-A IPC), Mohori Bibi v. Dharmodas Ghose (1903 — minor's contract).
• Final abolition: Federal Court (Enlargement of Jurisdiction) Act 1947 extended Federal Court's appellate jurisdiction; Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act 1949 ended JCPC's role; on 28 January 1950 the Supreme Court of India inherited its place.

8. Codification Finalised — IPC, CrPC, CPC, Evidence Act

The codification project launched by Macaulay's First Law Commission of 1834 (Topic 05) reached its fulfilment in the years immediately after the Mutiny, with a cluster of foundational statutes that defined the Indian legal system for the next 160+ years.

8.1 The Foundational Codes

8.2 The Law Commissions of British India

• First Law Commission 1834 — Chair: Macaulay; sat in Calcutta. Output: IPC draft (1837); Lex Loci Report.
• Second Law Commission 1853 — Chair: Sir John Romilly; sat in London. Output: CPC 1859, CrPC 1861, Indian Succession Act 1865.
• Third Law Commission 1861–70 — Chair: Romilly, then Lord Justice James. Output: Indian Contract Act 1872, Indian Evidence Act 1872 (drafted later by Stephen as Law Member), Negotiable Instruments Act 1881.
• Fourth Law Commission 1879 — Whitley Stokes in India. Output: revised CPC 1882, Transfer of Property Act 1882, Specific Relief Act 1877, Easements Act 1882.

8.3 The BNS-BNSS-BSA Replacement of 2023–24

• After 163 years of the IPC, 162 years of the CrPC, and 151 years of the Indian Evidence Act, the Government of India passed three replacement laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — in December 2023; enforced from 1 July 2024.
• The BNS retains most of Macaulay's structure (511 sections → 358 sections) but renumbers, simplifies and modernises — recognising offences against women and children more explicitly; replacing §124-A sedition with §152 (acts endangering sovereignty); introducing community service as a punishment.
• The CPC 1908 and Indian Contract Act 1872 remain unaltered in 2026 — these were not part of the 2023 replacement.

9. Indian Police Act 1861 & Police Commission 1902

9.1 Indian Police Act 1861 (Act V of 1861)

The Daroga system of Cornwallis (Topic 05) was hopelessly inadequate. After the Mutiny, the British Indian Police Commission of 1860 (Sir H. M. Stokes) recommended a new structure modelled on the Royal Irish Constabulary; this became the Police Act 1861, drafted by Sir H. M. Stokes and enacted on 22 March 1861.

• Hierarchy:
  • Inspector-General of Police (province-level head)
  • Deputy Inspector-General (range level)
  • District Superintendent of Police (DSP / SP — district head)
  • Assistant Superintendent / Deputy Superintendent
  • Inspector (Circle Inspector / CI)
  • Sub-Inspector (SI — thana in-charge in larger thanas)
  • Head Constable, Constable
• Separation of police from magistracy — partially: The District Magistrate remained the supervisory authority over the SP at the district level (subordination of police to executive); but the police now had its own hierarchy up to the IGP.
• Investigation: Police given statutory powers of investigation (registration of FIR, arrest, search, seizure, charge-sheet) — the FIR system created here survives in the BNSS today.
• Village chowkidars: Retained as the village-level police, paid by villagers, controlled by panchayat or village headman.

9.2 Indian (Fraser) Police Commission — 1902–03

• Appointed under Lord Curzon (Viceroy 1899–1905); chaired by Sir Andrew Fraser.
• Found the 1861-vintage police corrupt, inefficient and oppressive.
• Recommended: training schools for police constables (Phillaur Police Training School in Punjab as model); creation of CID (Criminal Investigation Department) at provincial level; expansion of police strength; better pay; recruitment of Indian Provincial Police Service officers.
• CID established in Bengal 1906 (Bengal CID), other Presidencies followed.
• Imperial Police Service constituted 1905 — Indianised gradually; the first Indian to join was Hridya Nath Kunzru's nominee in 1905.

9.3 Indian Police Service after Independence

• The Imperial Police became the Indian Police Service (IPS) — one of the All-India Services under Article 312 of the Constitution.
• The 1861 Act remained the basic police statute in independent India for 145 more years.
• Prakash Singh v. Union of India (Supreme Court, 22 September 2006) directed sweeping reforms; led to the Model Police Act 2006 (drafted by Soli Sorabjee Committee). Most states have enacted their own Police Acts; the 1861 Act survives in pockets.

