GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1935
This Act may be cited as the Government of India Act, 1935.
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1. Section 2 was omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) All rights, authority and jurisdiction heretofore belonging to His Majesty the King, Emperor of India, which appertain or are incidental to the Government of the territories in India for the time being vested in him, and all rights, authority and jurisdiction exercisable by him in or in relation to any other territories in India, are exercisable by His Majesty, except in so far as may be otherwise provided by or under this Act, or as may be otherwise directed by His Majesty:
Provided that any powers connected with the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States shall in India, if not exercised by His Majesty, be exercised only by, or by persons acting under the authority of, His Majesty's Representative for the exercise of those functions of the Crown.
(2) The said rights, authority and jurisdiction s
(1) The Governor-General of India is appointed by His Majesty by a Commission under the Royal Sign Manual1 [and has--
(a) all such powers and duties as are conferred or imposed on him by or under this Act; and
(b) Such other powers of His Majesty, not being powers connected with the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States, as His Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.
(2) 2 [His Majesty's Representative for the exercise of the functions Of the Crown in its relations with Indian States] is appointed by His Majesty in like manner and has such powers and duties in connection with the exercise of those functions (not being powers or duties conferred or imposed by or under this Act on the Governor-General) as His Majesty may be pleased to assign to him.
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1 There shall be a Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Forces in India appointed by Warrant under the Royal Sign Manual.
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1. Section 4 was omitted by the India: (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) It shall be lawful for His Majesty, if an address in that behalf has been Proclamation of presented to him by each House of Parliament and if the condition hereinafter mentioned is satisfied, to declare by Proclamation that as from the day therein appointed there shall be united in a Federation under the Crown, by the name of the Federation of India,--
(a) the Provinces hereinafter called Governors' Provinces; and
(b) the Indian States which have acceded or may thereafter accede to the Federation;
and in the Federation so established there shall be included the Provinces hereinafter called Chief Commissioners' Provinces.
(2) The condition referred to is that States--
(a)the Rulers whereof will, in
(1) A State shall be deemed to have acceded to the Federation if His Majesty has signified his acceptance of an, Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler there of, whereby the Ruler for himself, his heirs, and successors--
(a) declares that he accedes to the Federation as established under' this Act, with the intent that His Majesty the King, the Governor-General of India, the Federal Legislature, the Federal; Court and any other Federal authority established for the purposes of the Federation shall, by virtue of his Instrument of Accession, but subject always to the terms thereof, and for the purposes only of the Federation, exercise in relation to his State such functions as may be vested in them by or under this Act; and
(b) assumes the obligation of ensuring that due effect is given within his State to the provisions of this Ac
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the executive authority of the 1 [Federation] shall be exercised on behalf of His Majesty by the Governor-General either directly or through officers subordinate to him, but nothing in this section shall Prevent the 1 [Federal] Legislature from conferring function, upon subordinate authorities, or be deemed to transfer to the Governor-General any functions conferred by any existing Indian law on any court, judge or officer, or on any local or other authority.
(2) References in this Act to the functions of the Governor-General shall be construed as references to his powers and duties in the exercise of the executive authority of the Federation and to any other powers and duties conferred or imposed on him as Governor-General by or under this Act, 2 [other than powers exercisable by him reason that they have been assigned to him by His Maje
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the executive authority of the 1 [Federation]extends--
(a) to the matters with respect to which the 1 [Federal] Legislature has power to make laws;
(b) to the raising in British India on behalf of His Majesty of naval, military and air forces and to the governance of His Majesty's forces borne on the Indian establishment;
(c) to the exercise of such rights, authority and jurisdiction as are exercise able by His Majesty by treaty, grant, usage, sufferance, or otherwise in and in relation to the tribal areas:
Provided that--
(i) the said authority does not, save as expressly provided in this Act, extend in any Province to matters with respect to which the Provinc
(1) There shall be a council of ministers, not exceeding ten in number, to aid and advise the Governor-General in the exercise of his functions, 1 [except in so far as he is by or under this Act required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be construed as preventing the Governor-General from exercising his individual judgment in any case where by or under this Act he is required so to do.
(2) The Governor-General in his direction may preside at meetings of the council of ministers.
