[ 431 ] CHAPTER XVI. BRITISH ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA. THE Act of 1858, which transferred India from the Company Control of India in to the Crown, also laid down the scheme of its government. England. Under the Company, the Governor-General was an autocrat, Under the responsible only to the distant Court of Directors. The Company. Court of Directors had been answerable to the shareholders, or Court of Proprietors, on the one hand; and, through the Board of Control, to the Sovereign and to Parliament on the other. The Act of 1858 did away with these intermediary Under the bodies between the Governor-General and the British Ministry. For the Court of Directors, the Court of Proprietors, and the Board of Control, it substituted a Secretary of State, aided by a Council appointed by the Crown. Crown. State. Council in The Secretary of State for India is a Cabinet Minister, who The Secrecomes into and goes out of office with the other members of tary of the Ministry. His Council was originally appointed for life. His Its members are now appointed for ten years only;1 but may be re-appointed for another five years for special reasons. The Secretary of State rules in all ordinary matters through the majority of his Council. But in affairs of urgency, and in questions which belong to the Secret Department, including political correspondence, he is not required to consult his Council. The Viceroy or Governor-General is appointed by Office of the Crown, and resides in India. His ordinary term of Viceroy. office is five years. stration The supreme authority in India is vested by a series of Acts Adminiof Parliament 2 in the Viceroy or Governor-General-in-Council, in India. subject to the control of the Secretary of State in England. Every executive order and every legislative statute runs 'Governorin the name of the Governor-General-in-Council; but in General-inCouncil.' 1 Under 32 and 33 Vict. c. 97. The chief of these Acts are 13 Geo. III. c. 63; 33 Geo. III. c. 52: 3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 85; 21 and 22 Vict. c. 106; and 24 and 25 Vict. c.. 67. 3 A style first authorized by 33 Geo. III. c. 52, sec. 39. Executive certain cases,1 a power is reserved to the Viceroy to act independently. The Governor-General's Council is of a twofold character. First, the ordinary or Executive Council, usually composed of about six official members besides the Viceroy, which may be compared with the cabinet of a constitutional country. It meets regularly at short intervals, usually once a week, discusses and decides upon questions of foreign policy and domestic administration, and prepares measures for the Legislative Council. Its members divide among themselves the chief departments of State, such as those of Foreign Affairs, Finance, War, Public Works, etc. The Viceroy combines in his own person the duties of constitutional Sovereign with those of Prime Minister; and has usually charge of the Foreign Department. As a rule, the Viceroy is himself the initiating Member of Council for Foreign and Feudatory Affairs. Second, the Legislative Council, which is made up of the same members as the preceding, with the addition of the Governor of the Province in which it may be held; certain officials selected by the Governor-General from Bengal, Madras, Bombay, or other Provinces; and nominated members, representative of the non-official Native and European communities. The official additional members thus appointed Legislative to the Legislative Council must not exceed in number the nonCouncil. officials, and the total of the additional members must not exceed twelve. The meetings of the Legislative Council are held when and as required, usually once a week. They are open to the public; and a further guarantee for publicity is ensured by the proviso that draft Bills must be published a 1 'Cases of high importance, and essentially affecting the public interest and welfare' (33 Geo. III. c. 52, sec. 47); when any measure is proposed whereby the safety, tranquillity, or interests of the British possessions in India may, in the judgment of the Governor-General, be essentially affected (3 and 4 Will. Iv. c. 85, sec. 49); 'cases of emergency' (24 and 25 Vict. c. 67, sec. 23). * This is the lineal descendant of the original Council organized under the charters of the Company, first constituted by Parliamentary sanction in 1773 (13 Geo. 111. c. 63, sec. 7). 3 The mechanism and working of the Governor-General's Council, and of the Secretariats, and chief Departments of the Indian Administration, are described in Hunter's Life of the Earl of Mayo, vol. i. pp. 189–202 (2nd ed.) • Originally identical with the Executive Council, upon which legislative powers were conferred by 13 Geo. III. c. 63, sec. 36. The distinction between the two Councils was first recognised in the appointment of 'the h member' (3 and 4 Will. IV. c. 85, sec. 40). LEGISLATION AND JUSTICE. 433 certain number of times in the Gazette. As a matter of practice, these draft Bills have usually been first subjected to the criticism of the several Provincial governments. Provincial Legislative Councils have also been appointed for the Presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and for the LieutenantGovernorship of Bengal. The members of these local Legislative Councils are appointed, in the case of Madras and Bombay, by the Governors of those Provinces; and in Bengal, by the Lieutenant-Governor, subject to the approval of the Governor-General. The Acts of these Provincial Legislative Councils, which can deal only with provincial matters, are subject to sanction by the Governor-General. Courts of The Presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and the Lieutenant- High Governorships of Bengal and of the North-Western Provinces, Justice. have each a High Court,' supreme both in civil and criminal business, but with an ultimate appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England. Of the minor Provinces, the Punjab has a Chief Court, with three judges; the Central Provinces and Oudh have each a Judicial Commissioner, who sits alone. British Burma has a Judicial Commissioner and a Recorder. In this Province, the Judicial Commissioner has jurisdiction over the territory outside Rangoon (save that in cases of European British subjects the Recorder has the powers of a High Court). The Recorder has