In 1772 and 1781 East India Company A Select Committee and a Secret Committee were appointed to investigate the cases of The Select Committee examined the relationship between the Supreme Court and the Bengal Council and the Secret Committee examined the causes of the Anglo-Maratha War. Parliament's intervention in the company's affairs became necessary when the company's financial difficulties increased due to the Maratha War and asked the government for another loan of one million pounds. In April 1783 the bill presented by Dundas, chairman of the Secret Committee, was rejected.
Fox then introduced the India Bill in November 1783, which was actually prepared by Edmund Burke and Philip Francis. According to this the political and military power of the Company was to be delegated to a board of seven commissioners and the business functions to nine deputy directors subordinate to them. If this bill was passed, the company would have ceased to be a political force, but this bill could not be passed and the coalition government of Lord North and Fox had to resign. This was the first and last time that an English government broke down on an Indian matter.
William Pitt (Junior) became Prime Minister of England in January 1884 and introduced a new bill, but the cabinet was soon broken. When the new Parliament was formed in May 1784, the same January bill was passed in the House of Commons in July 1784 and in the House of Lords in August. Pitt had already obtained the Company's approval for the bill, so there was no chance of opposition to the bill. Both Fox's and Pitt's bills were of almost the same type, with the only difference being that Fox's bill removed company protection, while Pitt's bill continued it. Pitt himself said:'Fox's bill was to stabilize individuals, while my bill stabilized a system.' Since the act was proposed by William Pitt Jr., it was called 'Pitt's India Act ' is called. This act is called 'East India Companies Act 1784 Also known as '.
Major Provisions of the Pitts India Act
The Pitts India Act was passed with the aim of establishing greater control over the company, to protect the company's declining reputation in India and to remove the defects of the Regulating Act. This act provided for a dual system of control over the government of the company i.e. Board of Control and Board of Directors. This act established the joint rule of the Company and the Government of England over the British state of India.
control Board (Control Board)
The Act of 1784 brought changes in the administration of the Company in London, which increased the government's control over the Company's affairs. Although the Company's business was left untouched, a Board of Control with six commissioners (Commissioners) was established in England to look after all civil, military and revenue matters in accordance with Section 1 (1) of the Act. These six members were to be appointed by the Emperor, in which one would be Britain's Minister of Economy, the other the Secretary of State and four other members of the Privy Council. All the main orders of the Board were to be sent to India by a secret committee of three directors.
Section eleven (11) provided that all orders sent to the company shall be sent to India only by a secret committee of three directors after the approval of the Board of Control. Thus the Board of Directors could not send any purchase (bag, bag, envelope, envelope of Government order letter) to India without the prior approval of the Board of Control.
The number of members of the Governor-General's Council of India by Sections Eighteen (18) and Nineteen (19) of the Actreduced from four to three Has been done. In this regard, it was said that the four members of the then council would continue to do their work. The number will be reduced after any one of them resigns, is fired or dies.
According to the Act, the Provincial General shall be a member of the Provincial Council, but when the Chief General of India is in the capital of a province, he shall be a member of the Provincial Council. The Governor-General would be appointed by the Board of Directors as before, but the Emperor of England could recall him. The Governor General was required to take the approval of the operators of the company before the war and treaty from the native kings.
In this act the company's Indian Occupied Territories' for the first time as 'British Occupied Territories' where did it go. According to this act Presidencies of Bombay and Madras also under Governor General and his Council Done.
In this act it was said that the attempt to increase the British rule in India and subjugate the kings of other countries is against the will, prestige and policy of the English nation. By this act, not only the aggressive wars were ended, but the guarantee treaties that were made with Karnataka and Oudh would also be ended.
By this act a special court consisting of three judges, four peers and six members of the House of Commons was established in England to try the criminal acts committed by the British in India. Went. The company's employees were completely banned from receiving gifts or gifts.
Dual Governance by Pitt's Act – by one company and Second Parliamentary Board-by was established, which continued till 1858. Later an amendment in the Act was given to the Governor General that he could reject the decision of his Council if necessary.
Act of 1786
The consolidation of the position of the Governor General by the Pitts India Act did not yield any significant gains, and the Act proved the presumption that the Commander-in-Chief generally followed the Governor General's point of view. will support. Due to the mutual tussle between the Governor General and the Commander-in-Chief, resigned Hastings in 1785 to his home country Had to return and Mapherson had to face similar difficulties at council meetings for twenty months.
In 1786 Cornwallis was appointed Governor General. He was aware of the difficulties of his predecessor Governor-Generals, so before accepting the post he demanded the powers of both the Governor-General and the Commander-in-Chief and also demanded that he should in special circumstances annull the decisions of his council and to reverse his decisions. Freedom to implement. The British Parliament also wanted a strong central government in India, so Cornwallis's proposal was accepted and the Amendment Act was passed in 1786.
By this amendment act, by increasing the power of the Governor-General, he was given the right to annul the decision of his council in special circumstances and to implement his decisions. According to this act, Cornwallis assumed the office of the Governor General as well as the Commander-in-Chief.
Explanatory Act of 1788
The purpose of the Pitts Act was to empower the Board of Control, but the dispute between the Board of Control and the Board of Directors over supreme power was increasing. There was a fierce dispute between the officers of the Board of Directors and the Board of Control over the demand for British troops in India at the expense of the Company. But the Board of Control sent four troops to India at Indian expense according to the Act of 1784. This action of the Board of Control was challenged by the directors. The Board of Control replied that in the absence of any change in the Act of 1781, the company could not be compelled to bear such expenses. To end such disputes, Pitt introduced an interpretive bill in Parliament, making the authority of the Board of Control supreme. But Pitt also made a provision to control the powers of the Board of Control in this bill. The Board of Control was not empowered to increase the salary of an officer or to provide the facility of gratuity for the job except as a pre-made arrangement. For this it was necessary to take the recommendation of the Directors as well as the Parliament. Now it has been made mandatory for the directors to submit the annual acknowledgment and statement of accounts of the company to the Parliament for payment.
Although the British government had established control over the administration of the Company by the Pitts India Act, the government was not completely satisfied with it. In order to establish effective control over the administration of the Company, the government passed four Charter Acts between 1793 and 1853, which reduced the Company's powers and led to the development of an governmental system in India.