(3) If any question arises whether any matter is or is not a matter as respects which the Governor-General is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment, the decision, of the Governor-General
(1) The Governor-General's ministers shall be chosen and summoned by him, shall be sworn as members of the council, and shall hold office during his pleasure.
(2) A minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of 1 [either Chamber of] the Federal Legislature shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a minister.
(3) The salaries of ministers shall be such as the Federal Legislature may from time to time by Act determine and, until the Federal Legislature so determine, shall be determined, by the Governor-General:
Provided that the salary of a minister shall not be varied during his term of office.
(4) The question whether any and, if so, what advice was tendered by ministers to the Governor-General shall not be in
(1) The functions of the Governor-General with respect to defence and ecclesiastical affairs and with respect to external affairs, except the relations between the Federation and any part of His Majesty's dominions, shall be exercised by him in his discretion, and his functions in or in relations to the tribal areas shall be similarly exercised,
(2) To assist him in the exercise of those functions the Governor-General may appoint counsellors, not exceeding three in number, whose salaries and conditions of service shall be such as may be prescribed by His Majesty in Council.
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1. Sections 11-15 were omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
1 (1) In the exercise of his functions the Governor-General shall have the following special responsibilities, that is to say,--
(a) the prevention of any grave menace to the peace or tranquillity of India or any part thereof;
(b) the safeguarding of the financial stability and credit of the Federal Government;
(c) the safeguarding of the legitimate interests of minorities;
(d) the securing to, and to the dependants of, persons who are or have been members of the public services of any rights provided or preserved for them by or under this Act and the safeguarding of their legitimate interests;
(e) the securing in the sphere of executive action of the purposes which the provisions of Chapter III of Pa
(1) The Secretary of State shall by before Parliament the draft of any Instrument of Instructions (including any Instrument amending or revoking an Instrument previously issued) which it is proposed to recommend His Majesty to issue to the Governor-General, and no further proceedings shall be taken in relation thereto except in pursuance of an address presented to His Majesty; in both Houses of Parliament praying that the Instrument may be issued.
(2) The validity of anything done by the Governor-General shall not be called in question on the ground that it was done otherwise than in accordance with any Instrument of Instructions issued to him.
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1. Sections. 11-15 were omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) In so far as the Governor-General is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment, he shall be under the general control of, and comply with such particular directions, if any, as may from time to time be given to him by, the Secretary of State, but the validity of anything done by the Governor-General shall not be called in question on the ground that it was done otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) Before giving any directions under this section the Secretary of State shall satisfy himself that nothing in the directions requires the Governor-General to act in any manner inconsistent with any Instrument of Instructions issued to him by His Majesty.
(1) The Governor-General may appoint a person to be his financial adviser.
(2) It shall be the duty of the Governor-General's financial adviser to assist by his advice the Governor-General in the discharge of his special responsibility for safeguarding the financial stability and credit of the Federal Government, and also to give advice to the Federal Government upon any matter relating to finance with respect to which he may be consulted.
(3) The Governor-General's financial adviser shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General, and the salary and allowances of the financial adviser and the numbers of his staff and their conditions of service shall be such as the Governor-General may determine.
(4) The powers of the Governor-General with respect to the appointment and dismi
(1) The Governor-General shall appoint a person, being a person qualified to be appointed a judge of the Federal Court, to be Advocate-General for the [Federation].2
(2) It shall be the duty of the Advocate-General to give advice to the [Federal] 2 Government upon such legal matters, and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may be referred to assigned to him by the Governor-General, and in the performance of his duties he shall have right of audience in all courts in British India and, in a case in which [federal]2 interests are concerned, in all courts in any [Federated]3 State.
(3) The Advocate-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General, and shall receive such remuneration as the Governor-General may determine.
(4) In exercising his powers with re
(1) All executive action of the [Federal]1 Government shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the Governor-General.
(2) Orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of the Governor-General shall be authenticated in such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the Governor-General, and the validity of an order or instrument which is so authenticated shall not be called in question on the ground that it is not an order or instrument made or executed by the Governor-General.
(3) The Governor-General shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the [Federal]1 Government, and for the allocation among ministers of the said business [in so far as it is not business with respect to which the Governor-General is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion].2
(1) There shall be a Federal Legislature which shall consist of His Majesty, represented by the Governor-General, and two Chambers, to be known respectively as the Council of State and the House of Assembly (in this Act referred to as "the Federal Assembly").
