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32-840: It succeeded the Council of the Governor-General of India , and was succeeded by the Constituent Assembly of India and after 1950, was succeeded by Parliament of India . During the rule of the East India Company , the council of the Governor-General of India had both executive and legislative responsibilities. The council had four members elected by the Court of Directors. The first three members were permitted to participate on all occasions, but

64-485: A Hindu ruler, had a predominantly Muslim population, with over 77.11% of its constituents identified as Muslims according to the 1941 census . The state, which was contiguous to both India and Pakistan, chose to remain independent (in status quo) "for the time being". Following a Pakistani tribal invasion , Hari Singh acceded to India on 26 October 1947, and the state was disputed between India and Pakistan. The state of Junagadh initially acceded to Pakistan but faced

96-547: A bill, but only one chamber co-operated, he could declare the bill passed over the objections of the other chamber. The legislature had no authority over foreign affairs and defence. The President of the Council of State was appointed by the Governor-General; the Central Legislative Assembly elected its own President, apart from the first, but the election required the Governor-General's approval. Under

128-612: A casting vote but no veto. This changed the structure of Governor in-council where Governor General was the sole authority to a council of 5 members. The members could only be removed by the British Monarch on representation from Court of Directors. In 1774, Warren Hastings became the first Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William, hence, the first head of the Supreme Council of Bengal. Other members of

160-496: A plan, announced on 3 June 1947, that included these principles: The Act's most important provisions were: The Act also made provision for the division of joint property, etc. between the two new countries, including in particular the division of the armed forces. There was much violence, and many Muslims from what would become India fled to Pakistan; and Hindus and Sikhs from what would become Pakistan fled to India. Many people left behind all their possessions and property to avoid

192-413: A revolt from its Hindu population. India considered the accession of Junagadh invalid because it violated the principle of geographical contiguity of the partition, but Pakistan argued that the maritime border of Junagadh is connected to Pakistan by sea route. Following a breakdown of law and order, its Dewan requested India to take over the administration on 8 November 1947. India conducted a referendum in

224-521: A vote only on legislative questions came to be appointed by the Sovereign, and the other three members by the Secretary of State for India . The Regulating Act of 1773 limited the influence of the Governor-General of India and established the Council of Four , elected by the East India Company 's Court of Directors. Pitt's India Act of 1784 reduced the membership to three, and also established

256-682: The India Board . The Indian Councils Act 1861 made several changes to the Council's composition. The council was now called the Governor-General's Legislative Council or the Imperial Legislative Council. Three members were to be appointed by the Secretary of State for India , and two by the Sovereign. (The power to appoint all five members passed to the Crown in 1869.) The viceroy was empowered to appoint an additional six to twelve members. The five individuals appointed by

288-541: The Indian Independence Act 1947 , the Imperial Legislative Council and its houses were dissolved on 14 August 1947 and was replaced by the Constituent Assembly of India and the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan . Council of Four (India) The Supreme Council of Bengal , also known as Council of Four , was the highest level of executive government in British India from 1774 to 1833:

320-826: The Indian National Congress , the Muslim League , and the Sikh community came to an agreement with Lord Mountbatten , then Viceroy and Governor-General of India , on what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan. Clement Attlee , the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , announced on 20 February 1947 that: The 3rd June 1947 Plan was also known as the Mountbatten Plan. The British government proposed

352-497: The Council but not allowed to ask supplementaries or discuss the answer. They were however empowered to discuss the annual financial statement under certain restrictions but could not vote on it. The Indian Councils Act 1909 increased the number of members of the Legislative Council to 60, of whom 27 were to be elected. For the first time, Indians were admitted to membership, and there were six Muslim representatives,

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384-493: The Court's jurisdiction over any person residing in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. The Regulating Act 1773 made presidencies of Bombay and Madras subordinate to Bengal. Governor-in-Council of Bombay and Madras presidencies were required to obey the orders of Governor General of Bengal. Governor-General-in-Council was given the power to make rules, ordinances and regulations. These rules and regulations were required to be registered with

416-540: The Indian Secretary or Sovereign headed the executive departments, while those appointed by the Governor-General debated and voted on legislation. There were 45 Indians nominated as additional non-official members from 1862 to 1892. Out of these 25 were zamindars and seven were rulers of princely states . The others were lawyers, magistrates, journalists and merchants. The participation of the Indian members in

448-576: The Indian government launched an invasion of Hyderabad called Operation Polo . The Hyderabadi military was defeated over five days of fighting. With his state about to be over run, the Nizam signed the Instrument of Accession , joining India. The formal integration of Hyderabad into the dominion of India took place much later on January 25, 1950, when the Nizam signed the Instrument of Accession with

480-722: The Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William was founded) till 1782 (when Bengal Judicature Act of 1781 was passed), the Court claimed jurisdiction over any person residing in Bengal, Bihar or Orissa. This resulted in conflict of jurisdiction with Supreme Council of Bengal. The conflict came to an end with Parliament's passing of the Bengal Judicature Act of 1781. The act restricted the Supreme Court's jurisdiction to either those who lived in Calcutta, or to any British Subject in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. This removed

512-766: The Supreme court and could only be dissolved by the King-in-Council within 2 years. Indian Independence Act 1947 The Indian Independence Act 1947 ( 10 & 11 Geo. 6 . c. 30) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan . The Act received Royal Assent on 18 July 1947 and thus modern-day India and Pakistan, comprising west (modern day Pakistan ) and east (modern day Bangladesh ) regions, came into being on 15 August. The legislature representatives of

