Acts & Rules by Government of India

Criminal tribes act 1871

The various pieces of legislation in India were inclusively known as Criminal Tribes Act during British rule since the 1870s.

They criminalised all communities by categorising them as habitual criminals. Thus, restriction on their movements was also imposed because of this label.

Adult male members of these groups were compelled to report weekly to the local police. ethnic or social communities in India were defined as ‘addicted to a systematic commission of non-bailable offences under these acts for example thefts and also registered by the government.

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History of Criminal Tribes Act

Long before the arrival of the British, Thuggee, a cult devoted to the worship of the goddess ‘Kali’ had been functioning with impunity in the Indian subcontinent.

Approximately, they had robbed and murdered millions of travellers in caravans.

The Criminal Tribes Act was apparently formed in order to combat this threat.

At first sight, it might seem colonial authorities brought about CTA to instil order and security but the measure has been seen as a part of a wider attempt at social engineering by contemporary historians, for instance, saw the categorization of castes as being ‘agricultural’ or ‘marital’ or recognising which groups were loyal to the colonial authority and therefore suitable for military recruitments, sequentially.

Meena Radhakrishna, a well-known sociologist writes that origin behind the creation of this act concerning the revolt of 1857 where many tribal chiefs such as Dhan Singh Gurjar were labelled traitors and thought rebellious.

Some other historians as David Arnold suggested that this occurred because many of these tribes were small communities of low caste, poor and nomadic people living on the fringes of the society.

Profiling and separation

The criminal tribes act enlarged in scope through The 1920s, targeting numerous castes in colonial India. Simon Cole, a professor of Criminology, law and Society stated that the law declared everyone belonging to certain castes to be born with criminal tendencies.

According to Ramnarayan Rawat, a professor of History specialising in social exclusion in the Indian subcontinent, the criminal by birth castes under this act included Gurjars and Harni and Lodhi initially. Still, its enforcement expanded by the late 19th century to include most Shudras and untouchable for instance, Chamars, as well as Sanyasi and hill tribes.

The colonial authorities made an extensive list of criminal castes residing in various parts of the country and the members of such tribes were restricted in terms of movement and people they could socialise with.

Entire caste groups were presumed guilty by birth, arrested, children separated from their parents and held in panel colonies or quarantined without convection or due process, in certain regions of British India.

The Criminal by birth law against targeted castes was implemented from the early 19th century through the mid 20th century with an expansion of the criminal caste list in the west and south India through the 1900s to 1930s.

Hundreds of Hindu communities were brought under the control of the Criminal Tribes Act; the colonial government listed 237 criminal castes and tribes under this act in the Madras presidency alone by 1931.

The Government of Bombay set up a committee in January 1947. This committee included B.G. Kher, Chief Minister Morarji Desai and Gulzarilal Nanda to go into the matter of criminal tribes.

In August 1949, this set into motion the final repeal of the criminal tribe act which finally resulted in 2,300,000 tribals being decriminalized.

The Criminal Tribes Act was ultimately repealed after independence. First of all, in 1949, it was repealed in Madras province after a long campaign led by communist leaders such as P. Ramamurthi and P. Jeevanandham and Forward Bloc leader U Muthuramalingam Thevar. He had had many agitations in the village since 1929, urging the people to defy the Criminal Tribes Act.

Subsequently, the number of tribes listed under the CTA decreased and other provincial governments promptly followed suit.

As a result, the committee reported in 1950 that the system violated the spirit of the Indian constitution while the committee was appointed in the same year by the central government to study the utility of the existence of this law.

Final words

The Habitual Offenders Act was enacted in the place of CTA because the massive crime wave after the criminal tribes was denotified led to a public outcry.

This act mentions that a habitual offender is one who has been a victim of subjective and objective influences and has manifested a set of practices in crime and also presents a danger to society.

The habitual offenders act successfully re-stigmatised the already marginalised ‘criminal tribes’.

The Criminal Tribes Act still suffers a stigma due to the infective nature of the HOA which in effect meant relisting of the supposed denotified tribes.

At present, the social category commonly known as the denotified and nomadic tribes consists of approximately 60 million people in India.

The National Commission for Denotified Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes of the Ministry of Social justice and empowerment recommended those same reservations as available to Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes be extended to approx 110 million people of denotified, Nomadic or seminomadic tribes in India in 2008.

The commission recommended that the provision of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes act will be applicable to these tribes also.

Maine Government and non-governmental bodies are involved in the advancement of these denotified tribes through various educational programs and schemes.

Christian Personal Law 1872

Christians came to India and settled here many centuries ago. The East India Company was assumed as the ruling power in the country and established its own courts. The common law of England was made applicable to India on many subjects including marriage and divorce among the Christian community with the establishment of the supreme courts on the basis that it supported the principle of justice, equity and good conscience.

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Indian Christian Marriage Act was passed in 1872. There are a number of enactment in the country that deal with Christian Marriages and matrimonial causes such as the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872, the Marriage Validation Act 1892, the Cochin Christian Civil Marriage Act, 1905, the Indian Matrimonial Cause Act, 1948, the Converts Marriage Dissolution Act, 1866 and the Indian Divorce Act, 1869.

Why the Indian Christian marriage act came into light

The main object of this Act is to reduce into a smaller compass and simplify the existing law on this matter by the consolidation of the different enactments referred to and to amend the law in those matters in which it has been shown to be defective.

For instance, it is provided that marriage between Native Christians shall be valid where the ages of the contracting parties are not less than 16 and 13 years respectively and they don’t stand in relation to each other within the prohibited degrees of affinity by act V of 1865.

President and several members of the Bengal Christian Association represented it forcefully stating that this provision of the law works injuriously by freeing the children of Native Christian parents from the control which all other parents can legally exercise over their sons and daughters before the latter have attained their majority.

This act stipulates apparently how such marriages are to be recorded in all cases and provides for the disposal of the record.

The bill also substitutes for the fixed rates of fees in respect of marriage solemnized by or before Marriage Registers, a power to the local government to regulate such fees and their remission and finally extends the Marriage Law to all places within the territories of Native Princes in alliance with her Majesty, in respect of marriage between British subjects professing the Christian religion.

The preamble of the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872 states that since it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to the solemnization in India of marriages of persons professing the Christian religion that this bill has been passed. The bill is divided into 8 parts with the Preliminary section defining the expressions Church of England, Church of Rome, Church of Scotland, Church and inter alia, Christians.

Meaning of Christian Personal Law 1872

The term Christian means persons professing the Christian religion according to section 3. Indian Christians include the Christian descendants of natives of India who converted to Christianity as well as such Converts. Marriage between persons at least one of whom is a Christians is governed by this act.

This bill provides a code in itself and extends to the whole of India except the states of Travancore, Cochin and Manipur.

Certain conditions have been laid down for a marriage to be valid under the act in part I. The parties to the marriage must be Christians or at least one of them must be a Christian defined under section 3 of the bill. Marriage must have been solemnised according to the provisions of section 5 of the act by a person duly authorised to do so.

The State Governments have been given official permission to grant and revoke licences, granted in favour of certain persons, for the solemnization of marriage under this act.

The marriage must be performed in a particular form and duly entered in the marriage register maintained for this purpose as per the provisions contained in the Act.

Also, the factor of the marriage can be proved by producing entries from this register; other evidence also can be produced for this purpose.

Moreover, Versions of eyewitnesses to the marriage and subsequent conduct of the couple living as husband and wife can also be good pieces of evidence to prove the factor of Christian marriage.

A marriage solemnized does not become void under the act on account of minor irregularities. Thus, we can say, some other personal laws have been amended but the Christian Law has remained impervious to change despite demands and recommendations for reforms.

Indian telegraph act 1885

The Indian Telegraph Act was passed in 1885. It was proposed to give the central government power to establish telegraphers the use of wired and wireless telegraphy, teletype, telephones, radio communications and digital data communications.

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This act not only gives the Government of India exclusive jurisdiction and privileges for establishing, maintaining, operating, licensing and oversight all forms of wired and wireless communication within Indian territory but also authorised government law enforcement agencies to monitor communications and tap phone lines under conditions defined within the lines on private and public property as well.

The telegraph act first was installed in 1851 and a trans-India telegraph was completed after 3 years in 1854. India was still under the role of the British Raj at the time the Act was enacted.

Undoubtedly, The telegraph had become an important tool for British dominion over India by quilling rebellions and consolidating information in the intervening 30 years.

Therefore, it was essential for the British government to have control of telegraphy and infrastructure across the subcontinent.

Implications

The Union Home Ministry has issued orders to suspend the internet in some areas in Delhi under the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services of the Indian Telegraph Act 1885.

These orders have been issued only twice under this act, first in Delhi on December 19 and second on December 20, 2019, when the protest against the Citizenship Act was at its height.

The rules formulated in 2017 empower the union home secretary and State’s home secretary to pass directions to suspend the telecom services, including the internet, “due to public emergency public safety.”

Section 5 of the Telegraph Act allows Central and state governments to inhibit the transmission of messaging during a “public emergency or in the interest of public safety”, or “in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state.”

Age of consent Act 1891

Why it is in news?

