Charter Act1833

Charter Act of 1833

All the Acts passed by the British Parliament to regulate the affairs of the East India 

Company, the Charter Act of 1833 stands out as the most comprehensive and far reaching in 

effect. There were circumstances both in India and England which necessitated the passing of

the Act. In India, the policy of intervention and territorial aggrandizement pursued by Wellesley 

and Hastings had added enormously to the territories of the Company and also to the 

consequent difficulties in administration. In England, Parliamentary reforms had brought into 

being a reformed House of Commons where liberalism was at the ascendancy. Further, that 

was a clamor for freedom of trade in India, unrestricted immigration of Europeans into India, 

reform of Indian laws and also important to mention the influence, among others, of two 

Liberals who were intimately associated with James Mill. The former, who was then in 

Parliament, was Secretary to the Board of Control, and the latter was Examiner of Indian 

Correspondence at India House.

As a result of the Act, the last traces of the commercial monopoly which the Company 

enjoyed were abolished and all restrictions to European immigration into India were removed. 

The unhindered flow of Europeans into India made the reform of Indian Law imperative. But 

the powers exercised by the Governor-General in Council were not sufficient to meet the 

situation. Such laws were not to be registered with the Supreme Court, but automatically to 

become Acts of the Governor-General in Council. The three great principles which were to 

govern such codification, according to where you must Governor-General in Council, a Law 

Member, an English Barrister, was added -making would override the authority of the 

Governors of Madras and Bombay who were at the same time deprived of their independent 

powers of law-making. Macaulay was the first Law Member under the Act and also appointed 

the President of the Law Commission.

The administration in India, namely, the union of the trader with the sovereign, by 

ordering the Company to close its commercial business as soon as possible. Another interesting 

provision of the Act death with education and employment territories, nor any natural born 

subject of His Majesty resident therein, shall be reason only of his religion, place of birth, 

descent, colour or any of them, he was this clause which, according to Lord Morley, made the 

Act of 1833 the most important Indian Act passed by Parliament till 1909. Whether the policy 

initiated in this provision was given effect in practice or not, it certainly reflects indeed a liberal and humanitarian attitude on the part of the British Parliament. 

The Act of power is intended to be reserved to Parliament to control, supersede or 

prevent-General in Council and he said territories and all the inhabitants thereof in as full and 

ample a manner as if the Act had not been passed. The Act directed the Governor-General in 

Council to take steps both for the amelioration of slaves in India and to propose measures for 

the abolition of slavery throughout India.

While the Regulating Act had initiated a process of centralization by creating the office 

of the Governor-General, the Act of 1833 marked the culmination of that process by 

establishing the complete mastery of the Governor-General in Council over the entire British Indian administration. From 1833 to 1861 when the Indian Councils Act was passed, British 

India was in the grip of this highly centralized system of administration which had its impact on 

the character of the British Government in India until its disappearance in 1947.

Significance of the Act

The Charter Act of 1833 is deemed to be the most significant measure enacted by the 

British Parliament during the nineteenth century. Other constitutional measures of the current 

century pale into insignificance when compared individually with it. Lord Morley truly describes 

it as "the most extensive measure of the Indian Government between Mr. Pitt's Act of 1784 and

Queen Victoria's assumption of the powers of government in 1858." Indeed the Act not only 

affected changes of far-reaching importance in the Government of India, but also made such 

benign declarations and touched at broad humanitarian principles.

Section 87 of the Act embodied excellent sentiments, of the British politicians of the 

time, towards Indian masses. Fitness henceforth was to be the only criterion of eligibility in 

matters of higher services. The natives were not to be debarred from holding any office under 

the Company, simply on the basis of religion, place of birth, descent or colour. Ramsay Muir 

eulogized this section of the Act by describing it as "an unparalleled declaration which a ruling 

class can announce in regard to its recently conquered subjects". Macaulay termed it a wise 

and benevolent and noble clause of the Act. Explaining the significance of Section 87 of the Act, 

the Dispatch observed that its object was 'not to ascertain the qualification but to remove 

disqualification'. 

The gracious declaration was laudable indeed but was not of much practical 

significance, for despite the views of Munro, Malcolm, Elphinstone, Sheman and Bishop Heber, 

nothing was done to repeal the provision of the Act of 1793, which excluded any but 

covenanted servants from occupying places worth over £ 500 a year. In the words of Punniah, 

The declaration remained for long in the tantalizing realm of unfulfilled aspirations." Dr. Ishwari 

Prasad remarks that the declaration, "was more honoured in the breach than in the observance 

by those who were entrusted with the governance of India". 

Though conflicting opinions have been expressed regarding section 87 of the Act yet the 

benevolent intentions of its authors cannot be challenged. Moreover, it seemed as an impetus 

to the leaders of political agitation in the last decades of the 19th century. Inspired by this 

noble declaration, educated Indians proceeded to England for prosecuting higher studies. They 

were extremely disappointed when, on their return, they found themselves excluded from all 

but the subordinate service posts. Thus discontent against the Bruisers got aggravated which 

ultimately intensified the political agitation. 

Alterations of vital importance were made in the legislative system of India. The Act aimed at 

simplification of law, which it sought to obtain by centralization of legislation. Hence, the 

Governor-General-in-Council was empowered to make laws extended to all places and all things 

within the territories of the company. It ushered in an era of 'an enlightened and paternal 

despotism'.

The Act, by abolishing completely the Company's monopoly of the tea trade and trade 

with China, removed one of the most glaring defects of the Indian administration, i.e., the 

union of traders and sovereign. The Company ceased to be a commercial body. It was to act as 

an administrative body in future. Till its abolition in 1858, the Company was vested with 

political functions only. In the words of Keith, ''Macaulay defended this position and the 

retention of the Company on the ground that it was not desirable to give so much uncontrolled 

power to the Crown, for Parliament was incapable of exercising effective supervision over 

Indian Government." 

The Act unsealed for the first time the doors of British India to British subjects of 

European birth. They were entitled to live in the country and even occupy land. This free ingress 

of Europeans in India promoted their general improvement and prosperity. A few critics 

however opine that mass exoduses of Europeans to India resulted in the exploitation of Indian 

people who were the customers for English goods.

The Act constituted a 'Law Commission' with Macaulay as its first President. The Indian 

Penal Code and the Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure are the outcome of efforts of this 

Commission, headed as it was by an embodiment of legal acumen and practical sagacity. The 

codification of laws which were so imperfect and capricious is a commendable contribution of 

the Act. As already stated, codification of laws facilitated centralization still further. 

In the words of Marshman, "The separation now affectedby the functions of the State 

from all commercial speculations served to give a more elevated tone to the views and policy of 

the Court of Directors and to impart a more efficient character to their administration." Since 

the Directors were henceforth not to concern themselves with the management of the huge

commercial establishment, they devoted their attention to the amelioration of the lot of the 

servants of the Company in India, by passing measures moderate and beneficent in nature. 

Thus we can safely conclude that the Act of 1833 was a measure of great constitutional 

significance. It removed some of the potent defects in the system of administration. It 

introduced uniformity in the laws of government by establishing the legislative supremacy of 

the Central Government and doing away with diversities in the laws of different Presidencies. It 

eradicated the anomalies and the conflicts in the jurisdiction of various courts. It affected

uniformity in general administration by concentrating the executive and financial 

administration in the hands of the Governor-General. It succeeded in establishing the 

supremacy of the Crown and Parliament in the management of the Indian affairs, by clipping 

the wings of the Court of Directors.