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The Regulating Act of 1773

The Regulating Act was enacted during the tenure of Prime Minister Lord North of Britain during the reign of King George III. The Act aimed at "placing the affairs of the Company on a solid, clear and decisive establishment." Many scholars from different streams consider it as the starting point of the development of the Constitution of India.

The East India Company was allowed to trade in Asia. It was given the power to regulate its conduct when it was away from its country. It was an extended privilege. However, when the company acquired political power over the territories in foreign lands, the people of England raised the issue of the legal status of the company. The ruling class of England had many commercial interests in the company and objected to such activities of the company in Asia. They forced the parliament to probe the actual nature of the working of the company. The multiple interests of people in England and the involvement of the parliament in the probe of the activity of the company identified many objections to the status of the company. These forces identified the following issues and problems which demanded a legislative solution. It ended with the enactment of the Regulating Act. It was a critical and legal situation that demanded a legislative solution, and the result was the Regulating Act.

Company's Territorial Sovereignty and Constitutional Anomaly

The charter given to the Company permitted it to conduct trade with India and other Asian territories through ships and establish trading centres with the approval of the native rulers of India and other Asian territories. In 1765, the employees of the company had acquired the right of collection of revenue in Bengal and some territories in India. It was a contradictory situation.  The company was a trading corporation and it had become a political authority in India. The new status of the company was strongly objected to by the people in England.

Double Government and Administrative Confusion

The East India Company was a trading company. In no way was it allowed to get involved in the activity of acquiring territorial possessions, which granted it any political authority on foreign territories. In 1757, the company fought the battle of Plassey and it was followed by a battle of Buxar in 1764. These battles were followed by the Allahabad Treaty. The terms of the treaty had established the company as a de facto ruler of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and it emerged as a territorial power. As per British sensibility, it was only the Crown that could acquire the territorial possession. The English people could not become the sovereigns when the Crown was there. Apart from that, the employees who were real participants in the operations in India acquired wealth in such a quantity that it attracted the attention of every concerned person in England.  

Dual government Confusion:

Clive established a system of administration which was termed as a Dual government. The magistracy, the police, the revenue official and other authorities did not have a consensus on the law which was to be adopted. There was total confusion. It was further confounded with the right of private trade allowed to the company servants. In addition to that, there was no coordination among the governors of Bengal, Madras and Bombay. There was total anarchy and confusion in the territories where the Company officers had acquired the political authority. It demanded a concrete resolution of the whole situation.

Company Servants turned English Nabobs:

Captain Lawrence supervised the rise of Clive in the military service of the East India Company in India. Lawrence retired and returned to England. He lived a life of poverty. When Clive returned to England, he returned loaded with wealth and constituted a yearly pension for his patron, Lawrence, out of gratitude. The English people watched in amazement the spendthrift activities of Clive. Clive was not a singular case. The Company servants, who derived a very low salary, returned to England filled with overflowing coffers, especially after the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765. The wealth and extravagance of the Company servants became a cause of jealousy for the English ruling class. The English politicians gave them the title of English Nabobs in disdain. The English Nabobs not only displayed their wealth unashamedly but also tried to buy their way into the politics of England. The public opinion turned against English Nabobs. They were accused of adopting sharp practices for obtaining their wealth in India. The English ruling class demanded the intervention of the Government of Britain in the working of the company.  

Administrative Setup of the Company in England

The administration of the company in England was conducted by two bodies. It was in the hands of the Court of Proprietors and the Court of Directors. As per the constitution of the company, there were twenty-four Directors whom the Court of Proprietors elected. Those twenty-four Directors looked after the regular administration of the company.  Any person who held shares worth 500 pounds for six months before the elections of the Directors could vote in their election and also be eligible to get elected to the post of Director. The post of Director was the main attraction as it was the directors who disposed of the Company's patronage. Secondly, there were many hidden interests to shield the nefarious activities of the company servants who had worked for the interests of directors. Thirdly, the company servants, who returned with enormous wealth, made the scramble for votes and posts of directors a dirtier game by obtaining membership in the Court of Proprietors. Fourthly, the people involved in the politics of company administration in England were also active participants in the politics of England. There were clear flaws in the constitution and working of administration of the company. It did not escape the notice of the Government of Britain.