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi announced that the central government has set up a committee to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women which is currently 18 during his address to the nation on the 74th independence day.

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The Union Ministry for Women in Child Development set up a committee to consider matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, the imperative of lowering the Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women, headed by Jaya Jaitley on 2nd June 2020.

The committee, proposed in the union budget 2020-21 will look for the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being and nutritional status of the mother and newborn, infant or child during pregnancy, birth and afterwards.

The committee will also examine key parameters like Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Total Fertility Rate ( TFR), Sex Ratio at Birth and Child Sex Ratio (CSR), and look at the possibility of increasing the age of marriage for women from the present 18 years to 21 years.

In 2019, International Food Policy Research Institute ( IFPRI) conducted a study that showed that children born to adolescent mothers ( 10-19 years) were 5 percentage points more likely to be stunted than those born to young adults ( 20-24 years) and 11 percentage points more stunted than children born to adult mothers (25 years or older).

Also, the children born to adolescent mothers had 10 percentage points higher prevalence of low weight than adult mothers.

This study also highlighted some important factors such as lower education among teenage mothers and their poor economic status, which had vigorous links with a child’s height and weight measurements.

It suggested that increasing the age at first marriage, age of first birth and girls’ education are promising approaches to improve maternal and child nutrition.

 

Argument Against Increasing the Minimum Age of marriage

The National Coalition Advocating for Adolescent Concerns affirms that increasing the legal age of marriage for women will only “artificially expand the numbers of married persons deemed underage and criminalise them and render underage married girls without legal protection.”

Alternatively, transformative, well-resourced measures that intensify girls’ access to education and health, create enabling opportunities and place girls’ empowerment at the centre will not just delay marriage but lead to long term, positive health and education outcomes.

The committee recommended bringing education for 3 to 5-year-olds and 15 to 18 years under the Right to Education in lieu of restricting the law to children between 6 years to 14 years.

 

History

In 1860, the Indian Penal Code criminalised sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 10 and the provision of rape was amended in 1927 through the Age of Consent Bill 1927 which stated that marriage with a girl under 12 would be invalid.

The child marriage Restraint Act set the minimum age of marriage for women and men at 16 and 18 years respectively in 1929.

This law is also known as the Sarda Act after its sponsor Harbilas Sarda, a judge and member of Arya Samaj.

The Sarda Act was amended in 1978 to prescribe the age of marriage for a girl and boy as 18 and 21 years respectively.

 

Present age for marriage

The Special Marriage Act of 1954 and the prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 recommend 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men.

Keep in mind that the minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of the Majority which is gender-neutral. An individual attains the age of majority at 18 either girl or boy as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875.

This law prescribes a minimum age of marriage to outlaw child marriages and prevents the abuse of minors. Personal laws of various religions that will deal with marriage have their own standards that reflect their custom.

The Hindu Marriage Act 1955, sets 18 years as the minimum age for the girl and 21 years as the minimum age for the boy. However, child marriage is not illegal in India even though it can be declared void at the appeal of the minor in the marriage.

The marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is regarded as valid in Islam.

Furthermore, sexual intercourse with a minor is rape and the ‘consent’ of a minor is considered invalid since she is deemed incapable of giving consent at that age.

 

Different Legal Ages of Marriage for Boys and Girls

The reasoning behind the law for having different legal standards of age for men and women to marry is a codification of custom and religious practices. Although this law has been challenged on the basis of discrimination because such a law violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to equality and the right to live with dignity.

 

Against the supreme courts’ Following judgements:

In the year 2014, in the National Legal Services Authority of India versus Union of India case, the supreme court while recognising transgenders as a third gender, said that justice is delivered with the “assumption that humans have equal value therefore they should be treated by equal laws”.

The Joseph Shine versus Union of India, the supreme court decriminalised adultery and said that a law that treats women differently based on gender stereotypes is an affront to women’s dignity, in the year 2019.

Additionally, India is a state party of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women, 1979.

The committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women monitors the implementation of the convention and calls for the abolition of laws that assume women have a different physical or intellectual rate of growth than men.

Therefore, it should be noted that despite laws mandating minimum age and criminalising sexual intercourse with a minor, child marriage is very prevalent in India.

UNICEF estimates indicate that every year, at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 are married in India which is why the country is considered the home to the largest number of child brides in the world accounting for a third of the global level.

 

Final words

Early marriage or pregnancy is associated with increased child mortality rates and affects the health of a woman or mother. Therefore, there is a need to focus on the health of the mother and preparedness to carry a child.

Also, the government needs to emphasize upon economic and social empowerment of women and target social and behaviour change communication (SBSC) campaigns. Increasing the minimum age of marriage for girls will also promote gender-neutrality.

Indian Council act 1892

The Indian Council Act of 1892 was passed with the intention of increasing the size of various legislative councils in India so that the engagement of Indians with respect to the administration in British India could be increased.

In 1892, Richard Assheton Cross introduced the Indian Council act and it commenced on February 3 1893.

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Indian Councils Act of 1892 represents significant milestones in the constitutional and political history of India. In this article, the Indian Council Act of 1892 is described as included in the syllabus of the Indian Polity and Governance for the UPSC exam.

The growth of the Indian constitution is a story of discontent and agitation interspersed with Council Reforms after the act of 1861 but these reforms were found to be insufficient that were unwillingly accepted and finally resulted in respect dissatisfaction and a demand for more reforms.

In 1985, the Indian National Congress was established. During the 1885-1889 session, Indian National Congress offered a number of demands to the British government. And one of the main demands was the reform of the legislative councils and they also wanted the principal of the election instead of nomination.

Also, the Indian National Congress wanted the right to hold discussions on final matters which was formerly not allowed. Lord Dufferin, the viceroy at the time, set up a committee to investigate the matter but the Secretary of State did not agree to the plan of direct elections. Therefore, Viceroy agreed to representation by way of indirect election.

Provisions

Indian Council act increased the number of additional or non-official members in the legislative Council as given below:

• Central Legislative Council- 10 to 16 members
• Bengal- 20 members
• Madras- 20 members
• Bombay- 8 members
• Oudh- 15 members
• North Western Province- 15

Only 5 were Indians out of 24 members in 1892. The members were given the right to ask questions on the budget or matters of public interest but they had to give notice 6 days prior and they could not ask supplementary questions.

Also, the principle of representation was initiated through the Indian Council Act. The universities, district boards, municipalities, chambers of commerce and zamindars were sanctioned to recommend members to the provincial councils. The legislative Council were authorised to make new laws and repeal old laws with the consent of the Governor-General.

Evaluation of the Indian Council act

This act was the first step towards a representative form of government in modern India. However, there was nothing in it for the common people. The positive step was that the number of Indians increased.

This act led to the rise of many revolutionary movements in India. Many freedom fighters like Bal Gangadhar Tilak demanded aggressive policy against British rule and blamed Congress’ moderate policy of petition and persuasions for a lack of positive developments.

Significance of the Indian Council act

In spite of the fact that Indians did not have the power to veto the majority, their opinions were heard.

In 1892, the principle of election was accepted and it allowed non-officials to have a free and open discussion on the government’s financial strategy.

Subsequently, the administration had an opportunity to clear up misconceptions and respond to criticism.

Also, the statute gave members of the Council the power to issue interpellations on subjects of public concern.

Defects

Although, it was the first step toward a representative government in modern India but did not provide any benefit to the common man.

Despite this fact, the Indian Council Act is a significant milestone in India’s constitutional political history. This act not only increased the size of various legislative councils in India but also the engagement of Indians with respect to the administration in British India.

Indian Forest Act 1927

The Indian forest act was enacted in 1865. It was amended first in 1878 and again in 1927. This act did not focus on the conservation of forests in place of the laws of the British Colonial Government focused on control of extraction of timber from the forest. In this article, we will provide information about the Indian Forest Act 1927 that is useful for the environment section of the UPSC exam.

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Reasons for implementation of the Indian Forest Act

The British government wanted forests in order to meet the demands of the massively expanding railways. The expansion of railways was very essential for the movement of imperial troops and to carry out trade.

The Royal British Navy needed wood to build their ships in order to protect their massive empire but there was a problem with the timber supply for it.

Wood was an essential component to lay down railway slippers and also served as fuel for running locomotives.

Also, the British government was worried about the use of forests in India by the local people.

All these reasons led to the execution of forest laws by the British Government.

Divisions of forests

Forests in India were divided into 3 different categories as per the Indian Forest Act of 1878.

1. Reserved forest
2. Protected forest
3. Village forest

Villagers did not have the right to take anything from the reserve forest for their own use but they could use the forest products only from the village forests and protected forests to build their houses or for fuel.

What was the impact of the Indian forest act?

The Indian Forest Act of 1927 put a very severe negative impact on villagers across the country.

The regular but inevitable activities of villagers became illegal like fishing, hunting, collecting roots, grazing cattle and cutting wood.

The villagers started to steal wood by entering the forest without permission due to the restrictions imposed by the Indian forest act. They were compelled to offer bribes to forest guards otherwise they would capture these villagers.

They were harassed by offering free food to these forest guards and police constables.

The British Colonial Government decided to ban shifting cultivation practised by villagers through the Indian forest act. Ultimately, this resulted in the forcible displacement of many communities from their homes in forests.

