Charter Act of 1853

The British East India Company governed the Charter act of 1853 for retaining its territories and revenues left in India in belongings for the Crown for an uncertain period unlike the previous Charter such as 1793, 1813, 1833, which were renewed every 20 years.

When the Charter act of 1853 was in accommodation or power, Lord Dalhousie was the Governor-General of India. The Charter act of 1853 has many purposes and significant roles as from it the Parliament system of India had taken place initially. This article will tell you about the Charter act of 1853, the Features of charter act 1853, and the Charter act of 1853 age of civil services.

What is the Charter act of 1853?

Charter act of 1853 was based on the reports that a selected selection committee made of inquiry in 1852. The Act first introduced local representation in a central or Indian Legislative Council.

The Charter act of 1853 was governed by the British in East India Company for retaining its territories and revenues in India for the holding of the Crown for an uncertain period.

The charter act of 1853 was legislated in the British Parliament to regenerate the East India Company’s charter.

The objective of the Charter act, 1853

The Charter act of 1853 regenerated the company’s powers and permitted them to hold the territories and revenues of the Indian territories concerning the crown. Nevertheless, the Charter act did not grant commercialised privileges for a specific time or on a certain period as the previous charters did.

What are the features of the charter act 1853?

• During the Charter act of 1853, the legislative and governor-general Council functions were separated for the first time.
• The Charter act of 1853 served as the foundation of the modern Parliamentary structure of Government in India. The Governor-general council legislative wing acted as the parliament model of the British Parliament.
• The Council of the legislative wing also worked as a mini parliament by espousing The same project procedures followed by the British government of the Parliament. Nevertheless, for the first time, the legislation was treated as a very special function of government, necessitating special processes in special types of machinery. 
• By the act of 1853, the Company rule was extended for a very uncertain period, dissimilar to the past charters did have a certain period of their act. Thus, it can be taken over at any time by the British government.
• The company’s influence was also decreased by the Charter act of 1853. After this, it leads the directors and the members in the total number of 6 who were the crown nominated members of the board.
• The Indian Civil Service developed from this act of 1853 and was open to all Indians or all people. The Indian Civil Services stopped the system of nominating or recommendation and started a fair appointing members competition.
• The local representation was introduced into the Legislative Council in the form of 4 associates of the local government of Bengal,  Madras, North-Western provinces, and Bombay.

Key provisions of the Charter act of 1853

The legislative powers:

• Business of Legislative was publicly conducted, and the discussion was made orally.
• The referring of the bills was only to a selected committee, rather than referring to it as an individual member.
• The Governor’s legislative general counsel and the enforcement functions were separated for the first time due to the Charter act of 1853.
• A group of people was introduced known as legislative councillors, who are in the total number of 6. 
• To put it a different way, they created the separate governor-general Legislative Council, known as the central Legislative Council of India.
• A mini parliament was formed as the Council Legislative were active and moving the same procedure as the British government or the parliament.
• For the first time, the legislation was considered a separate government function, needing many specialising procedures and specialised machinery or products.
• The procedure that the British Parliament had was the same as the governor-general council in legislation was having. The members of the governor-general Council can discuss or ask the plan of action of the Enforcement Council.
• The bells were passing, and such as the right to veto,  they were given to the Executive Council for passing the bill.

Conclusion

The last act was the Charter act of 1853 for the East India Company. In this act, there were not many commercial privileges that were given. It has an uncertain period, unlike the previous charters that did have a fixed period. The beginning of India’s parliament is marked by the Charter act of 1853. The administrative duties of the governor-general of Bengal were relieved, and he instead worked for the Government of India. By the Charter act of 1853, many happenings in 1857 led to the process known as mutiny.