Financial Difficulties of the Company

By the Treaty of Allahabad, 1765, the Company in India received the Diwani rights. Clive reported to the directors that it would fetch £4000000 (Forty Lakhs) from the revenue of Bengal and £1650000 (16.5 Lakhs) from the income of the Company through trade. Therefore, the total projected income added up to 56.5 Lakhs. (In Indian rupees, if an exchange rate of rupee 10 for one pound is assumed as it was adopted in the 19th century, then the income of the company had grown from 1.6 crores to 5.56 crores within one year.) It dazzled the proprietors of the company. They increased the dividend of the company from 6% to 10% in 1766 and to 12% in 1767. A single share of £100 went up to £267 during this period.

The renewal of the Charter of the company was pending for some time. It attracted the attention of the Government of Britain. A negotiation started between the company and the government. By the Act of 1767, the Government allowed the company the privilege to retain its territorial gains in India along with the revenue from Bengal by depositing £400000 per annum as Parliamentary charges.

In the meantime, the company in India faced the Mysore war, which increased its expenditure without any gains. The company was also paying huge tributes and pensions to the Indian rulers. To this expenditure, the huge dividend and Parliamentary charges were added and increased its financial burden. In 1770, Bengal suffered a famine, which reduced its revenue collection. In 1772, the financial crises became too acute, and the company virtually became bankrupt. It applied for a loan from the Bank of England. The Bank of England had extended its loan on a regular basis, but in 1772, it refused to extend any more credit. Then, the company turned to the Government for help and applied for a loan of £1000000. The government of Britain had faced a similar situation in the case of another company named South Sea Company. The share of South Sea Company had risen from its base price of £100 to 1034 and then suddenly fell to 135. The South Sea Company bubble had ruined many subjects of the Kingdom. The incidence was quite fresh for the Government. The government was very cautious when East India approached for financial help. The Government decided to regulate the affairs of the company and brought in the Regulating Act of 1773.

Privilege of the Company and Public Opinion:

Robert Grant, in his book, A Brief Sketch of East India Company, published in 1812, stressed the issue of a conflict between the desire of the Company to safeguard its privilege as a company constituted under the direct Royal Charter and the strong public opinion which demanded to dismantle all such privileges. The fight among the various members of the company made it an issue of debate in the Parliament also. As a result, the Government got the chance to regulate the affairs of the company by a fresh act.

 

Enquiry by the Parliament Committees:

The affairs of the East India Company had become a subject of heated discussion and debate in Parliament. As a result, one Select Committee and another Secret Committee were constituted by the Parliament. The Select Committee submitted twelve reports, and the Secret Committee submitted six reports on the working and conduct of the company. All the eighteen reports of the Parliament Committees strongly condemned the Company for its misrule. Lord North, the Prime Minister at that time decided to introduce a Bill to regulate the affairs of the company to resolve the issue.

Mr. Edmund Burke, who was associated with the company and was a member of the Parliament, strongly resisted this move in the parliament. East India Company petitioned against the bill and called it an unjustified act. However, the government of Lord North was determined to introduce the Bill. Lord North moved the bill in the Parliament on May 18, 1773. The bill was passed in both houses with a comfortable majority. The Act which came into existence was called the Regulating Act of 1773. It was also accompanied by another legislation which provided a loan to the company for £1400000 (Fourteen Lacs) at 4% interest to relieve the company from its financial crises. The power to monitor the activities of the company by the Parliament was thereby legally established. The company was allowed to conduct its trade in India.

Main Provisions of the Act

The Regulating Act of 1773 made changes in the constitution of the company. It allowed the company to conduct its commercial and administrative functions but brought these activities under the direct supervision of the Parliament. It even made changes in the working of the company in Indian territories. Some of the major provisions and effective changes are given below.

 

Changes in the constitution of the Company in England:

1. Before 1773, any person who held the stock of the company for the value of £500 before the elections of the Court of Directors could vote in the Court of Proprietors. The Act stipulated that only those members who held stocks worth £1000 and possessed them more than 12 months before the voting in the Court of Proprietors could participate in the elections. As a result, 1246 stockholders were disqualified from voting. The provision was directed against those company servants who were called English Nabobs. They acquired the shareholding and influenced the election of Directors. The Parliament had tried to check the disorder which the English Nabobs were accused of creating in the affairs of the company.

2. Before 1773, the tenure of the Director was for one year. The Regulating Act increased it to four years. One-fourth of the directors were to retire after one year, and fresh elections would fill their vacant posts. The total strength of Directors was kept to 24 members as per the earlier charter. It was expected that it would bring uniformity in the policies of the Company and ensure the responsible conduct of the Company in India.

3. The Act also stipulated that the Company would place all the accounts related to the revenue collected in Bengal before the Treasury of England and the correspondence from India related to Civil and Military affairs before the Secretary of State.