The British Government thought that the practice of shifting cultivation would affect the supply of timber for railways because villages used to practice shifting cultivation. They also believed that valuable timber would be used as a fuel because shifting cultivation involved cutting forests and burning them in flames.

Shifting cultivation was banned by the Government because it was difficult to calculate the taxes due to shifting cultivation.

The British imposed restrictions on hunting and grazing by the local people. This is the reason many nomadic communities like Yerukula of Madras Presidency, Karacha and Korava lost their livelihoods.

Moreover, some of these tribes were labelled as criminal tribes. They were forced to work in factories, mines and plantations because of the strict supervision of the British Colonial Government.

The working conditions of these workers were very poor and the wages were very low. Also, they were not allowed to visit their homes.

Many workers from forest-dwelling communities like Oraons and Santhals of Jharkhand and Gonds of Chhattisgarh worked in tea plantations in Assam.

Rebellion in the Forest

Many Forest communities rebelled against the British government in different parts of the country. They were against the restrictions imposed on them. Some of the most popular leaders such as Alluri Sitarama Raju (Andhra Pradesh) Siddhu and Kanu in Santhal Pargana, Birsa Munda of Chotanagpur, carried out rebellions in forests.

The forest conservation act came into force in 1982 to address the problem of deforestation and it was amended two times in 1988 and 1996.

Child marriage restraint act 1929

The child marriage restraint act fixed the marriage ages 14 and 18 years for girls and boys respectively. This act was a legislative act passed on 28 September 1929. It is also known as the Sharda act after its sponsor Harbilas Sharda.

At present, the provision of the Child Marriage Act, 2006 sets the marriageable age for girls at 18 years and 21 years for boys.

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How was it formed?

Various bills were introduced in the Indian legislature raising questions on the age of consent but they were all defeated.

The All India Women’s conference, Women’s Indian Association and National Council of women in India favoured raising the age for marriage and consent before the Joshi Committee.

Even Muslim women presented their views to the Joshi committees despite the fact they would face opposition from Muslim ulemas. These women were in favour of raising the age limit of marriage.

After this, the Joshi committee presented its report on 20 June 1989. It was passed by the Imperial Legislative council on 28 September 1929.

After the approval from Lord Irwin extending to the whole of British India, it became a law on 1st April 1930. Now, the marriageable ages for girls and boys were 14 and 18 respectively in all communities.

The objective of this act

In 1929, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was enacted to eradicate the evil of child marriage. The main objective was to eliminate the special evil which had the potential danger to the life and health of a female child and the early deaths of such minor mothers.  They were not able to handle the stress and strains of married life.

Significance of the child marriage restaurant act

This act was the first social reform issue taken up by an organised women’s group in the country. This group of women stressed many politicians into supporting the act by picketing their delegations, shouting slogans and holding placards.

They thought that the passing of this act would show the world that India is serious about social reforms. Indian women were challenging the double standards of ancient Shastras by supporting this act. It declared that they would begin to make their own laws free of male influence. The women’s organisation brought liberal management to the forefront.

However, this act was a complete failure but it was a victory for the women’s movement in the country. It was an active bill.

There were 473 prosecutions of which only 167 were successful in the 2 years and 5 months. Maximum cases were in Punjab and the United Provinces.

Nevertheless, this act remained a failure during the colonial period of British rule in India because the British government did nothing to propagate awareness of it, especially in smaller towns and villages of India, as per Jawaharlal Nehru.

Jawaharlal Nehru illuminates that this was mainly due to the fact that the British did not want to earn the annoyance of the communal elements among the Hindus and Muslims.

The British government did not want to lose the support of these communal groups because these were the only parties in India that continued to support British rule in 1930.

Therefore, they focus their attention on preventing the Indian freedom movement rather than on implementing this and similar social reforms.

Hence, their dual policy prevented any significant social reform in the country.

Under this act, no court can take cognizance of any offence after the expiry of 1 year from the date on which the offence is to have been committed and it further weakens the efficacy of the law.

As per this act, if anybody found conducting, directing or performing a child marriage shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment which may extend to 2 years and shall be liable to a fine which may extend to 1 lakh rupees.

Punjab land Alienation act 1900

In 1900, the Punjab Land Prevention Act was passed by the government of Punjab. The state government has proposed many changes through the Punjab Land Prevention bill 2019.

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The original act suggested ‘the conservation of subsoil water or prevention of erosion’ in areas found to be subject to erosion or likely to become liable to erosion.

The government has the authority to bring an area ‘subject to erosion or likely to become liable to erosion’ under the ambit of the PLPA through notification as per section 3 of the original law.

A new section Section 3A has been put into the bill to keep out certain areas from the ambit of the act.

Lord Curzon enacted Punjab Land Prevention Act in 1900. The bill was laid down that non-peasant could buy lands from the peasants and neither could be attached their lands in case of non-payment of debts nor keep the land in mortgage for more than 20 years as per the act.

Therefore, the moneylenders stopped lending money and Lord Curzon had to open banks and these societies. During the time of Lord Curzon, Various cooperative societies of agriculturists and Agricultural Banks were established.

Through this bill, a 15 years limitation was placed on all land purchases and mortgages. This act also cancelled the right of ‘Zamindar’ to sell or mortgage a land

The fundamental objective of this law was to impose a check on the alienation of land from agriculture to nonagricultural class and therefore it disappointed the moneylenders.

The objective was to protect the Zamindars. They borrowed money from the Money Landers and then either sold or mortgaged their lands.

These Zamindars also restricted the entry of urban Professionals and traders into any kind of land transaction with the peasants.

Due to economic oppression, the peasants were on the border of the agitation and the government wanted to provide them with some relief. Although many Indian leaders and the press opposed this bill by saying that this bill has nothing serious measures to improve the social-economic condition of the peasantry.

This bill made the shopkeepers, moneylenders, professionals and the trader class against the government. It is known as an encroachment on private property and the money lenders thought they shall be made the scapegoat.

At that time, the trader class of Punjab came close to Congress.

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Under its provisions, The PLPA would not be applicable to the lands included in the final development plans or any other town improvement plans published under the provisions of many laws like the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act 1994 and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority Act 2017.

This move by the government has exposed thousands of acres of landfalling on the hills and foothills of Aravalies covering over twenty-six thousand acres in Gurgaon and Faridabad district to mining and real estate development.

Way forward

Under the ministry of Jal Shakti, 105 out of 138 blocks are in the dark zone according to a report in May 2019 by the Central Ground Water Board.

Good quality water in the first aquifer up to a depth of 100 m shall be exhausted in 10 years at current rates of depletion. Also, the entire subsurface water resource could be finished in the next 22 years.

Indian Council Act 1909/ Morley Minto Reforms

The Indian Council act 1909 introduced a few reforms in the legislative councils. It was an act of the British parliament to increase the involvement of Indians in the governance of British India. It is also known as the Morley Minto Reforms after the Secretary of State for India John Morley and the Viceroy of India, the 4th Earl of Minto.

We will discuss the background of Morley Minto reforms and the provisions these reforms brought along in this article.

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Background of Indian Council Act

The British authorities were uncertain to accept Indians as equal partners in spite of the proclamation by Queen Victoria that Indians would be treated equally. That was why very few Indians got such an opportunity.

In 1905, Lord Curzon had put into effect the partition of Bengal but this led to a massive uprising in Bengal consequently.

Hence, the British authorities appreciated the need for some reforms in the governance of Indians.

Moreover, the Indian National Congress was agitating for more reforms and self-governance of Indians.

The extremist leaders of the Indian National Congress were on the rise and believed in more aggressive methods compared to earlier Congress leaders that moderated. In 1906, Congress demanded home rule for the first time.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale met Marley Minto personally in England and highlighted the need for reforms.

In 1906, a group of Elite Muslims led by Aga Khan met Lord Minto. They place their demand for a separate electorate for the Muslims (Shimla Deputation).

John Morley was a member of the Liberal Government and he was ready to make positive changes in the governance of India.

Provisions

• The Legislative Council at the centre and the provinces expanded in size

-Central Legislative Council (from 16 to 60 members)

-Legislative Councils of Bengal, Bombay, Madras and United Provinces (50 members each)

-Legislative councils of Punjab, Assam and Burma (30 members each)

• The Legislative Council at the centre and the province were to have four categories of members

-Ex official members: Governor-General and members of the executive council

-Nominated official members: Government officials who were nominated by the Governor-General

-Nominated non-official members: nominated by the Governor-General but were not the government officials

-Elected members: elected by different categories of Indians.

• These members were elected indirectly and the local bodies elected an electoral college that would elect members of the provincial legislative councils. These members would elect the members of the Central legislative council in turn.
• These elected members were from the local bodies such as the chambers of commerce, universities, landlords, traders communities and Muslims.
• Non-official members were in the majority in the provincial councils. Although, some of the non-official members were nominated. As a whole, a non-elected majority was there.
• For the first time, Indians were given membership in the Imperial Legislative Council.
• It established separate electorates for the Muslims and some constituencies were set aside for Muslims and only Muslims could vote for their representatives.
• The members could discuss the budget, matters of public interest and move resolutions and also ask supplementary questions.
• Any discussion on foreign policy or on the relation with the princely states was allowed.
• Satyendra P. Sinha was appointed as the first Indian member of the Viceroy Executive Council by Lord Minto.
• Also, two Indians were nominated to the Council of the secretary of state for Indian affairs.