(2) The Council of State shall consist of one hundred and fifty-six represervatives of British India and not more than one hundred and four representatives of the Indian States, and the Federal Assembly shall consist of two hundred and fifty representatives of British India and not more than one hundred and twenty-five representatives of the Indian States.
(3) The said representatives shall be chosen in accordance's with the provisions in that 'behalf contained in the First Schedule to this Act.
(4) The Council of State shall be a perm
(1) The 1 [Chambers of the Federal] Legislatures shall be summoned to meet once at least in every year, and twelvemonths shall not intervene between their last sitting in one session and the date appointed for their first silting in the next session.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Governor-General may in his discretion from time to time--
(a) Summon the [Chambers or cither Chamber]1 to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit;
(b) Prorogue the Chambers;
2 (c) dissolve the Federal Assembly.
3 (3) The Chambers shall be summoned to meet for their first session on a day not later than such day as may be specified in that behalf in His Majesty's Proclamation establishing the Federat
(1) The Governor-General may in his discretion address 1 [either Chamber of]2 the Federal Legislature 1 [or both Chambers assembled together], and for that purpose require the attendance of members.
(2) The Governor-General may 1 [in his discretion] and messages to1 [either Chamber of] the Federal2 Legislature, whether with respect to a Bill then pending in, the Legislature or otherwise, and 3 [a Chamber to who many message is so sent] shall with all convenient dispatch consider any matter which they are required by the message to take into consideration.
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1. The words within brackets were omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
2. Substituted by the word 'Do
Every minister 1 [every counsellor] and the Advocate-General shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, 2 [either Chamber, any joint sitting of the Chambers, and any committee of the Legislature] of which he may be named a member, but shall not by virtue of this section be entitled to vote.
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1. The words within brackets were omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
2. Substituted by the words 'the Dominion Legislature or any committee thereof, Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
1 (1) The Council of State shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the Council to be respectively President and Deputy President thereof and, so often as the office of President or Deputy President becomes vacant, the Council shall choose another member to be President or Deputy President as the case may be.
1 (2) A member holding office as President or Deputy President of the Council of State shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the Council, may at any time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor-General, and may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council passed by a majority of all the then members of the Council; but no resolution for the purpose of this sub-section shall be moved unless at least fourteen days' notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.
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(1) Save as provided in the last preceding section, all questions at any sitting 1 [or joint sitting of the Chambers] shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting other than the President 2 [or Speaker] or person acting as such
The President 2 [or Speaker] or person acting as such shall not vote in the first instance, but shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
(2) 3 [A Chamber of] the 4 [Federal] Legislature shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership thereof and any proceedings in the Legislature shall be valid notwithstanding that it is discovered subsequently that some person who was not entitled so to do sat or voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings.
(3) If at any time during a meeting
Every member of either Chamber shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Governor-General, or some person appointed by him, an oath according to that one of the forms set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act which the member accepts as appropriate in his case.
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1. Sections 24-27 were omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
(1) No person shall be a member of both Chambers, and rules made by the Governor-General exercising his individual judgment shall provide for the vacation by person who is chosen a member of both Chambers of his seat in one Chamber or the other.
(2) If a member of either Chamber --
(a) becomes, subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in sub-section (1) of the next succeeding section, or
(b) by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor-General resigns his seat, his seat shall thereupon become vacant.
(3) If for sixty days a member of either Chamber is without permission of the Chamber absent from all meetings thereof, the Chamber may declare his seat vacant:
Provided that in computing
(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either Chamber--
(a) if he holds any office of profit under the Crown in India, other than an office declared by Act of the Federal Legislature not to disqualify its holder;
(b) if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent Court;
(c) if he is an undercharged insolvent;
(d) If, whether before or after the establishment of the Federation, he has been convicted, or has, in proceedings for questioning the validity or regularity of an election, been found to have been guilty, of any offence or corrupt or illegal practice relating to elections which has been declared by Order in Council or by an Act of the Federal Legislature to be an offence or practi
If a person sits or votes as a member of either Chamber when he is not qualified or is disqualified for membership thereof, or when he is prohibited from so doing by the provisions of sub-section (3) of the last preceding section, he shall be liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of five hundred rupees to be recovered as a debt due to the [Federation].2
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1. Ss. 24-27 were omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
2. Substituted by the word 'Dominion', by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of the [Federal]1 Legislature, there shall be freedom of speech in the Legislature, and no member of the Legislature shall be liable to any proceedings in any Court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Legislature or any committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of 2 [either Chamber of] the Legislature of any report, paper, votes or proceedings.