The provision became a major factor in developing the constitution in India. It brought in the role of Parliament in the working of the government in India. It decided the direction in which the constitution developed in India.

The company's Central Government in India

1. The Regulating Act also laid down the provisions relating to the activity of the Company within the territories of India. The Act set up a central government for the British territories in India. The government in India consisted of a Governor General and his four Councillors. The names of these officials appeared in the Act itself. Warren Hastings was declared the Governor General in Council. Warren Hasting was the governor of Bengal at that time. The four Councillors named were Clavering, Monson, Barvell and Francis. The three members, Clavering, Monson and Francis, were public men of England, and they did not have any prior experience of administration in India. The company was allowed to appoint future officers to this government.

The structure of the government, as laid down by the Regulating Act, decided the nature of the future Charter Acts. The role of Parliament in the activities in the running of the government of India kept increasing. The Company remained satisfied till the end that the power of appointment had remained with the Company. However, many Indian historians emphasised this aspect that the history was framed under the influence of the British Parliament.

2. The tenure of the members of the Central Government in India was fixed for five years.

3. The salary of the members of the Central Government in India was also fixed. The Governor General in Council was to be paid £25000 annually. The members of his council were to receive £1000 each per year. It was a hefty salary in those days. It was expected that these officers in India would not indulge in any type of corruption as they were well-paid.

The provisions proved highly detrimental to the financial health of India as a country. All the salaries of the officers were ultimately paid out of the pocket of the Indians.

4. The Governor General in Council and his councillors were directed to conduct the affairs of the government by majority vote. The Governor General was empowered to cast votes if there was an equal division of opinion due to different reasons.

The Regulating Act was envisaged with the vision of running the affairs of the Indian government smoothly. But, the Governor General and the Councillors never developed a working relations. It hindered the working of the governor. It proved damaging to the interest of the Indian people. Warren Hasting was entrusted with the task of deciding the methods of revenue collection. It was not able to settle it during the tenure of Warren Hasting.

5. The Governor General in Council and the councillors were empowered to superintend and control the Presidency governments in their relations with the native princes. The Presidency governments were not authorized to start war or conclude treaties with the native rulers without the prior permission of the Governor General in Council and his councillors. In case of emergencies or under direct orders from London, they could act without seeking permission from the government in Bengal.

The provision of the control of the Bengal on other Presidencies never worked smoothly. The Presidency of Bombay was more intrepid in adopting its own free course as it considered itself directly answerable to the Crown.

6. The Governor General in Council was authorised to make and issue rulers, ordinances and regulations for the good order and civil government of the Indian territories. However, his legislative acts could become operational after he had registered and published in the Supreme Court at Calcutta. Secondly, such acts of the Governor General in Council were required to be consistent with the laws in force in England.

This provision became one of the major hurdles in the working of the government in India. The first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta was Justice Impey. Warren Hasting and Impey were known to each other. However, when under the Regulating Act provisions, the activities of the government were undertaken, a rift developed between the Governor General in Council and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta.

7. The Regulating Act bound the Governor-General in Council to pay due obedience to the orders of the Court of Directors and keep them regularly informed in the matters relating to the operations of the Company concerning revenue collection, civil administration and relations with the native rulers.

The obedience clause also became a hindrance in the relation between the Bengal government and the Court of Directors. The Governor Generals took the benefit of the distance between India and England and exercised their free will in the name of exigencies and emergencies. It became a major factor in the development of provisions in the future charters and later the development of the constitution.

Presidency Governments of the Company

1. The Governor General in the Council of Bengal was given the power to suspend any offending Governor and his council. The Presidency governments were bound to show obedience to the orders of the Governor General in the Council of Bengal.

2. The Act bound the Presidencies to submit to the Governor General in Council of Bengal all the information concerning their government, revenue and information related to the Company.

Supreme Court in Bengal

1. The Regulating Act made provision for setting up a Supreme Court in Calcutta. By a charter of March 29, 1774, three assistant judges were attached to the Chief Justice and his court was established.

2. The Chief Justice and Assistant Judges were to hold office at the pleasure of the Crown.

3. Their salary was fixed at £8000 for the Chief Justice and £6000 for the Assistant Judges annually.

4. The Court had the power to try civil, criminal, admiralty and ecclesiastical cases. The Court was given jurisdiction over all the subjects of Britain residing in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. It had original and appellate jurisdiction.