Assessment of Indian Council act

The Morley Minto reforms suggested communal representation in Indian politics and were intended to stem the growing tide of nationalism in the country by dividing the people into communal lines. The culmination of this step was noticed in the partition of the country along religious lines.

The impact of differential treatment of different religious groups can be seen to the day.

But this act did not do anything to grant colonial self-government which was the demand of Congress. It increased Indian participation in the Legislative Councils, especially at the provincial levels.

Indian Press Act 1910

The Indian Press Act was rolled out to curtail the progress of the Swadeshi movement. This act provided better control of the press and resurrected the worst aspect of the Vernacular Press Act. The growing dissatisfaction among the educated upper-middle class was spreading ideas that broad the people against the government. Therefore, the British government feared the growing satisfaction among the people.

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The government attentively suppressed the freedom of the press and other vital liberties through legal means since the disturbance of 1857. The Indian Press Act was one of the most undemocratic acts enacted by the British in India.

Background

The attitude of the British government towards the Indian Press changed with the passage of time. Various Press Laws were enacted in an attempt to restrict the anti-British tone of the Indian press from 1908 to 1935.

The renewal of political terrorism compelled the British to take a hardline against Indian nationalists.

Load Ridley, the Home member, enacted a bill to prohibit the distribution of anti-government literature on February 4, 1910.

Lord Minto, second Viceroy of India introduced the Indian Press Act on February 9, 1910.

Provisions

• The Indian press Act was enacted in British India in 1910. This act imposed rigorous censorship on all types of publications.
• Leading tools of control imposed by the Indian Press Act were financial securities; they could be impounded if any of the legislation’s extraordinarily broad provisions were broken.
• As per the magistrate’s discretion, Proprietors were needed to deposit between 500 to 5000 rupees.
• Customs and postal authorities were given the power to detain and investigate the suspected substance.
• Section 12(1) of the Indian Press Act authorised the local government to issue warrants against any newspaper or book containing seditious matters which were to be fined to his majestic majesty.
• This act banned the publication of a large amount of nationalist press and political literature.

The implication of the Indian Press Act

These acts were defined as press offences in this bill

-Attempts to incite murder or anarchical outrages

-To temper with the loyalty of the army or Navy

-To excite racial, class and religious animosity, hatred and contempt of the government or a native prince -To incite criminal intimidation and interference with law and order

-To intimidate public servants with threats of injury.

• Bal Gangadhar Tilak was sentenced to 6 years in Mandalay as he was prosecuted for sedition.
• The Law member of the Government of India Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru was in charge of a committee to examine the working of the Indian Press in 1910. The Act was repealed on the recommendation of the committee.
• Later Lord Reading put an end to the Indian Press Act of 1910.

Final world

The issue of press freedom became intertwined with nationalist politics from the turn of the 20th century forward.

The press acts and restrictions apparently aimed at suppressing revolutionary and seditious activities had a broader scope than even harsh the Indian Penal Code.

Indian independence Act 1947

The Indian Independence Act was passed by the British parliament on July 5, 1947. It was based on the Mountbatten plan and received royal assent on July 18, 1947.

This act came into effect on August 15 1947 and divided British India into two new sovereign republics India and Pakistan. This is an extremely important topic for the civil service exam since with this act India’s struggle for independence came to an end and India became an independent country, finally.

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Background

• Clement Atlee’s Labour Government developed the legislation. This bill was entirely based on the Mountbatten plan. it is also known as the third June Plan and was established after the leaders of the Indian National Congress and Muslim League agreed to Viceroy Lord Mountbatten’s recommendations.
• The British Prime Minister declared that British India would be granted self-government by June 1948 at the latest on February 20, 1947.
• Also, the British government gave a suggestion that was implemented on June 3, 1947. This act was the implementation of the Mountbatten plan and declared Indian Pakistan independent on August 15, 1947.
• The supremacy of the British over the princely kingdoms came to an end. The boundary Commission drew the new boundaries of the dominions.
• The states were asked to decide whether to join both India and Pakistan or remain independent. Over 560 States decided to join India.
• The head of state will be the respected Governor-General until the new dominions’ constitutions become operative.
• Governor-General will be able to continue to assent to laws passed in the name of the monarch through the Constituent Assemblies. On July 18, 1947, royal assent was given to this act.

Provisions

• The British government left India on 15th August 1947.
• India was divided into two sovereign provinces India and Pakistan on this day and each of these States became sovereign.
• The power of the British government that they had in India was to be transferred to each of those states.
• A Border Commission led by Mr Radcliff divided Punjab and Bengal and determined its boundaries.
• The secretary of state for India’s office will be terminated.
• The Queen of England would appoint Governor-General at the Dominion government’s request for every territory.
• He was not to take action on his judgement but rather as the state’s constitutional head of state
• In each domain, the regulations must be enacted by a sovereign.
• The British parliament to India will approve no automatic application of any legislation.
• Both countries will have a constituent assembly that will work as a legislative body. It will function as thoughtfully as practicable with the 1935 Act until a Constituent Assembly in any dominion formulates a Constitution.
• Further, Provincial Governors will serve as the provinces’ constitutional chiefs.
• The practise of reserving the Secretary of State positions should be abolished.
• The Government employees who wish to quit must do so after the handover of authority to both dominions.
• British rule over India’s states and tribal regions came to an end on August 15, 1947. The power would be passed to States rather than dominions in this arrangement and the states will be free to choose whether to join India or Pakistan.
• Now, The engagement of the UK Government with India will be managed through the office of commonwealth affairs.
• The king of England surrendered the title of king and emperor of India.
• British Balochistan, Sindh, East Bengal and West Pakistan are all Pakistani provinces.

Impact

The introduction of the Indian independence Act of 1947 was a watershed movement in the constitutional history of India. Attlee described it as ‘the climax of a protracted chain of events’ and ‘the accomplishment of the British mission’ in India.

Lord Samuel described the law as ‘a peace treaty without war’ in the House of Lords.

Indian politicians as well as Dr Rajendra Prasad appreciated the Act’s passage and said ‘the time of British dominance over India ends today’ and ‘our relationship with the United Kingdom will continue to be built on equality, kindness and mutual understanding’.

Although this law started off a new period of freedom in India, vast numbers of people and politicians were not satisfied as Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad stated ‘August 14 for Muslims in Pakistan is a day of grief for Hindus and Sikhs.

Despite this fact, it is true that the Indian independence Act of 1947 signified the end of British control in India and the start of a free India.

Repeal of the Indian independence Act

• Both provinces had the authority to repeal any act of parliament that influenced them including the Indian Independence Act.
• Later, India and Pakistan abrogated the Indian independence Act of 1947 by adopting their respective constitutions.
• This act was effectively repealed by section 395 of the Indian constitution and section 221 of the Pakistan constitution of 1956.
• India became a republic and the position of dominion was dissolved with the passage of the Indian constitution.
• However, the British parliament failed to contribute to the repeal of the Indian independence Act, of 1947.
• The new constitution lacks the legal authority to repeal legislation and this was done to break the chain of law and establish the constitution as an independent legal system.

Robert Clive

• In this article, we will talk about Robert Clive as it is an important topic for the IAS exam aspirants. He was responsible for the East India Company getting control of Bengal, therefore, led to the conquest of the totality of the Indian subcontinent later on. We can say that Robert Clive laid the foundation of the British Raj in India.

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• The first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency, Robert Clive began as a writer for the East India Company.
• He was born in England in 1725 and established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company by securing a decisive Viceroy at the battle of Plassey in Bengal.
• In 1744, he reached Fort St. George (Madras) to work for the East India Company as a company agent. he enlisted in the company army where he was able to prove his ability and earn great fame for his role in the siege of Arcot which saw a British Viceroy against the larger forces of Chanda Sahib, The Nawab of the Carnatic and French East India company’s force. Robert Clive is also known as Clive of India
• Initially, he stayed in India from 1744 to 1753 and was called back to India in 1775 again to ensure British supremacy in the subcontinent against the French.
• Now, he became the Deputy Governor of Fort St. David at Cuddalore.
• Robert Clive along with Admiral Watson was able to recapture Calcutta from the Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah in 1757.
• Bengal Nawab had a larger force but he was defeated by the British in the battle of Plassey. Clive induced the Nawab’s army commander Mir Jaffar who was installed as Bengal’s Nawab after the battle and thus delivered a decisive English victory. He was also able to capture some French Forts in Bengal.
• Clive was made Lord Clive, Baron of Plassey for these exploits and after this battle, the British became the supreme power in the Indian subcontinent and this increased the fortune of the company because Bengal became theirs and was richer than Britain at the time. This war also opened up other parts of India to the British and led to the rise of the British Raj in India ultimately. That is why Robert Clive is also known as the ‘Conqueror of India’.