(2) In other respects, the privileges of members of the 2 [Chambers] shall be such as may from time to time be defined by Act of the Federal Legislature and, until so defined, shall be such were immediately before the establishment of the Federation enjoyed by members of the Indian Legislature.
3 (3) Nothi
1 Members of [either Chamber] shall be entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined by Act of the [Federal Legislature] and, until provision in that respect is so made allowances at such rates and upon such conditions as were immediately before the date of the establishment of the [Federation]2 applicable in the case of members of the Legislative Assembly of the Indian Legislature.
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1. Substituted by the words 'Dominion Legislature', by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
2. Substituted by the words 'Dominion', by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
(1) Subject to the special provisions of this Act with respect to financial Bills, a Bill may originate in either Chamber.
(2) Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section, a Bill shall not be deemed to have been passed by the Chambers of the Legislature unless it has been agreed to by both Chambers, either without amendment or with such amendments only as are agreed to by both Chambers.
(3) A Bill pending in the Legislature shall not lapse by reason of the prorogation of the Chambers.
(4) A Bill pending in the Council of State which has not been passed by the Federal Assembly shall not lapse on a dissolution of the Assembly.
(5) A Bill which is pending in the Federal Assembly or which having been passed by the Federal Assembly is pen
(1) If after a .Bill has been passed by one Chamber and transmitted to the other; Chamber--
(a) the Bill is rejected by the other Chamber; or
(b) the Chambers have finally disagreed as to the amendments to be made in the Bill; or
(c) more than six months elapse from the date of the reception of the Bill by the other Chamber without the Bill being presented
to the Governor-General for his assent, the Governor-General may, unless the Bill has lapsed by reason of a dissolution of the Assembly, notify to the Chambers, by message if they are sitting or by public notification if they are not sitting, his intention to summon them to meet in a joint sitting for the purpose of deliberating and voting on the Bill:
(1) When a Bill has been passed by the1 [Chambers,] it shall be presented to the Governor-General, and the Governor-General shall in his discretion declare either that he assents in His Majesty's name to the Bill, or that he withholds assent therefrom,2 [or thathe reserves the Bill for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure.]
Provided that the Governor-General may in his discretion return the Bill to the Chambers with a message requesting that they will reconsider the Bill or any specified provisions thereof and, in particular, will consider the desirability of introducing any such amendments as he may recommend in his message, and the Chambers shall reconsider the Bill accordingly.
3 (2) A Bill reserved for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure shall rot become an Act of the Federal Legislature unless and until, within twelv
(1) The Governor-General shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before 1 [both Chambers] of the Federal Legislature a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Federation for that year, in this Part of this Act referred to as the "annual financial statement".
(2) The estimates of expenditure embodied in the annual financial statement shall show separately-
the sums required to meet expenditure described by this Act as expenditure charged upon the revenues of the Federation; and the sums required to meet expenditure proposed to be made from the revenues of the Federation, and shall distinguish expenditure on revenue account from other expenditure, [and indicate the sums, if any, which are included solely because the Governor-General has directed their inclusion as being necessary for the due discharge
(1) So much of the estimate of expenditure as relates to expenditure charged upon the revenues of the Federation shall not be submitted to the vote of the Legislature, but nothing in this sub-section shall be construed, as preventing the discussion in 1 [either Chamber of] the Legislature of any of those estimates other than estimates relating to expenditure referred to in paragraph (a) 1 [or paragraph (f) ] of sub-section (3) of the preceding section.