Reforms in Civil Services

All persons in the Indian Civil Service were prohibited from receiving presents from the native princes and the people of India.

The Governor General, members of his Council and Judges of the Supreme Court were prohibited from engaging in commercial activities or dealings.

All the officers of the Company were required to submit to the Board of Directors on their return to England a list of properties and sources of their origin.

Merits, Demerits and Significance of the Regulating Act

The East India Company was a trading company. It had acquired territories and political authority in India. The company was a traders association permitted to trade in the East under the laws of England. However, it had overstepped its permission and became a political power. By Regulating Act, the Parliament of Britain had tried to resolve the legal confusion by bringing under its supervision the political activities of the government of the company in India. The company was left free to undertake its commercial activities. However, it was also allowed to perform its political role, which it had acquired unlawfully. The political activity was brought under the supervision of the Parliament of Britain and thereby attempted to resolve the situation. However, the provisions that were laid down to execute this balancing act came under strong criticism when the provisions were put into operation. The drawbacks of the Regulating Act in operation vindicated its criticism. The Act was strongly derided by contemporary legal personalities. Some of the significant demerits were as follows.

Demerits:

1. The Regulating Act of 1773 was not able to grant veto power to the Governor General, which made it difficult for him to exercise his authority over his council and the administration. The decisions were taken by consensus. Warren Hastings was regularly outvoted and overruled. Three members of his council formed a group and forced the Governor General to act against his own will. Warren Hastings was so much pushed back that he planned to resign in 1776. However, before his resignation could reach the concerned authorities, Clavering, one of the members of his council, died. Fortunately for Hastings, his posts were not filled. Hastings acquired control over his council by exercising his casting vote whenever his decisions were opposed. However, during this factional conflict within the council, the government of the company in India was adversely affected. All the five members who headed the government under the Regulating Act made earlier years of the operation of the government a tragic affair.

2. The Regulating Act failed to achieve the target of regulating the working of the government of India, which was fully revealed in the case of the revenue administration. It was the priority of Warren Hastings and his council to decide the issue of the revenue settlement and revenue administration. Till 1777, the governor and his councillors did not make any progress on this issue. They kept on fighting among themselves on the issue.

3. The provisions relating to the Supreme Court created another episode full of troubles and tragic situations. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was obscure and defective. The charter of the court did not lay down the qualification of a British subject who could seek legal remedies from the court. The relation between the Court and the Governor-general in Council was also not detailed. The court was not given clarity on the law to be adopted in the case of a plaintiff or defendant. Justice Impey had written that he was baffled to decide upon the law to be implemented in case of different representations brought before his bench. Similarly, the relationship between the Court and the government of Bengal always presented a tricky situation for both parties. No doubt, the disputes between these two bodies propped up now and then. Two cases, Patna Case (1777-79) related to the legality of the acts of an Indian judicial official and Kasijora Case (1779-80) related to Raja of Kasijora were the two important cases that can be cited to mention the tensions which were generated between the two different sections of the administration when they worked under the provisions of the Regulating Act. Impey and Warren Hastings were friends. However, when they operated the provision of registering the legislations and orders framed in the government of Bengal, both of them turned against each other on the issue of the interpretations of orders of the government.

4. The Regulating Act of 1773 was framed to establish a good government in the territories of India. It tried to make the working of the presidencies responsible. It imparted the role of dominance to the Governor General of Bengal over the other two presidencies at Madras and Bombay. However, when the occasions of putting the power of Bengal over the other presidencies in operation, the governor of Bengal was ineffective. The governors of Madras and Bombay started wars and concluded alliances with the Indian princes under the plea of exigencies. They evaded to seek the consul and directions from Calcutta.

5. A missing part of the Regulating Act was identified in the statute by people in London. The court of directors was bound to lodge the accounts and reports on civil and military received from Calcutta within fifteen days of receipt with the Parliament. There was no provision in the Act to establish the machinery which would study and evaluate the documents of the company and, in return, direct the Company and the Government in India on the basis of documents. The Regulating Act envisaged establishing the control of the Parliament over the activities of the company, but it did not materialize in the absence of the required machinery meant for it.

6. Another set of clauses that were directed at correcting the flaws of the constitution of the Company failed to achieve the desired goal. It was one of the priorities of the Act to secure the integrity of the conduct of the Court of Proprietors. It desired to stop the retired company servants from influencing the working of the Company. It failed in its aim. The court of directors turned into a permanent oligarchy. The politics at the time of voting for the election of the officer bearers continued. The company servants continued to buy the stocks of the company and entered the administration of the company.