Clive’s Rule of Bengal

• Robert Clive was the Governor of Bengal from 1757 to 1760 initially and during his first tenure as Bengal’s governor, under the Nawab Mir Jaffar, corruption was widespread.
• The company’s main aim was to increase revenue at the expense of the peasants. He earned a great personal fortune in India and went back to Britain in 1760.
• In 1765, he came back to India as governor and Commander-in-chief of Bengal.
• There was rampant corruption in the company at this time. Therefore, Clive prohibited the employees of the company from engaging in private trade.
• He also forbade them from accepting gifts and started a ‘Society of Trade’ in 1765 but it was terminated later.
• Mir Qasim, the son in law of Mr Zafar ascended the royal seat of Bengal.
• The Battle of Buxar was won by the British and it was fought between the British and the joint forces of Mir Qasim, Siraj- Ud-Daula and Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor.
• Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha was granted to the British by the Mughal Emperor in return for an annual sum of money and Allahabad and Kora districts as a result of the Buxar Battle.
• Clive refrained from annexing it, who could have had Awadh as well. He wanted to use it as a ‘buffer’ state between the British and the Marathas.
• Although the Nizamat of Bengal remained with the nawab, the English held this power in reality.
• The company was the Diwan and the Nawab had the Nizamat; this was the dual system of Clive.
• Many Indians denounced him for the atrocities heaped upon its peasantry. He imposed high taxes and forced them to cultivate only cash crops leading to famines.
• He earned a mass amount of personal fortune during his stay in India therefore he faced censure in England upon his return.

Warren hasting 1732-1818

In this article, we will share details about Warren Hastings the first Governor-General of Bengal and measures taken by him during his tenure for example revenue reforms, abolition of the dual system, judicial reforms etc. This topic is a part of modern history that is very important for the civil service exam.

Don’t get confused between the first Governor-General of Bengal and the Governor-General of India and Lord William Bentinck was the first Governor-General of India.

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Warren Hastings

• In 1772, Warren Hastings became the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) and the first Governor-General of Bengal in 1774
• In 1750, he started his career as a clerk in an East India Company at Calcutta. Later he became a British resident at Murshidabad, the capital of Bengal in 1758.
• Mir Jafar was appointed as the nawab after the Battle of Plassey.
• The First Anglo-Maratha war and the Second Anglo Mysore War were fought during the term of Warren Hastings.
• Also, the Regulating act of 1773 was enacted during his term.
• In 1785, Warren Hastings supported Sur William Jones in the formation of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Reforms

• A board of revenue was set up at Calcutta for revenue collection and the treasury was moved from Murshidabad to Calcutta. Therefore, Calcutta became Bengal’s capital in 1972.
• For each district, British collectors were appointed and the Accountant General was also appointed.
• Unreasonable fines were dismissed and restrictions were placed on the raising of rent.
• He abolished the Dual system established by Robert Clive. The company had Diwani rights and the Nizam or Indian chiefs had the administrative authority. In this dual system, the annual tribute paid to the Mughal emperor was stopped and the annual allowance of nawab was reduced from Rs. 32 to 16 lakh.
• The judicial powers of the Zamindars were put to an end.
• Civil and criminal courts were set up. Two appellate courts were set up at Calcutta one for Civil and one for criminal cases. Also, the Criminal court was to have an Indian judge.
• Hindus were to be tried according to Hindu laws and Muslims according to their law in the Quran. A code of Hindu law prepared by Hindu Pandit was translated into English.
• Also, Warren Hastings came down deliberately on the dacoits in Bengal.
• He eliminated the system of dastaks which were misused by company officials and traders.
• Private trade by company officials was restricted and he enforced a uniform tariff of 2.5% for Indian and foreign goods.
• Between 1787 and 1795, Warren Hastings’s impeachment was attempted over his misconduct during his time in Calcutta.
• He was charged with personal corruption and mismanagement and MP of Great Britain Parliament, Edmund Burke led Warren Hastings’s impeachment. He was acquitted by the end of a 7 years long impeachment trial.
• He was the representative of the East India Company at the Bengal Nawab Courts from 1758 to 1761 and represented the company’s Council, the controlling body for its affairs in Bengal from 1761 to 1764. In 1765, he returned to England.

Defence of India Act 1915

The Defence of India Act is also known as the Defence of India Regulation Act. This was an emergency criminal law and was elected by the Governor-General of India in 1915. The main purpose was to curtail the nationalist and revolutionary activities of the Indian Independence movement during and after the First World War.

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Historical background

• During the first decade of the 20th century, Punjab, Bengal and Maharashtra became a hotbed of the revolutionary movement in India. The partition of Bengal and colonisation bill in Punjab only cater for the growing dissatisfaction in these provinces.
• Various attacks on well-known personalities in the administration as well as on police were linked to revolutionary groups like Samiti, Anushilan and Jugantar.
• The First World War started with an unpredicted exposition of support towards Britain from the mainstream political leadership of the Indian Independence struggle on the contrary to British fears of a revolt.
• India provided men and resources to contribute enormously to the British war effort. Approximately 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
• After the outbreak of the First World War, the prices of grains rose. Therefore, the discontent with British immigration policies and rumours of British defeats on several friends had led to a new round of agitation against the British government.
• In spite of the fact that India was far away from the fighting in Europe, British fears were revived by a possible alliance of the Central powers with Afghanistan.
• The amalgamation of Afghanistan invading the North-West Frontier and internal disturbance instigated by revolutionary networks were at the top of the minds of the British. Thus, they realise that a new act is needed to stabilize the domestic front and maintain their grip over India.

The implementation of the Act

• British intelligence in North America point out that Ghadar Party coordinating with the Berlin committee in Germany and the Indian revolutionary underground was trying to transport men and arms from the United States and East Asia into India early in the war, envisaged a revolution and mutiny in the British Indian Army.
• A large number of Sikh expatriates started leaving Canada and USA from August 1914 under the plans of Ghadr leadership for fermenting a mutiny in India and Bengal nationalist crime also increased
• Therefore, pressure ascended on the British authorities in India to pass an act that would stem such revolutionary activities. So, the Defence of India Act was enacted.
• This act was to be valid for the duration of the war and for six months thereafter “for public safety” and “the defence of British India”. The primary object of this bill made it illegal to communicate with the enemy, obtain information, spread false reports, as well as any activities that the government deemed prejudicial to the war effort.
• The Defence of India Act permitted local governments to make rules detain indefinitely, without representation, and to try by special tribunals persons “reasonably suspected” of being of hostile origin or acting in a manner prejudicial to the safety of the empire. committing or conspiring to commit crimes either described in the act or crimes which may be punishable by death, transportation or at least seven-year imprisonment.
• This bill gave authority to the local government to allocate three commissioners for trials who may be below the status of high-court judges. At least two would be Sessions judges or additional sessions judges for at least three years, were qualified for appointment as Judges of a High Court, or advocates of a Chief Court or pleaders of ten years’ standing. A majority verdict was endurable.
• Moreover, This act permitted the commissioners to accept as evidence statements recorded by a magistrate without scrutiny to cross-examination and superseded the standards of evidence proscribed in the Indian evidence act 1872.
• Additionally, this law gave permission to commissioners to accept such recorded evidence where the witness was unavailable or dead.
• This measure was intended to secure and safeguard in opposition to intimidation and assassinations by revolutionaries of approvers. There was no right to trial by jury. This act excluded from appeal or judicial review the decisions of the commissioners designated under the act.
• However, the bill was enacted to maintain order and curtail revolutionary movement, it was in practice used on a widespread scale from limiting revolutionaries, through arresting perpetrators of religious violence, to curtailing the voice of moderate political leaders.

The impact of this act

• The Defence of India Act got universal support from Indian non-officiating members in the Governor General’s council, from moderate leaders within the Indian Political Movement at the time of its enactment
• The British war effort had got popular support within India and the defence of India act received support on the understanding that the measures enacted were necessary for the war situation. The application of this bill saw a significant curtailment in revolutionary violence in India.
• Nevertheless, the wide scope and widespread use amongst the general population and against even moderate leaders led to increasing revulsion within the Indian population.
• This act saw 46 executions and 64 life sentences handed out to revolutionaries in Bengal and Punjab in the Lahore Conspiracy Trial and Benares Conspiracy Trial, and in tribunals in Bengal, effectively crushing the revolutionary movement. However, the power of preventive detention was applied more especially to Bengal.
• The widespread arrests helped Bengal Police crush the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti in Calcutta by March 1916.
• From August 1916, Regulation III and the Defence of India act were applied to Bengal on a broad scale. In 1917, Bengal revolutionary violence plummeted to 10 cases. There were more than eight hundred interned in Bengal under the defence of India act by the end of the war.

The Government of India Act 1919 was enacted to increase the participation of Indians in the administration of their country. it was an act of the British parliament and based on the recommendations of a report by Edwin Montagu, the then secretary of state for India and Lord Chelmsford, India’s Viceroy between 1916 and 1921.

Therefore, the constitutional reforms set forth by the ‘Government of India Act 1919’  are also known as the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms or Montfort reforms.

Montagu Chelmsford reforms are an important topic for the IAS exam and are a part of Modern Indian History. Let us check the relevant facts about the act.