10. Local Self-Government — Mayo (1870) & Ripon (1882)

10.1 Mayo Resolution — 14 December 1870

• Issued by Lord Mayo (Viceroy 1869–72) to deal with the chronic deficit of the Government of India.
• Financial decentralisation: Made certain heads of expenditure (police, jails, education, medical services, roads, civil works, printing) the responsibility of the Provinces. The provinces received fixed grants from the Centre and had to find additional resources from local taxation.
• The Mayo Resolution thus laid the foundation of provincial finance — the constitutional ancestor of the later Finance Commission system. (Lytton 1877 and Ripon 1882 expanded the scheme.)
• Mayo was assassinated at Port Blair (Andaman Islands) by an Afghan convict, Sher Ali, on 8 February 1872 — the only Viceroy ever assassinated in office.

10.2 Ripon's Resolution on Local Self-Government — 18 May 1882

Lord Ripon (Viceroy 1880–84) is rightly called the "Father of Local Self-Government in India". His Resolution of 18 May 1882 laid down the foundations of urban municipalities and rural local boards.

• Principle: "Political education is, with the spread of education, becoming more and more an object that ought to influence the government" — local self-government was to be a "school" for self-government.
• Structure:
  • Urban areas: Municipalities and Municipal Boards.
  • Rural areas: District Boards and below them, Local Boards (at tehsil level) and (later) Union Boards (at village/cluster level).
• Composition: Non-official majority recommended; two-thirds of members to be elected — though restricted franchise (tax-payers and educated). At least half the members to be non-official.
• Chairmanship: Non-official elected chairman preferred over the District Collector or Commissioner.
• Functions: Sanitation, water supply, primary education, roads, dispensaries, markets — the core of municipal government.
• Finance: Power to levy local taxes — octroi (later abolished), house tax, water tax, license fees.

10.3 Implementation 1882–1919

• Provincial Acts followed Ripon's framework: Bengal Local Self-Government Act 1885; Madras Local Boards Act 1884; Bombay District Municipal Act 1884; United Provinces Municipalities Act 1916.
• Royal Commission on Decentralisation 1907 (Charles Hobhouse) reviewed progress — found that the Collectors had captured the elected bodies in practice; recommended more autonomy.
• Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1919) made local self-government a "transferred" subject under provincial dyarchy — held by elected Indian ministers from 1921 onwards.

10.4 The Long Road to the 73rd & 74th Amendments

Despite Ripon's vision, local self-government remained the weakest tier of Indian government till the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1992 (in force 24 April 1993) constitutionalised Panchayati Raj, and the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act 1992 (in force 1 June 1993) constitutionalised Urban Local Bodies. These two amendments — the most important post-independence reform of local government — trace their lineage directly to Ripon's 1882 Resolution.

11. Indian Councils Act 1892 — The Lansdowne Reforms

Drafted under Viceroy Lord Lansdowne (1888–1894) and passed by the British Parliament in 1892, this Act was a grudging response to the agitation of the early Indian National Congress (founded 1885). It was the first statute that made room — however indirect — for an Indian elective principle.

11.1 Key provisions

• Enlarged councils: additional non-official members raised in the Centre (10–16) and in the provinces (Bombay/Madras 8–20, Bengal 20, NWP 15).
• Indirect election: the word "election" was avoided. Local bodies, universities, chambers of commerce, zamindar associations could recommend names; the Governor-General/Governor would nominate. Convention treated recommendation as binding.
• Functions widened: members could discuss the Budget (no vote) and ask supplementary questions (no follow-up).
• Communal representation absent — that came in 1909.

12. Morley–Minto Reforms — Indian Councils Act 1909

Authored by Secretary of State John Morley (Liberal, London) and Viceroy Lord Minto II (Calcutta/Simla), enacted 25 May 1909. The Act responded to (a) Swadeshi agitation after the 1905 Partition of Bengal, (b) the rise of the Extremists, and (c) the Muslim League deputation to Minto at Simla on 1 October 1906.

12.1 Council expansion

12.2 What was new

• Separate electorates for Muslims — Muslims voted only for Muslim candidates from Muslim-only constituencies, with a weightage greater than population. This is the legal origin of communal representation in India.
• First Indian in the Viceroy's Executive Council: Satyendra Prasanna Sinha, appointed Law Member on 24 March 1909.
• First Indians in the Secretary of State's Council: K.G. Gupta and Syed Husain Bilgrami, 1907.
• Members could now move resolutions on the budget and ask supplementary questions; the budget was still not votable.

13. Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms — Government of India Act 1919

Secretary of State Edwin Montagu issued the historic August Declaration on 20 August 1917 in the House of Commons, promising "the gradual development of self-governing institutions with a view to the progressive realisation of responsible government in India as an integral part of the British Empire." Montagu toured India (Nov 1917–May 1918) with Viceroy Lord Chelmsford; their joint Report (July 1918) became the basis of the Act of 23 December 1919.

13.1 Bicameral Central Legislature

Members could vote on a part of the budget (about one-third was "non-votable"). The Governor-General could "certify" a rejected demand and pass it himself — a key non-democratic safeguard.

13.2 Dyarchy in the Provinces

This was the central novelty. Provincial subjects were split:

• Reserved subjects (Finance, Law & Order, Police, Land Revenue, Irrigation) — administered by the Governor with his Executive Council, NOT responsible to the legislature.
• Transferred subjects (Education, Public Health, Agriculture, Local Self-Government, PWD) — administered by Ministers chosen from the elected legislature, responsible to it.

Dyarchy operated 1921–1937 and was uniformly condemned as unworkable — ministers controlled "nation-building" departments without any control over finance.

13.3 Other landmarks

• Extension of separate electorates to Sikhs, Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans.
• Franchise widened on property, tax-paying and educational qualifications — about 5.5 million voters (still under 3% of population).
• High Commissioner for India in London appointed (1920) to take over commercial/agency functions from the Secretary of State.
• Public Service Commission recommended — established 1 October 1926 under Sir Ross Barker.
• Statutory Commission after 10 years — the clause that triggered the Simon Commission of 1927.

14. Simon Commission, Round Tables & the Communal Award

14.1 Simon Commission (1927–1930)

The Indian Statutory Commission was constituted on 8 November 1927 under Sir John Simon. All seven members were British MPs — no Indian was included. The Commission landed at Bombay on 3 February 1928 and was met with black flags and the slogan "Simon Go Back." During a Lahore demonstration on 30 October 1928, Lala Lajpat Rai was lathi-charged; he died on 17 November 1928.

The two-volume Simon Report was published in May 1930. It recommended abolition of dyarchy, extension of responsible government in provinces, retention of separate electorates, and a federal Centre — but offered no Dominion Status.

14.2 Nehru Report (10 August 1928)

India's response — drafted by a committee chaired by Motilal Nehru with members including Tej Bahadur Sapru, Subhas Bose, M.S. Aney, M.R. Jayakar, Ali Imam, Shuaib Qureshi and G.R. Pradhan. It is the first Indian-drafted constitutional blueprint, demanding Dominion Status, joint electorates with reservation, a federal structure with residuary powers at the Centre, and a justiciable bill of rights.

14.3 Round Table Conferences (London)

14.4 Communal Award (16 August 1932)

Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced separate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans and the Depressed Classes. Gandhi began a fast-unto-death in Yerwada Jail on 20 September 1932; the Poona Pact (24 September 1932) with B.R. Ambedkar substituted reserved seats within the general (Hindu) electorate for the Depressed Classes, raising their share from 71 to 147 seats.

15. Government of India Act 1935

Royal assent 2 August 1935. With 321 sections and 10 schedules, it is the longest single statute the British Parliament ever passed for India and is the direct skeleton of the Constitution of 1950 — Granville Austin estimated that "between 200 and 250 articles" of the Constitution were taken almost verbatim from this Act.

15.1 All-India Federation (Part II) — never inaugurated

• Federation to comprise British India + Princely States; states accession by Instrument of Accession.
• Required princes accounting for 50% of states' population to accede — the princes never came in, and this part was inoperative until 1947.

15.2 Provincial Autonomy (Part III) — operative from 1 April 1937

• Dyarchy abolished in provinces; all provincial subjects transferred to ministers responsible to the elected legislature.
• 11 Governor's Provinces (with Sind and Orissa created in 1936). Bicameral legislatures in Bombay, Madras, Bengal, UP, Bihar, Assam.
• Governor retained "special responsibilities" and discretionary powers — minority protection, financial stability, peace and tranquility.
• Three Lists: Federal (59), Provincial (54), Concurrent (36) — the direct ancestor of the Seventh Schedule.

