Skip to main content

Charter Act of 1793

By 1793, when the company's charter timed out the British parliament passed a new charter which authorized the company to carry on trade with the East Indies for next 20 years.
  • The company was allowed to increase its dividend to 10%.

The Act recognized the Company's political functions and clearly established that the "acquisition of sovereignty by the subjects of the Crown is on behalf of the Crown and not in its own right."
  • A provision in the Charter act of 1793 was made that the company, after paying the necessary expenses, interest, dividend, salaries, etc from the Indian Revenues will pay 5 Lakh British pounds annually out of the surplus revenue to the British Government. However, the act also had a provision, that Crown could order the application of the whole of the revenue for the purpose of defense if the circumstances posed such demands.
  • Expenses, interest, dividend, salaries, etc were to be borne by the Indian Exchequer.

In this act the Governor General was empowered to disregard the majority in the Council in special circumstances. Thus more powers were entrusted in him. The Governor General and respective governors of the other presidencies could now override the respective councils, and the commander in chief was not now the member of Governor General's council, unless he was specially appointed to be a member by the Court of Directors.
  • If a high official departed from India without permission, it was to be treated as resignation.

This act reorganized the courts and defined their jurisdictions. The revenue administration was divorced from the judiciary funtions and this led to disappearinf of the Maal Adalats.
The Charter Act of 1773 was followed by the Act of 1797 which reduced the number or Judges of the Superme court at Calcutta from 4 to 3 (One chief Justice and 2 other judges).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The legacy of Srinivasa Ramanujan

His work has had a fundamental role in the development of 20th century mathematics and his final writings are serving as an inspiration for the mathematics of this century On a height he stood that looked towards greater heights. Our early approaches to the Infinite Are sunrise splendours on a marvellous verge While lingers yet unseen the glorious sun. What now we see is a shadow of what must come. Sri Aurobindo, Savitri, 1.4 The story of Srinivasa Ramanujan is a 20th century “rags to mathematical riches” story. In his short life, Ramanujan had a wealth of ideas that have transformed and reshaped 20th century mathematics. These ideas continue to shape mathematics of the 21st century. This article seeks to give a panoramic view of his essential contributions. Born on December 22, 1887 in the town of Erode in Tamil Nadu, Ramanujan was largely self-taught and emerged from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Juvenile Legislation - Neuroscience and beyond

3 years back, Nirbhaya case created a stir in society as it saw a lower abyss in society. 6 persons were convicted for the heinous crime of rape, one of them was a juvenile. The  same juvenile created another stir when he walked out of juvenile rehabilitation home in December 2015. Icing to the cake of stirs was amendment of Juvenile Justice Act which added the provision that a juvenile of age between 16 to 18 be treated as adult for heinous crimes. Though this amendment has been criticized, but most peculiar and scientific criticism has come from Neuroscience professionals. They argue that the part called frontal lobe - the front part of the brain, is underdeveloped at the age between 16-18. This is the part which is responsible for decision making, impulse control, judgement and emotions. They further argue that in the condition of stress, the same frontal lobe shrinks losing their capacity to process information. In turn, the back of brain Amygdala - which is responsible fo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Landmarks in the Constitutional Development of India

Regulating Act, 1773 It was the first attempt by the British Parliament to regulate the affairs of the East India Company Governor of Bengal became Governor General for all British territories in India Governor General had a Council of 4 members to assist him in administration Bombay and Madras Presidencies were subordinated to Bengal Presidency Supreme Court was set up at Calcutta having jurisdiction over British subjects Amending Act, 1781 Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was defined Governor-General-in-Council was made the final court of appeal from provincial court. Pitt's India Act, 1784 East India Company's Court of Directors (consisting of 24 members) was left with the responsibilities of only commercial affairs of the company Board of Control consisting of 6 Parliamentary Commissioners was constituted to control civil, military and revenue affairs of East India Company in India. Court of Directors had to comply with the orders and directio...
Post a Comment
Read more