In conclusion, on the demerits, it can be stated that the Act failed to establish the control of the State over the Company. It failed to establish the controls of Directors over its servants in India. It failed to establish the control of the Governor General over his council. Finally, it failed to establish the control of the Calcutta government over the two presidencies.

However, this forms one part of the story. The Regulating Act was a starting part of a new course in the development of the Constitution of India, the working of the company and the history of India. Hence, the merits and significance must be considered to derive a final conclusion.

Before, evaluation is undertaken to next level, it has to be uderstood that the British Parliament had faced a new situation and it came up with a novel solution. The company was a trading body. It became a territorial power. The British Parliament tried to find a solution to this vexatious constitutional problem. Secondly, the company became the Dewan, an important ministry of the Mughal Administration. The Parliament of Britiain did not have the right understanding of the Mughal Sovereigns. It was the civil servants of the company who had the first-hand information. However, they were not statemen of that stature who could guide and consul the British Parliament. The British Parliament was under all the obligation to find the answer to the question of constitutional law, which had arisen because a company organised under the law established by them had become a territorial power in a far-off region. However, the British Parliament made an attempt and formed legislation. It was a first-of-its-kind legislation. It had hidden within it the seed which sprouted into a new constitution in India.

Merits and Significance of the Regulating Act;

The Regulating Act was a measure of great constitutional significance. It was the first in the series of the British Parliament Acts that altered the British Government in India from time to time. From the historical point of view, it became the basis of the Indian Constitution that came alive on January 26, 1950.

1. It was the first British Parliament legislation that imparted constitutional form to the arbitrary sovereignty that a trading company of London acquired in India.

2. The Regulating Act changed the nature of a commercial corporation. The East India Company was a commercial body that had turned into a territorial power that was not under the control of the British Parliament. The company originated in London as per the laws of Britain. But, it had turned into a sovereign in a foreign land while sustaining its existence on the strength imparted to it by the British laws. It had raised the question of the position of the British Parliament, the mother who had given birth to it. It had risen to the status of a Crown and sought an equal platform with the British crown in the international arena. One of the solutions was to dissolve the company, which the British law had all the power to do. However, by the Regulating Act, the British Parliament saved the work of a British corporation for the British nation. In the process, British law changed the nature of the British trading corporation.

3. The Regulating Act started a series of legislation that started a process of centralisation concerning Indian administration. The Governor of Bengal became the Governor General of Bengal and the other presidencies with their governor came under its supreme control. It became the genesis of the unitary type of government in India. It is considered to be one major factor towards the unification of India.

4. The Regulating Act also achieved a unique and novel solution through the parliamentary process. By this legislation, the British nation as a nation took over the responsibility of the government of the territories which were acquired by the servants of the commercial organisation. It was never done before in the history of Europe, and Britain was the first nation to do it.

5. The Regulating Act brought the working of the Company under the direct control of the British Parliament, curtailed the powers and patronage of the Company over Indian civil and military activities, and regularised the internal economy of the company.

6. The Regulating Act became a major historic act in the history of India. All the activities of the company in India were made the record of the British Parliament. The British Parliament watched and recorded all the developments in India. British Parliament curbed the corruption which the servants of the company shamelessly practised and discussed in its sessions. It resulted in historic speeches of reputed legal minds of the time in Parliament and jolted the conscience of the British nation. All those speeches are now preserved in pages of the Parliamentary records. Those documents preserved the proceedings on impeachments of the Governor Generals and the questionable deeds of different officers and ultimately became the basis of correcting the flaws of the Regulating Act.

7. The Regulating Act did not take over the administration of the Indian territories in the name of the Crown. It was done later. However, it started a process of securing an efficient and orderly government in India based on Parliamentary principles.

The Regulating Act contained flaws. It soon came to the notice of the British Parliament. It took time but gradually corrected it to make the Regulating Act worthy of the British Parliament. A brief of the corrective legislation is given below.

In passing, it is worth mentioning that the Regulating Act contained flaws. It soon came to the notice of the British Parliament. It took time but gradually corrected it to make the Regulating Act worthy of the British Parliament. The British Parliament took some time but finally passed the Amending Act 1781, generally referred to as a Supplement to the Regulating Act. 

The Amending Act 1781 – A Supplement to Regulating Act

The Regulating Act was enacted to regularise the working of the Company and the government of the Company in India. However, the British Parliament soon learned that the spirit of the Regulating Act did not materialize on the ground. There were some gaps in the provisions of the legislation. There were flaws in the rules laid by the legislation. However, the Parliament took time to correct the flaws. Ultimately, a supplementary act was passed in 1781. The Act of 1781 was a follow-up undertaken by the Parliament.