15.3 Dyarchy shifted to the Centre

Federal subjects split into Reserved (Defence, External Affairs, Ecclesiastical, Tribal Areas — administered by the Governor-General with three Counsellors) and Transferred (rest — administered by a Council of Ministers responsible to the federal legislature). Never came into force.

15.4 Other landmarks

• Separate electorates extended to Depressed Classes (modified by Poona Pact), women and labour.
• Franchise widened to ~35 million (about 10% of adults).
• Federal Court at Delhi (s. 200) — established 1 October 1937.
• Reserve Bank of India established 1 April 1935 under a parallel RBI Act.
• Federal Public Service Commission + Provincial PSCs (predecessors of UPSC and SPSCs).
• Burma separated from India (1 April 1937) under the Government of Burma Act 1935.
• Office of Secretary of State's Council abolished; replaced by advisers.

16. Federal Court 1937 — the Judicial Apex Before the Supreme Court

• Established 1 October 1937 at Delhi under s. 200 of the GoI Act 1935.
• First Chief Justice: Sir Maurice Gwyer (1937–1943). Followed by Sir Patrick Spens (1943–1947) and Sir Harilal Kania (1947–1950, who became the first CJI of independent India's Supreme Court on 26 January 1950).
• Jurisdiction: (i) Original — federal disputes between the Centre and provinces/states; (ii) Appellate — from High Courts on constitutional questions; (iii) Advisory — opinion on Governor-General's reference.
• Final appeal still lay to the Privy Council in London until the Federal Court (Enlargement of Jurisdiction) Act 1947 and final abolition by the Abolition of Privy Council Jurisdiction Act 1949.

17. Civil Service after 1858 — Aitchison, Islington & Lee

17.1 Statutory Civil Service (1879) — Lytton's experiment

Viceroy Lord Lytton created a separate "Statutory Civil Service" to nominate Indians of good family to one-sixth of covenanted posts. Salaries were two-thirds of European counterparts. The scheme was unpopular and abolished on the recommendation of the Aitchison Commission.

17.2 Aitchison Commission (1886–87)

Headed by Sir Charles Aitchison; appointed by Viceroy Dufferin. Recommended a three-fold classification — Imperial, Provincial and Subordinate Services. The "covenanted/uncovenanted" distinction was abolished and replaced with the Indian Civil Service (Imperial), Provincial Civil Service and Subordinate Service. Maximum age for ICS examination raised from 19 to 23; the exam continued to be held only in London.

17.3 Islington Commission (1912)

The Royal Commission on the Public Services in India under Lord Islington. Report submitted 1917 (delayed by WWI). Recommended 25% of higher posts be filled by Indians — implemented only partially.

17.4 Lee Commission (1923–24)

Royal Commission on the Superior Civil Services in India under Lord Lee of Fareham. Landmark recommendations:

• 50:50 parity for direct recruits between Europeans and Indians in the ICS within 15 years.
• Establishment of a Public Service Commission in India, as already provided in s. 96-C of the GoI Act 1919.
• The Federal Public Service Commission was constituted on 1 October 1926 under Sir Ross Barker. Renamed Federal PSC in 1937 and Union Public Service Commission on 26 January 1950 under Article 315 of the Constitution.
• Indianisation of the ICS rose from 5% in 1913 to about 48% by 1947.

18. Army & Police after 1858

18.1 Army reorganisation

• Peel Commission (1859) — chaired by Major-General Jonathan Peel; recommended a higher ratio of European to Indian troops (1:2 in Bengal; 2:5 in Madras and Bombay) and that artillery be exclusively European.
• Three Presidency Armies merged into a unified Indian Army in 1895 (effective 1 April 1895) with four Commands — Punjab (incl. NWFP), Bengal, Madras (incl. Burma), Bombay (incl. Sind, Quetta and Aden).
• Kitchener reforms (1903) — Commander-in-Chief Lord Kitchener (1902–09) reorganised the army into two Commands (Northern and Southern) and triggered the Kitchener–Curzon dispute over the abolition of the Military Member's seat on the Viceroy's Council. Curzon resigned in August 1905.
• Indian Sandhurst Committee (Skeen Committee, 1925) — recommended an Indian military college; led to the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, opened 1 October 1932.
• King's Commissions opened to Indians from 1917; the "8-unit scheme" of Indianisation in 1923.