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Main features of the Act

Executive

Dyarchy was introduced by this act. There were two classes of administrators:-

-Executive counsellor

-Ministers

The Governor was the executive head of the province and the subjects were divided into reserved and transferred lists.

The Governor with his executive counsellor was in charge of the reserved list. The subjects included irrigation, finance, law & order, land revenue etcetera.

The subjects under the transferred list were local government education, health, industry, excise, public works, religious endowments etc and the Ministers were in charge of subjects under this list.

These ministers were nominated from among the elected members of the Legislative Council and they were responsible to the people who elected them through the legislature. However, the executive counsellors were not accountable to the legislature, unlike the ministers.

The secretary of state and the Governor-General have the right to interfere in matters under the reserved list but they cannot interfere in the matter of the transferred list.

Legislature

The size of provincial Legislative assemblies increased and approx 70% of the members were elected.

There were communal and class electorates and some women could also vote.

The consent of the Governor was required to pass any act or bill.

He had veto power and could issue ordinances too.

Central Government

Executive

There were two lists for administration Central and provincial and the Governor-General was the chief executive authority.

The Centre handled the central list while the provincial list was under the provinces.

The Executive Council of Viceroy were to be three Indian members out of the 8 members.

The Governor-General not only could issue ordinances but also certified bills that were rejected by the central legislature.

Legislature

A bicameral legislature was established with two houses:-

-Legislative Assembly (precursor of the Lok Sabha)

-The Council of State (precursor of the Rajya Sabha)

Legislative assembly (Lower House)

Members of the Legislative assembly

 

Total 145 members

41 (Nominated)

104 (Elected)

26 official + 15 non-official (Nominated)

52 general + 30 Muslim + 9 European + 7 landlord + 4representative of India community + 2 Sikhs (Elected)

The Governor-General nominated the nominated members from Anglo Indians and Indian Christians and these members had a tenure of 3 years.

Council of State (Upper House)

The members had a tenure of 5 years (only male members)

Member of the Council of stat

Total-60 members

27 nominated + 33 elected

17 official + 10 non-official (Nominated)

33 selected + 16 general + 11 Muslim + 3 European + 16 sikhs (Elected)

Only 25% of the budget was subject to vote. The legislatures could vote on a part of the budget and also ask questions. Rest was non-votable. A bill had to be passed in both houses before becoming a law.

There were three measures to sort out any deadlock between both the houses.

-Joint committees

-joint conference

-joint settings

Governor-General

The consent of the governor-general was required for any bill to become law even if both houses had approved it; he also had the right to enact any bill without the assent of the legislature.

If any bill is deemed as detrimental to the peace of the country, he could prevent it from becoming low.

He could refuse any debate, question adjournment motion in the house

Who could vote?

The franchise was restricted and there was no universal adult franchise.

Voters should have a property with rental value or have paid land revenue of Rs. 3000 or have taxable income.

They should be members of a University senate and possess previous experience in the Legislative Council.

They should hold some specific titles and certain offices in the local bodies.

That is why this decreases the number of people who could vote to an abysmal number.

Indian Council

In the Council, there were to be a maximum of 12 members and a minimum of 8.

Their tenure was to be 5 years and salaries were increased from  £ 1000 to £ 1200.

Half of the members should have experience of 10 years in public service in India.

There were to be three Indian members in the Council

Some other features of the Government of India Act

For the first time, this act provided for the establishment of a public service commission in India and a statutory commission would be set up to study the working of the government after 10 years. In 1927, this resulted in the Simon Commission.

This act also created an office of the high commissioner for India in London

Merits

This act introduced the concept of federal structure with a unitary bias and the concept of responsible government.

it increased the participation of Indians in the administration and they held some portfolios like health labour etc.

Elections were known to the people for the first time and it created political consciousness among the people.

For the first time, some Indian women also had the right to vote.

Demerit

The Government of India Act expanded consolidated and communal representation but the franchise was very limited and it did not extend to the common man.

The governor-general and the governors had the authority to undermine the legislature at the centre and provinces respectively. The allocation of seats for the central legislature was based on the importance of the provinces in the eyes of the British rather than the population.

In 1919 Rowlatt Act was passed which gravely restricted press and movement. Those bills were passed in spite of the unanimous opposition of the Indian members of the Legislative Council.

Some Indian members resigned in protest.

The British government passed the Rowlatt Act to increase their hold on power over the common people. This act was passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in March 1919.

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• This act was officially known as the Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act 1919.
• This act authorised the British government the power to arrest any person without any trial. It also gave power to the government to detain such people arrested for up to 2 years without trial.
• It placed severe restrictions on the freedom of the press and empowered the police to search for a place without a warrant.
• Rowlatt Act was passed as per the recommendation of the Rowlatt Committee chaired by a judge, Sir Sydney Rowlatt. This act came to be known as the Black Bill and was widely condemned by Indian leaders and the public including Mahatma Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Madan Mohan Malviya and Majharul Haq.
• But this act was passed in spite of unanimous opposition from the Indian members of the Council. Therefore,
• Gandhi and the other leaders called for a nationwide Hadtal to show India’s objection to this bill. It was known as Rowlatt Satyagraha.
• The moment was marred by rioting in some provinces, especially in Punjab where the situation was stern. So, Gandhi Ji cancelled it. The primary intention of the British government was to repress the growing nationalist movement in India; they were also afraid of a Ghadarite revolution in Punjab and the rest of the country.
• Satyapal and Saifuddin Kitchlew, popular Congress leaders, were arrested.
• When the bill came into effect the protest was very intense. In Punjab, the army was called to tackle the situation.

Jallianwala Bagh Massacre

• The situation in Punjab was out of control as there were riots and protests against the bill.
• Punjab was put under Martial Law
• Under this law, it became unlawful for more than four people to gather at a place.
• At that time, Lord Chelmsford was the Viceroy of India and Michael O’ Dwyer was the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab.
• On 13th April 1990, a crowd of non-violent protesters gathered to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi in Jallianwala Bagh, a public garden in Amritsar. There were pilgrims also among the crowd who had come to celebrate Baisakhi.
• General O’ Dwyer along with his troops came there and blocked the narrow entrance to the garden. After this, he ordered his troops to fire at the unarmed crowd without any warning. There were children also among the crowd.
• For about 10 minutes the indiscriminate firing continued until the 1650 rounds of ammunition were exhausted. Consequently, at least 1000 people died and more than 1500 people were injured.
• This incident was a rude shock to Indians and it destroyed their faith in the British system of justice completely.
• Indian leaders condemned the Rowlatt act and General Dwyer clearly.
• Some people in the British government criticized it but some of them in Britain and the British in India appreciated him. Former Prime Minister H.H. Asquith and Winston Churchill criticized his actions.
• The Hunter Commission was set up to enquire into the massacre. The commission condemned the act but did not impose any disciplinary action against him.
• In 1920, he was relieved of his duties in the army.
• The British failed to give justice to the victims therefore Rabindranath Tagore gave up his ‘knighthood’ and Gandhiji relinquished his title ‘Kaiser-e-hind ‘in protest against the massacre. These titles were bestowed on them by the British for services during the Boer War in South Africa.
• Michael O’Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab at that time had approved the actions of Brigadier-General Dyer. In 1940, he was assassinated by Udham Singh in London as revenge against the massacre. Udham Singh witnessed the massacre as a child.

Official Secrets Act 1923

In 1904, the Indian Official Secrets Act was introduced by Lord Curzon. It was replaced by the official secret act in 1923

The official secret act 1923 was one of the most important acts in India and like many other legislation passed in British India had no place in contemporary Indian society. This act is India’s anti-espionage act held over from the British colonial period and states that actions which involve helping an enemy state against India are firmly condemned.

As per this act, one cannot approach, inspect or even pass over a prohibited government site or area. It also states that helping an enemy state can be in the form of communicating a sketch, plan, a model of an official secret, or of official codes of passwords, to the enemy.

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Prosecutions and Penalties

• A person prosecuted under the OSA can be charged with the crime under official secret acts even if the action was unplanned and not intended to endanger the security of the state. The official secret act empowers persons in positions of authority to handle official secrets, and others who handle it in forbidden areas or outside them are liable for punishment.
• Also, the journalists have to help members of the police force who are above the rank of the sub-inspector and members of the military with an investigation regarding an offence, up to and including revealing their source of information.
• If the magistrate determines that based on the evidence there is enough danger to the security of the state, he can issue search warrants at any time.

Official secret act 1923

• Initially, the Act was enacted to protect the British Empire from the clandestine acts of its enemies but now it is being used to silence citizens who ask too many questions. It is still present in the statute book and finds its way into the hands of every government regardless of the political parties at the helm, therefore enforcing the parent-child relationship between the state and its subjects.
• A true democracy stands to work for the people. That is why the idea that every government should keep certain information away from the public domain in the name of national security contradicts the idea of democracy.
• The Official Secrets Act finds itself at the crossroads of article 19(1). It gives every citizen the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
• This act illuminates what documents or information can be deemed secret, hence it can be misused with government authority branding information or documents as official secret as they see fit.
• This act has been used carelessly against media houses and journalists who are against the action of the Government and questioning its policies
• The act creates adequate ground for corruption and contradicts the Right to Information that was enacted in 2005.