jurisdiction in the town of Rangoon, and in all criminal cases in any part of Burma where the accused are European British subjects. The Judicial Commissioner and the Recorder of Rangoon sit together as a 'Special Court' for certain purposes. Appeals from the Recorder of Rangoon in civil suits where the subject-matter ranges from Rs. 3000 to Rs. 10,000, lie to the High Court at Calcutta. The latter Court also decides references from the 'Special Court' of Rangoon when the members are equally divided in opinion. For Assam, the High Court at Calcutta is the highest judicial authority, except in the three Hill Districts, namely, the Gáro Hills, the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, and the Nágá Hills. In these Districts, the Chief Commissioner of Assam is judge without appeal in civil and criminal matters. Special rules apply to the Dwars bordering on Bhután. The law administered in the Indian Courts consists mainly The law of (1) the enactments of the Indian Legislative Councils of British (Imperial and Provincial), as above described, and of the bodies 1 Constituted out of the Supreme Courts and the Sudder (Sadr) Courts in 1861 (24 and 25 Vict. c. 104). VOL. VI. 2 E India. Administration. Madras. which preceded them; (2) statutes of the British Parliament which apply to India; (3) the Hindu and Muhammadan laws of inheritance, and their domestic law, in causes affecting Hindus and Muhammadans; (4) the Customary Law affecting particular castes and races. Much has been done towards consolidating special sections of the Indian law;1 and in the Indian Penal Code, together with the Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure, we have memorable examples of such efforts. But although the Governor-General-in-Council is theoretically. supreme over every part of India alike,2 his actual authority is not everywhere exercised in the same direct manner. For Provincial ordinary purposes of administration, British India is partitioned into Provinces, each with a government of its own; and certain of the Native States are attached to those Provinces with which they are most nearly connected geographically. These Provinces, again, enjoy various degrees of independence. The two Presidencies of Madras and Bombay, including Sind, retain Bombay. many marks of their original equality with Bengal. They each have an army and a civil service of their own. They are each administered by a Governor appointed direct from England. They have each an Executive and a Legislative Council, whose functions are analogous to those of the Councils of the GovernorGeneral, although subject to his control. They thus possess a domestic legislature; and in administrative matters, also, the interference of the Governor-General-in-Council is sparingly exercised. Bengal. Minor Provinces. Of the other Provinces, Bengal, or rather Lower Bengal, occupies a peculiar position. Like the North-Western Provinces and the Punjab, it is administered by a single official with the style of Lieutenant-Governor, who is controlled by no Executive Council; but, unlike those two Provinces, Bengal has a Legislative Council, so far preserving a sign of its early preeminence. The other Northern Provinces, Assam, Oudh, and the Central Provinces, whether ruled by a Lieutenant-Governor or a Chief Commissioner, may be regarded from a historical point of view as fragments of the original Bengal Presidency, which, as thus defined, would be co-extensive with all British India not included under Madras or Bombay. Garrisons on the Madras or Bombay establishment may be posted in out See article BENGAL PRESIDENCY, The Imperial Gazetteer of India. TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS. 435 lying tracts of the old Bengal territories, but civil officers of the Madras and Bombay Services are excluded. The LieutenantGovernors and most of the Chief Commissioners are chosen from the Covenanted Civil Service. In executive matters they are the practical rulers, but, excepting the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, they have no legislative authority. admini To complete the total area of territory under British admini- Minor stration, it is necessary to mention, besides Bengal, the North- strations. Western Provinces, the Punjab, Oudh, and Assam, certain quasi-Provinces, under the immediate control of the Viceroy. These are-BRITISH BURMA, part of which was annexed in 1826 and part in 1852; the CENTRAL PROVINCES, lapsed in 1853; ASSAM, annexed in 1826; AJMERE, transferred from Rajputána; BERAR, or the Districts assigned by the Nizám of Haidarabád, for the support of the Haidarábád Contingent; and the little territory of COORG, in the extreme south.1 The State of Mysore was under British administration from 1831 to 1881, when it was restored to its native Rájá, on his attaining his majority. tions.' Another difference of administration, although now of less The importance than in former times, derives its name from the Regulaold Regulations, or laws and judicial rules of practice which preceded the present system of Acts of the Legislature. From these Regulations certain tracts of country have been from time to time exempted-tracts which, owing to their backward state of civilisation or other causes, seemed to require exceptional treatment. In non-Regulation territory, broadly speak- Noning, a larger measure of discretion is allowed to the officials, Regulation both in the collection of revenue and in the administration of civil justice; strict rules of procedure yield to the local exigencies; and the judicial and executive departments are to a great extent combined in the same hands. territory. A wider field is also permitted for the selection of the administrative body, which is not entirely confined to the Covenanted Civil Service, but includes military officers on the staff and also uncovenanted civilians. The title of the highest executive official in a District of a Regulation Province is that of Collector-Magistrate. In a non-Regulation District, the Deputy corresponding officer is styled the Deputy Commissioner; and Commis the supreme authority in a non-Regulation Province (with the exception of the Punjab) is called, not a Lieutenant-Governor, but a Chief Commissioner. The Central Provinces, Assam, 1 For the constitution of each of these Provinces, see their articles in The Imperial Gazetteer of India. sioners.' |