18.2 Police

• The Indian Police Act 1861 remained the governing statute through 1947 (and survives today).
• The Fraser Commission (1902–03), under Sir Andrew Fraser, recommended creation of the Indian Police (later IPS), CIDs in every province and the Criminal Investigation Department at the Centre — leading to the establishment of the Central Intelligence Department in 1903 (predecessor of the IB) and provincial CIDs by 1906.
• The Indian Police, as the imperial cadre, was reconstituted as the Indian Police Service under the All-India Services Act 1951.

19. Cripps, Cabinet Mission & the Indian Independence Act 1947

19.1 August Offer (8 August 1940) & Cripps Mission (March 1942)

Viceroy Linlithgow's August Offer promised Dominion Status after the war and a representative body to frame a new constitution. Rejected by Congress and the League.

Sir Stafford Cripps arrived 22 March 1942 offering a post-war Constituent Assembly, an Indian Union with the right to secede, and provincial accession. Gandhi called it "a post-dated cheque on a crashing bank." Failed by 11 April 1942; triggered the Quit India Resolution of 8 August 1942.

19.2 Cabinet Mission Plan (16 May 1946)

Sent by PM Clement Attlee; members Pethick-Lawrence (SoS), Stafford Cripps (Pres. Board of Trade), A.V. Alexander (First Lord of the Admiralty). Plan:

• A loose three-tier Union of India — Centre with Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communications only.
• Provinces grouped into A (Hindu-majority), B (Punjab, NWFP, Sind — Muslim-majority west), C (Bengal & Assam — Muslim-majority east).
• A Constituent Assembly of 389 members (292 from British India provinces + 4 from Chief Commissioner provinces + 93 from Princely States). Indirectly elected by provincial assemblies on a 1:10,00,000 ratio.
• An Interim Government — formed on 2 September 1946 under Nehru as Vice-President of the Viceroy's Executive Council.

The Constituent Assembly first met on 9 December 1946. Rajendra Prasad was elected permanent Chairman on 11 December 1946.

19.3 Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947)

Viceroy Lord Mountbatten announced partition along religious lines, with two Dominions (India and Pakistan) and a boundary commission under Sir Cyril Radcliffe. Sind, Baluchistan, NWFP and the Muslim-majority districts of Punjab and Bengal would go to Pakistan; princely states free to accede.

19.4 Indian Independence Act 1947 (18 July 1947)

• Created the two Dominions of India and Pakistan effective 15 August 1947.
• Each Dominion's Constituent Assembly became a sovereign legislature; the GoI Act 1935 (with adaptations) remained the working constitution until 26 January 1950.
• Office of the Secretary of State for India abolished; functions transferred to the Commonwealth Relations Office.
• Paramountcy over princely states lapsed — they could accede to either Dominion or remain independent (562 states ultimately acceded; Hyderabad, Junagadh and Jammu & Kashmir followed special paths).
• Title of "Emperor of India" dropped from the British monarch's style (followed by formal proclamation 22 June 1948).

20. Continuity to the Constitution of India 1950

The constitutional skeleton of 1858–1947 did not die with independence. It was inherited, adapted and rebadged:

• Federal structure & Three Lists (GoI Act 1935 → Seventh Schedule of the Constitution).
• Office of Governor (Crown's representative in the province → President's representative under Articles 153–162).
• Federal Court 1937 → Supreme Court of India (Article 124), inaugurated 28 January 1950. Sir H.J. Kania carried over as first CJI.
• Federal Public Service Commission 1926 → Union Public Service Commission (Article 315), 26 January 1950.
• Indian Civil Service → Indian Administrative Service; Indian Police → IPS (All-India Services Act 1951).
• Comptroller and Auditor-General, Indian Audit and Accounts Department — carried over and constitutionalised under Article 148.
• High Courts established 1862–1919 retained as constitutional courts under Article 214; their judges' service conditions protected under Articles 216–231.
• Indian Penal Code 1860, CrPC 1973 (replacing 1898/1861), CPC 1908, Evidence Act 1872 — operative until the 2024 trio (BNS, BNSS, BSA effective 1 July 2024).
• Indian Police Act 1861 — still in force in most States despite Model Police Bills (2006, 2015).

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