What is covered by the act?

The act covers the provisions related to the

-Penalties for spying

-Wrongful communication

-Unauthorized use of uniforms, falsification of reports, forgery, personation and false documents

-Communications with foreign agents to be evidence of the commission of certain offences

-Interfering with officers of the police or members of the Armed forces of Union -Attempts, incitements etc

-Duty of giving information as to the commission of offences

-Search warrants

-Penalty for harbouring spies

-Restriction on the trial of offences -Exclusion of the public from proceedings -Offenses by companies provisions of section 337 of Act 5 of 1898 to apply to offences under sections 3,5 and 7

Reforms

• Since the official secret act is of draconian nature so many efforts have been initiated to reform it.
• In 1971, the Law Commission became the first official body to observe the official secret act.
• It declared that ‘just because a circular or document is marked secret or classified, it should not attract the provision of the act’
• However, no change to the act was recommended by the commission.
• In 2006, the Second Administrative Reforms Commission recommended that the act should be replaced with a chapter in the National Security Act containing provisions relating to official secrets. The commission delineated the act of ‘being incongruous with the regime of transparency in a democratic society.
• In 2015, A committee was formed to look into the provisions of the official secret act.
• On June 16, 2017, it submitted its final report to the secretariat.
• It was suggested that the official secret act be made more transparent in line with the RTI Act

Indian sales of goods act 1930 – More and less, every kind of business encloses the sale and purchase of goods as part of its transaction. Businessmen are often entering into a contract of sale to sell their commodities. All these sales are governed by the Sale of Goods Act 1930. It is one of the most important types of contracts under the law of India. People in business who deal in the transaction of goods on a regular basis must understand the important terms of this contract. This Write up will help you to know some of the important terminology used in the Sale of Goods Act 1930.

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• This act describes a contract wherein the seller of particular goods transfers or agrees to transfer the goods to the buyer for some price.
• On the first of July, 1930, this commercial law was formed when India was under the British Raj. This law had been based mostly on the Sale of Goods Act 1893 of Great Britain. At present, this act is applicable all over India except for J & K.
• A contract of sale is a generic term which refers to both sale and agreement to sell as per section 2 of this law.
• It is characterized by an offer to buy goods for a price or an offer to sell goods for a price and acceptance of the offer.

Important terms

Buyer

A buyer is defined as a person who either purchases or agrees to purchase certain products, in section 2(1) and he appears as one of the parties in the contract of sale.

Seller

A seller is defined as a person who either sells or agrees to sell certain products in section 2 (13). He appears as one of the parties in the contract of sale.

So, we can say that it is not essential to transfer goods to be deemed as a buyer or a seller. Just by agreeing or promising to sell and buy goods, you become buyer and seller as per the contract of sale.

Goods

Goods are an important clause in the contract for sale described in section 2(7). it is merchandise or possession or moveable property, stock and shares, growing crops, grass, standing timber or the things that are attached to the land but are agreed to be severed before the sale.

Hence, we can say that goods are movable property barring money and actionable claims. They are classified into many categories as explained below.

Types of goods

Section 6 of the Sale of Goods act explains in detail all types of goods. Basically, there are three categories of goods:-

Existing goods

If the goods are present physically at the time of contract and the seller is in the legal position of the goods then it is termed as existing goods. Further, they are divided into 3 subtypes.

Specific goods

Specific goods are defined under section 2 (14).

They refer to goods that are identified and agreed to be transferred at the time of making the contract. for instance, P wants to sell a car of a certain model and year of manufacture and B agrees to buy the car. Here, the bike is a specific goods

Ascertained goods

These types of goods are not identified by law but by judicial interpretation. The good where the whole or part of the good is identified and marked for sale at the time of the contract is termed as ascertained Goods. These goods are earmarked for sale.

Unascertained Goods

The unascertained goods are not specifically identified for sale, at the time of the contract.

For example, there is a bulk of 1000 quinols of rice out of which 600 quinols are agreed to be sold. Here, the seller has an option to choose the goods from the bulk and is not specified.

Future goods

Future goods are the goods which don’t exist at the time of contract but are supposed to be produced, acquired or manufactured by the seller as per section 2(6). For example, A sells tables and B wants 500 tables of a specific design which A agrees to manufacture at a future date. Here tables are future goods.

Contingent goods

The definition of contingent goods appears in Section 6(2) of the Sale of Goods Act. Contingent goods are a kind of future good but it is dependent on the happening or the absence of certain conditions.

For instance, P has agreed to sell 100 apples from his farm to Q at a future date. Here, the sale depends on the fact whether the trees on P’s farm give a yield of 100 apples by the date of the contract.

Delivery

Delivery of goods describes the process of transferring the possession of goods from one person to another as per section 2(2). The person who received the goods could either be the buyer or another person authorised by the buyer to receive the goods. There are three types of delivery of goods as given below:

Actual delivery

If the commodity is handed over straightly to the buyer or the person authorised by them, it is known as an actual delivery.

Constructive delivery

When the goods are transferred without any change in possession then it is a constructive delivery. Even after selling the goods, it means that the seller holds them as bailee for the buyer.

Symbolic delivery

If the goods are not delivered but a symbolic means of obtaining position is involved then that is called symbolic delivery for instance handing over the keys of a warehouse where the goods are stored is a symbolic delivery generally such delivery is done when the goods are heavy or bulky.

Partnership Act 1932 – When a formal agreement between two or more people is made who agree to be the co-owners, distribute responsibilities for running an organization and share the income or losses that the business generates is known as a partnership.

All the aspects and functions of the partnership are administered under the Indian Partnership Act 1932, in India.

This act describes a partnership as an alliance between two or more individuals or parties who have agreed to share the profits generated from the business under the supervision of all the members or on behalf of other members.

Some co-branding partnership examples are Maruti Suzuki, Spotify & Uber, Hindustan petroleum, etc.

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Indian partnership Act 1932

Most of the businesses in India adopt a partnership business.

Therefore, the Indian Partnership Act was established on the 1st of October 1932 to monitor and govern such partnerships.

An agreement is made between two or more people who agree to operate the business together and distribute the profits they gain from this business under this partnership act.

Few Features of Partnership

It is an alliance of two or more individuals and a partnership comes to light from an agreement or a contract. This agreement becomes the basis of the association between the partners, maybe in written form. An oral agreement is evenhandedly legitimate. It is good to have a copy of the written agreement to avoid any controversy.

Two or More Persons

There must be at least two persons suggesting a common goal in order to manifest a partnership. In other words, we can say the minimum number of partners in an enterprise can be two. Although, there is no limitation on their maximum number of people.

Sharing of Profit

Another important aspect of the partnership is the deal between partners who have to share gains and losses of a trading concern. The definition of the partnership act explains partnership as an association between people who have consented to share the gains of a business. The sharing of loss is implicit so sharing of gains and losses is crucial.

Business motive

It is significant for a firm to carry out some kind of business and should have a profit gaining purpose.

Mutual business

The partners are the owners and agents as well of their firm. So, any act performed by one partner can impact other partners and the firm. Thus, we can conclude that this point acts as a test of partnership for all the partners.

Unlimited liability

Every partner must have unlimited liability in a partnership.

Types of partnership

A partnership has been divided into different types based on the state and where the business operates. These are some common types of partnerships.

General partnership

A general partnership consists of two or more owners operating a business. Each partner represents the firm with equal rights in this partnership and all partners can participate in decision making and management activities. They all have the right to control the business. Same as profits, debts and liabilities are equally shared and divided equally.

A general partnership can be stated as a partnership where rights and responsibilities are shared equally in terms of decision making and management. Each partner has to take full responsibility for the debts and liability incurred by the other partner.

All the other partners are considered responsible if one partner is sued. The Creditor or Court will hold the personal assets of the partner. So, most of the partners don’t opt for this partnership.

Limited partnership

This partnership includes the general and limited partners as well. The general partner has unlimited liability. He manages the business and the other limited partners. Limited partners are not associated with the everyday operation of the firm and they have limited control over the business.

In other words, the limited partners only invest and take a profit share. They don’t participate in management or decision making. They don’t have the right to compensate the partnership losses from their income tax return.

Limited Liability partnership

All the partners have limited liability in a limited liability partnership.

In this partnership, each partner is guarded against other partners’ legal and financial mistakes. it is similar to a limited liability company but different from a liberated partnership or a General partnership

Partnership at will

This partnership can be defined as when there is no clause mentioned about the expiration of a partnership firm. A partner has to fulfil two conditions by a firm to become a partnership at will. They are:

1. No particular determination of the partnership should be mentioned.
2. Partnership agreements would have no fixed expiration date.

So, if the duration and determination are mentioned in the agreement then it is not a partnership at will. Also, the firm had a fixed expiry date but if the operation of the firm continues beyond the mentioned date then it will be considered as a partnership at will.

The British Parliament passed the Government of India Act in August 1935. It was the longest act passed by the British parliament at that time. It was divided into two separate acts, the Government of India Act 1935 and the Government of Burma act 1935.