544-786: The central government. A day later, as India became a republic on January 26, the Nizam took over as the Raj Pramukh or governor. Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the Governor-General of Pakistan , and Liaquat Ali Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan . Between October 1947 and March 1948 the rulers of several Muslim-majority states signed instruments of accession to join Pakistan . These included Amb , Bahawalpur , Chitral , Dir , Kalat , Khairpur , Kharan , Las Bela , Makran , and Swat . The Khanate of Kalat initially elected to resume its independence, until 27 March 1948 when its ruler acceded to Pakistan. The Indian Independence Act

576-661: The council included Lt. General John Clavering , George Monson, Richard Barwell and Philip Francis . Philip Francis along with Monson and Clavering reached Calcutta in October 1774, and a conflict with Warren Hastings started almost immediately. These three members of the council opposed Hasting's policies as Governor General and accused him of corruption. The situation climaxed with the Maharaja Nanda Kumar affair - in which Nanda Kumar accused Hastings of fraud and high corruption . This attempt to impeach Hastings

608-474: The council meetings was negligible. The Indian Councils Act 1892 increased the number of legislative members with a minimum of ten and maximum of sixteen members. The Council now had 6 officials, 5 nominated non-officials, 4 nominated by the provincial legislative councils of Bengal Presidency , Bombay Presidency , Madras Presidency and North-Western Provinces and 1 nominated by the chamber of commerce in Calcutta. The members were allowed to ask questions in

640-405: The first Governor General of independent India. Jawaharlal Nehru became the prime minister and Vallabhbhai Patel became the home minister . Over 550 princely states, almost all of the states contiguous with the territory of India, acceded to India by 15 August. The exceptions were Junagadh , Hyderabad , and Jammu and Kashmir . The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, although governed by

672-638: The first time that such representation had been given to a religious group. The composition of the Council was as follows: Under the Government of India Act 1919 , the Imperial Legislative Council was converted into a bicameral legislature with the Imperial Legislative Assembly (also known as the Central Legislative Assembly) as the lower house of a bicameral legislature and the Council of State as

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704-532: The fourth member was only allowed to sit and vote when legislation was being debated. In 1858, the British Crown took over the administration from the East India Company . The council was transformed into the Imperial Legislative Council, and the Court of Directors of the Company, which had the power to elect members of the Governor-General's Council, ceased to have this power. Instead, the one member who had

736-592: The governor-general of Bengal became the governor general of India. Since the Government of India Act 1858 , the council was known as the Viceroy's Executive Council . The Regulating Act 1773 created the post of Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal Presidency and the presidencies of Bombay and Madras were made subordinate to the Bengal Presidency. Prior to this all

768-659: The period in which the East India Company , a private company, exercised political control of British colonies in India. It was formally subordinate to both the East India Company's Court of Directors and to the British Crown . The Council was established by the British government, under Regulating Act of 1773 . It consisted of four members. The Governor General was given a casting vote but no veto . It

800-420: The princely states, and advised them to accede to one or the other of the dominions, India and Pakistan, according to geographical contiguity. Although it was possible for the states to remain independent to some extent after 15 August, their dependency on the British government of India for defence, foreign affairs, communication and other matters rendered such freedom meaningless. Lord Mountbatten continued as

832-493: The state on 20 February 1948, in which the people voted overwhelmingly to join India. The state of Hyderabad had a majority Hindu population but also a Muslim ruler with a large Muslim minority. The Nizam of Hyderabad wanted to get Dominion status. Hyderabad elected to maintain its independence and lobbied internationally for recognition. However, it faced the pro-communist Telangana Rebellion and agitation by Indian nationalists opposed to its independence. On 13 September 1948,

864-457: The three presidencies were independent of each other and was headed by Governor General and his Council or Governor-in-council. The act designated Governor of Bengal as the Governor of the Presidency of Fort William to serve as Governor General of all British Territories in India. It also added provision that Governor General was to be assisted by an executive council of four members and was given

896-479: The two men culminated in a duel in 1780, where Hastings shot Francis in the back. Francis left India in the hope of impeaching Hastings in 1780. Hastings resigned in 1785 and was later accused of committing a judicial murder of Nanda Kumar. Impeachment proceedings against him along with Elijah Impey were initiated by the parliament. A lengthy attempted impeachment by Parliament lasted from 1788 to 1795 eventually ending with Hastings being acquitted. From 1774 (when

928-525: The upper house, reviewing legislation passed by the Assembly. The Governor-General nonetheless retained significant power over legislation. He could authorise the expenditure of money without the Legislature's consent for "ecclesiastical, political [and] defence" purposes, and for any purpose during "emergencies". He was permitted to veto, or even stop debate on, any bill. If he recommended the passage of

960-527: The violence and flee to their new country. On 25 July 1947, Mountbatten held a meeting with the Chamber of Princes , where he addressed the question of the princely states, of which there were 562. The treaty relations between Britain and the Indian States would come to an end, and on 15 August 1947 the suzerainty of the British Crown was to lapse. Mountbatten ruled out any dominion status for any of

992-519: Was appointed by the Court of Directors (board) of the East India Company. At times it also included the British military Commander-in-Chief of India (although this post was usually held concurrently by the Governor General). Hence the council was also known as Governor-General in Council . The Government of India Act 1833 formally separated the East India Company from political control, and

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1024-552: Was unsuccessful and Nanda Kumar was hanged in 1775 after being found guilty of forgery by Supreme Court of Bengal in Calcutta . The trial was held under childhood friend of Hastings Sir Elijah Impey - India's first Chief Justice. The majority - Francis, Clavering and Monson - within the council ended with Monson's death in 1776. Clavering died a year later and Francis was left powerless, but he remained in India and strove to undermine Hastings' governance. The bitter rivalry between

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