The Causes of the Supplementary Act of 1781:

Now, an elucidation of The Causes of the Supplementary Act of 1781 begins:

1. The Conflict between the Court and the Council:

In the Kasijora Raja Case and Patna Case, the Court created much discontentment by exercising its judicial interpretation on a pedantic basis. The Council and the Governor General resisted the implementation of the order of the court. Raja Kasijora refused to surrender to the court, and the Governor General provided protection to him. Hence, it was a judicial crisis that was watched by the Parliament with a lot of concern.

2. Indian British Inhabitants approached the British Parliament:

The British inhabitants of Bengal petitioned the Parliament against the rigid interpretation by the Court causing the disruption in trade.

3. The Court of Directors petitioned the Parliament against the Indian Supreme Court of Calcutta. 

The Court of Directors also petitioned the Parliament against the ruling of the Court against the revenue officials working in Bengal. It had caused losses to the company.

4. Conduct of Justice Impey questioned

There were reports against Justice Impey that he had overstepped his limits in the case of the political field. There were accusations that he had earned money through corrupt means. Similarly kind of reports were also registered against his assisting judges.

5. Response of the British Parliament on the issue of its credibility

Finally, the British Parliament constituted two committees, namely a Select Committee and a Secret Committee.

Edmund Burke headed the Select Committee. He was popular as one of the best political theorists of his time. He was entrusted with framing the rules to be enshrined in the legislation to correct the shortcomings dealing with the working of the Courts. The Secret Committee undertook an enquiry into the causes of the Second Mysore War. The Select Committee submitted its reports in 1781. Finally, an amending act for the Regulating Act was passed in 1781. It has the following features.

Main Features of the Amending Act of 1781:

1. The Governor General and his council were exempted from the jurisdiction of the Court for the acts of these officers performed in their official capacity.

2. The revenue collectors of the Bengal government were exempted from the jurisdiction of the Court for the act of collection of the revenue. Similarly, farmers and landlords were also exempted from the jurisdiction of the Court of Calcutta.

3. The Judicial officials of the country courts were also exempted from the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Calcutta for the acts performed in their official capacity.

4. The Sadar Diwani Adalat, which was constituted by the Governor General and his Council, was recognised. The appellate jurisdiction of the Sadar Diwani Adalat was recognised. The appeal against the Sardar Diwani Adalat was brought under the jurisdiction of His Majesty where the civil cases exceeded £5000 in value. The Supreme Court of Calcutta was allowed to listen to the civil cases meant for the Sardar Diwani Adalat.

5. The Supreme Court was disallowed to listen to the cases of Indians employed by the Company administration. Such cases could only be allowed to be entertained by the Supreme Court if the parties agreed.

6. In cases dealing with inheritance and contracts involving Hindus and Muhammadens, the Supreme Court of Calcutta would adjudicate based on the laws of the defendant. In such cases, the English laws would not be used.

7. The Governor General in Council was empowered to frame rules for the Provincial Courts and Councils. The provision of registering with and the sanction from the Supreme Court for the regulations framed by the Governor General in Council was abolished.

8. The Act directed the Bengal Administration to streamline the collection of revenue and to maintain law and order in the province.

Concluding Remark on the Amending Act of 1781:

1. The Act removed all those irritants which had caused embarrassment to the Parliament and disrupted the working of the government of Bengal. The Governor General did not have to get sanction from the Supreme Court of Calcutta. This provision had created major crises in the working of the administration. The Indian employees of the Company, in case of Civil suits, were brought out of the jurisdiction of the Court. The laws to be adopted while deciding the cases were specified. The confusion about the selection of the set of laws of England and the local laws was removed. By such measures executed by the 1781 Act removed the defects of the Regulating Act. In this manner, it was a supplementary act.

2. The 1781 Act had some immediate effects. After all, it removed the defects of the Regulating Act. Secondly, the people who were imprisoned earlier by the Court were released. It gave a relief to many people.

3. The Act also absolved all those who resisted the degrees passed against them by the Supreme Court of Calcutta. It ended the conflict between the court and the council, which had been created while both offices were performing their duty.

4. The Regulating Act of 1773 and the Supplementary Act of 1781 formed a single measure that the Parliament of Britain had adopted for good administration in India. It started a series of legislations that framed the history of India and the Anglo-Indian constitution.