Advisory body to the Viceroy of British India
Viceroy
John Lawrence
's executive council in
Simla
, 1864
The
Viceroy's Executive Council
, formerly known as
Council of Four
and officially known as the
Council of the Governor-General of India
(since 1858), was an advisory body and cabinet of the
Governor-General of India
, also known as Viceroy. It existed from 1773 to 1947 in some form or the other.
[1]
It was established by the
Regulating Act 1773
, with four members it was then known as the
Council of Four
. The
Indian Councils Act 1861
transformed it from an advisory council into a cabinet with
portfolio
system. Each member was assigned specific portfolios such as revenue, military, law, finance, and home. In 1874, a sixth member was added to be in charge of public works.
History
[
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Company rule
[
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]
The
Regulating Act 1773
provided for the appointment of a governor-general of
Fort William
in
Bengal
(or Governor-General of Bengal) with supervisory powers over the presidencies of Madras and Bombay and the formation of a council of four members. The governor-general was given a
casting vote
in the council but no authority to
veto
any decision of the council.
[2]
The council was then known as the
Council of Four
.
In 1784, the council was reduced to three members; the Governor-General continued to have both an ordinary vote and a casting vote. In 1786, the power of the Governor-General was increased even further, as Council decisions ceased to be binding. The
Charter Act 1833
made further changes to the structure of the council. The Act was the first law to distinguish between the executive and legislative responsibilities of the Governor-General. As provided under the Act, there were to be four members of the Council elected by the Court of Directors. The first three members were permitted to participate on all occasions, but the fourth member was only allowed to sit and vote when legislation was being debated.
[
citation needed
]
Crown rule
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The
Government of India Act 1858
transferred the power of the
East India Company
to the
British Crown
which was empowered to appoint a
Viceroy and Governor-General of India
to head the government in India. The advisory council of the Governor-General was based in the capital
Calcutta
and consisted of four members, three of which were appointed by the
Secretary of State for India
and one by the Sovereign.
The
Indian Councils Act 1861
transformed the Viceroy of India's advisory council into a cabinet run on the portfolio system and increased the number of members by one. Three members were to be appointed by the Secretary of State for India, and two by the Sovereign. The five ordinary members took charge of a separate department: home, revenue, military, law and finance. The military Commander-in-Chief sat in with the council as an extraordinary member. The Viceroy was allowed, under the provisions of the Act, to overrule the council on affairs if he deemed it necessary. In 1869, the power to appoint all five members was passed to the Crown and in 1874, a new member was added to be in charge of public works.
The
Indian Councils Act 1909
empowered the Governor General to nominate one Indian member to the Executive Council leading to the appointment of
Satyendra Prasanna Sinha
as the first Indian member. The
Government of India Act 1919
increased the number of Indians in the council to three.
Indians in the Council (1909–1940)
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- Law Members:
Satyendra Prasad Sinha
(1909?1914),
P. S. Sivaswami Iyer
(1912?1917), Syed Ali Imam,
Muhammad Shafi
(1924?1928),
Tej Bahadur Sapru
(1920?1923),
Satish Ranjan Das
, Brojendra Mitter (1931?1934),
Nripendra Nath Sircar
(1934?1939), Bepin Behari Ghose (1933),
Nalini Ranjan Chatterjee
[3]
- C. Sankaran Nair
(1915?1919): Education
- Muhammad Shafi
: Education (1919?1924)
- B. N. Sarma
(1920?1925): Revenue and Agriculture
- Bhupendra Nath Mitra
: Industries and Labour
- Muhammad Habibullah
(1925?1930): Education, Health and Lands
- Fazl-i-Hussain
(1930?1935)
- C. P. Ramaswami Iyer
: Law (1931?1932), Commerce (1932), Information (1942)
- Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu
(1934?1937)
- Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
(1935?1941): Commerce (?1939), Law (1939?), Railway, Industries and Labour, and War Supply
- Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar
: Commerce and Labour (1939?1941), Supply (1943)
- Kunwar Sir Jagdish Prasad: Health, Education and Lands
- Girija Shankar Bajpai
(1940): Health, Education
- Attaullah Tarar (1931–1941 ?)
[
who?
]
Expansion in 1941 and 1942
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On 8 August 1940, the Viceroy
Lord Linlithgow
made a proposal called the
August Offer
which expanded the Executive Council to include more Indians. These proposals were rejected by the
Indian National Congress
,
All-India Muslim League
and
Hindu Mahasabha
.
However they were revived the next year by
Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru
of the Liberal Party, and accepted by Viceroy who on the 22nd of July 1941 announced a reconstituted Executive Council where for the first time Indians outnumbered Britons.
In addition he announced a 30-member National Defence Council intended to coordinate the war effort between the central government, provincial governments (four of which had elected governments) and the princely states.
An attempt was made to maintain communal balance, but Jinnah as part of his effort to establish his position as the sole spokesman of the Indian Muslim community ordered all AIML members to resign from the Viceroy's Executive and National Defence councils as the Viceroy had not accepted his demand for 50% Muslim representation, nor consulted Jinnah on the selection of Muslim members.
On 2 July 1942 the Viceroy’s Council was again enlarged from 12 to 15. Sir Malik Feroz Khan Noon (ICS officer and High Commissioner in London) appointed Defence member, the first Indian to hold the post (key Congress demand). Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar, a Tamil politician and Maharaja Jam Saheb Sri Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji of Jamnagar were appointed to newly elevated positions as representatives of the Government of India to the Imperial War Cabinet in London and to Pacific War Council in Washington DC.
The council now consisted of:
[4]
[5]
[6]
Interim Government
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As per the mid-June 1946
Cabinet Mission Plan
, the Executive Council was expanded to consist of only Indian members except
the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief intended to form the Interim Government of India until the transfer of power. The Viceroy, Viscount Wavell extended invitations for 14 members.
The Interim Government began to function from 2 September 1946 once the Indian National Congress members took their seats. However, the All-India Muslim League refused to participate until 26 October 1946. The Interim Government served until transfer of power to the
Dominion of India
and the
Dominion of Pakistan
on 15 August 1947.
Members of Interim Government
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References
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See also
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