The British government passed this act due to the growing demand for constitutional reform in India by Indian leaders. Moreover, India’s support to Britain in the first world war also added to the British acknowledgement of the need for the inclusion of more Indians in the administration of their own country. The Government of India Act was based on the Simon Commission, a report on the recommendation of round table conferences, the white paper published by the British government in 1933 and the report of the joint select committees.

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All India federation

An All India Federation was to consist of British India and the princely states. The provinces in British India would have to join the federation compulsory but this was not applicable for the Princely States. Although the federation never metallised due to the lack of support from the princely states.

The Government of India Act divided powers between the centre and the provinces. There were three lists which gave the subject under each government namely:

-Federal List (Centre)

-Provincial List (Provinces)

-Concurrent list (Both)

And the Viceroy was vested with residual powers.

Provincial autonomy

This act provided more autonomy to the provinces and the Diarchy was abolished at the provincial levels. The Governor was the head of the executive and a Council of ministers was to suggest or advise him. These ministers were responsible to the provincial legislatures who controlled them and the legislature had the authority to remove the ministers. Although the governors still retained special reserve powers and the British authorities could suspend a provincial government.

Diarchy at the center

Under the Federal list, subjects were divided into two:

1. Reserved
2. Transferred

The reserve subjects were directed by the Governor-General who administered them with the help of three councillors appointed by him but they were not responsible to the legislature.

The reserve subjects included defence, ecclesiastical affairs, police, taxation, press, power sources, justice and tribal affairs.

The transferred subjects were controlled by the Governor General with his council of ministers and the Council had to act in confidence with the legislature. These subjects included forests, local government, health etc.

The governor-general had a special power to interfere in the transferred subject also.

Bicameral Legislature

A bicameral federal legislature would be set up and the two houses were:

1.  Federal assembly ( Lower House)
2.  Council of States ( Upper House)

The Federal assembly or lower house had a term of 5 years and both the houses had representatives from the princely states too. The representatives of the princely states were to be nominated by the rulers. They were not elected but the representative of British India elected and somewhere to be nominated by the Governor General.

In some provinces, like Madras, Bengal, Bihar, Bombay, Assam and the United provinces, the Bicameral legislature was introduced.

Federal Court

A federal court was set up in Delhi for the resolution of disputes between the provinces and even between the centre and the provinces. It was to have not more than 6 judges and one chief justice.

Indian Council

The Indian Council ended and the secretary of state for India would have a team of advisors.

Franchise

For the first time, this act introduced direct election in India.

Reorganization

Burma was separated from India and the Aden was also severed off from India and made into a crown colony.

Bihar and Orissa were split and Sindh was carved out of the Bombay Presidency.

The Industrial Disputes Act is the primary legislation governing dispute resolution in India. This Act was passed to provide for the investigation and settlement of industrial disputes to prevent legal strikes and lockouts and to provide relief to workmen during a layoff or after retrenchment or wrongful dismissal. It also provides for the mechanism of conciliation, arbitration and adjudication to promote measures for mutually beneficial relations between employers and employees.

The policies governing dispute resolution form an important part of the labor law framework in any country, regardless of the level of economic development. This is because complaints and conflicts are inevitable in any working relationship and the purpose of the policy is aimed at providing a mechanism that directs these disputes effectively and quickly. At present, the use of voluntary mechanisms for example conciliation, arbitration and meditation, has become an important part of resolution policy.

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This is due to the lack of adversarial elements that ordinary litigation proceedings are characterized by and therefore have been effective in maintaining relationships during the process of dispute resolution.

Applicability

It is important to understand the meaning and import of the terms industrial dispute and industry as defined in the statute in order to know the scope of the Industrial Disputes act 1947.

Section 2(K) of the Industrial Disputes Act says that the former describes any dispute or difference between employers and employees or between employers and workmen or among workmen which are related to the employment or non-employment or the terms of employment or with the condition of employment of any person.

Section 2 of this act defines the latter as any business, trade, manufacture, undertaking or calling of employers and includes any calling, employment, service, handicraft, industrial occupation or occupation of workmen.

First of all,  a dispute would have to occur in an establishment falling under the definition of the industry to attract the application of the act and also would have to involve one or more of the stakeholders mentioned in the definition of industrial disputes.

In other words, there is no scope for government interference and therefore the only resources are to approach the Courts or engage in alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

It is important to know the definition of ‘Industry’ has been discussed extensively in case laws.

The supreme court laid down a three-pronged test to find out whether a particular activity was industrial in nature, in the landmark case of ‘Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board Versus R. Rajappa.  If this activity involved systematic and organized activity, cooperation between employer and employee and was carried out for the production of services and goods then it would be considered industrial in nature.

In the determination of the above question, the elements of capital investment and profit motive were held to be immaterial. Also, the dominant nature test is applicable in the case of an undertaking engaging in multiple activities which might or might not be one of the core activities.

It directs whether a specific activity of any enterprise can be classified as industrial in nature by assessing the predominant nature of the activities performed by the enterprise and the integrated nature of the departments.

The social-religious norms that were well followed were criticized by the then great scholars like Zoroaster in Iran and Confucius in China in the 6th century BC.

They emphasized ethical and moral values. Two alternate religions, Buddhism and Jainism emerged in India also. Both these religions believed in good social conduct, charity, nonviolence and generosity. They emphasized that true happiness does not lie in materialism. There is no need to perform rituals.

Buddhism is an important topic for the civil service exam and an integral part of the History syllabus.

Buddhism was divided into two sects: Mahayana and Hinayana upon the death of Gautam Buddha in 400 BC.

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Mahayana sect

It means ‘Great Vehicle’ in Sanskrit and believed in the divinity of the Gautam Buddha act which encouraged idol worship in Buddhism.

Hinayana Sect

It means ‘Small Vehicle’ in Sanskrit and it did not believe in the divinity of the Buddha but stressed individual salvation through meditation and self-discipline.

Mahayana

• Mahayana followers consider Gautam Buddha to be a divine being; they believe that Buddha will help his followers to attend Nirvana.
• The followers of Mahayana can be found in China, Japan, Korea and Tibet.
• Descriptions of Mahayana Buddhism were written in Sanskrit
• There are three bodies of a Buddha as per Mahayana Buddhism

-Nirmanakaya

-Sambhogakaya

-Dharmakaya

• There are ten-far reaching attitudes in Mahayana

1. Self-discipline
2. Generosity
3. Patience
4. Mental stability
5. Perseverance
6. Wisdom
7. Aspirational Prayers
8. Skills in Means
9. Deep Awareness
10. Strengthening

• Mahayana Buddhism started to flourish around 500 BC.
• In measurable joy is the wish that others have the joy of unending enlightenment in Mahayana Buddhism

Hinayana

• Hinayana Buddhists consider Gautam Buddha as an ordinary person who attained Nirvana. Hinayana Buddhism is followed in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
• The Scriptures of Hinayana Buddhism are available in Pali and they don’t believe in the three bodies of a Buddha as they believe an individual must find his own path to salvation.
• These are ten-far reaching attitudes in Hinayana Buddhism.

1. Patience
2. Self Discipline
3. Generosity
4. Being True to one’s words
5. Perseverance
6. Wisdom
7. Resolution
8. Renunciation
9. Equanimity
10. Love

• Immeasurable joy means rejoicing in the happiness of others in Hinayana Buddhism. Don’t get jealous and accept anything in return.
• Hinayana Buddhism began to flourish around 250 BC.

Doctrines of Buddhism

The core of Buddha’s doctrine is articulated in the Ariya-Sacchani, Ashtangika Marg, Middle Path, Social Code of Conduct and attainment of Nirvana.

Gautam Buddh says that one should not clutch to anything, even his teachings. He asked that teachings are only Upaya or skilful means but not dogma. It is fingers pointing at the moon but you should not confuse the finger for the moon.

Three main pillars of Buddhism are

1. Buddha- Teacher or Founder
2. Dhamma- Teaching
3. Sangha- Order of Buddhist Monks and Nuns

Four noble truths

Suffering (Dukha)

Everything is suffering and the reason for suffering is desire according to Buddhism. It does not only mention actual pain and sorrow faced by an individual but also the potential to experience pain.

Samuday

Desire or Trishna is the main reason for suffering and every suffering has a reason.  However, it is a part and parcel of living

Nirodh

The suffering can be ended by the achievement of Nirvana.

Ashtangika- Marg

Ashtangika Marg is the truth of the path leading to the end of suffering.

The end to suffering consisted in the eightfold path or Ashtangika Marg.

Bodhisattva

Bodhisattva means a person who intends to become a Buddh in Sanskrit. in other words the individual who is on the path to becoming Buddha or attending salvation is known as Bodhisattva.

Bodhisattva is one of the 10 realms whose teachings are included in Buddhism. These are very important from the perspective of the UPSC exam.

Gautam Buddh referred to himself as a Bodhisattva during all his incarnations as per Theravada. When he had got complete enlightenment he claimed himself as Buddha.

A being who is on the path to enlightenment is a Bodhisattva and attains the title of Buddha only after complete enlightenment.

Mahayana Buddhism defines Bodhisattva as ‘any being who intends to achieve enlightenment and Buddhahood’.