(2) So much of the said estimates as relates to other expenditure shall be submitted in the form of demands for grants to the 2 [Federal Assembly and thereafter to the Council of State, and either Chamber] shall have power to assent or to refuse to assent to any demand, or to assent to any demand subject to a reduction of the amount specified therein:
3 Provided that, where the Assembly h
(1) The Governor-General shall authenticate by his signature a schedule specifying--
(a) the grants made by the 1 [Chambers] under the last preceding section;
(b) the several sums required to meet the expenditure charged on the revenues of the Federation but not exceeding, in the case of any sum, the sum shown in the statement previously laid before the Legislature:
2 Provided that, if the Chambers have not assented to any demand for a giant or have assented subject to a reduction of the amount specified therein, the Governor-General may, if in his opinion the refusal or reduction would affect the due discharge of any of his special responsibilities, include in the schedule such additional amount, if any, not exceeding the amount of the rejected demand or the reduction, as the case may be,
If in respect of any financial year further expenditure from the revenues of the Federation becomes necessary over and above the expenditure here fore authorised for that year, the Governor-General shall cause to be laid before 1 [both Chambers of] the [Federal]2 Legislature a supplementary statement showing the estimated amount of that expenditure, and the provisions of the preceding sections shall have effect in relation to that statement and that expenditure as they have effect in relation to the annual financial statement and expenditure mentioned therein.
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1. The words within brackets were omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
2. Substituted by the word 'Dominion', by Government of India (Commence
(1) A Bill or amendment making provision--
(a) for imposing or increasing any tax; or
(b) for regulating the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Federal 1 Government, or for amending the law with respect to any financial obligations undertaken or to be undertaken by the Federal 1 Government; or
(c) for declaring any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the revenues of the Federation, or for increasing the amount of any such expenditure, shall not be introduced or moved except on the recommendation of the Governor-General, 2 [and a Bill making such provision shall not be introduced in the Council of State.]
(2) A Bill or amendment shall not be deemed to make provision for any of the purposes aforesaid by reason only that it
(1) 1 [Each Chamber of] the [Federal]2 Legislature may make rules for regulating, subject to the provisions of this Act, their procedure and the conduct of their business.
1 [Provided that as regards each Chamber the Governor-General shall in his direction, after consultation with the President or the Speaker, as the case may be, make rules--
(a) for regulating the procedure of, and the conduct of business in, the Chamber in relation to any matter which affects the discharge of his functions in so far as he is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment;
(b) for securing the timely completion of financial business;
(c) for prohibiting the discussion of, or the asking of question on, any matter conn
All proceedings in the Federal Legislature shall be conducted in the English language:
Provided that the rules of procedure of each Chamber and the rules with respect to joint sittings shall provide for enabling persons unacquainted, or not sufficiently acquainted, with the English language to use another language.
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1. Omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, paras. 3 and 11.
(1) No discussion shall take place in the Federal Legislature with respect to the conduct of any judge of the Federal Court or a High Court in the discharge of his duties.
In this sub-section the reference to a High Court shall be construed as including a reference to any court in a Federated State which is a High Court for any of the purposes of Part IX of this Act.
1 (2) If the Governor-General in his discretion certifies that the discussion of a Bill introduced or proposed to be introduced in the Federal Legislature, or of any specified clause of a Bill, or of any amendment moved or proposed to be moved to a Bill, would affect the discharge of his special responsibility for the prevention of any grave menace to the peace on tranquillity of India or any part thereof, he may in his discretion direct that no proceedings, or no further
(1) The validity of any proceedings in the Federal Legislature shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.
(2) No officer or other member of the Legislature in whom powers are vested by or under this Act for regulating procedure or the conduct of business, or for maintaining order, in the Legislature shall be subject to the jurisdiction of any Court in respect of the exercise by him of those powers.
(1) If at any time when the Federal Legislature is not in session the Governor-General is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require:
Provided that the Governor-General--
(a) shall exercise his individual judgment as respects the promulgation of any ordinance under this section if a Bill containing the same provisions would under this Act have required his previous sanction to the introduction thereof into the Legislature; and
(b) shall not, without instructions from His Majesty, promulgate any such ordinance if he would have deemed it necessary to reserve a Bill containing the same provisions for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure thereon.
(1) If at any time the Governor-General is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action for the purpose of enabling him satisfactorily to discharge his functions in so far as he is by or under this Act required in the exercise thereof to act in his discretion or to exercise his, individual judgment, he may promulgate such ordinance as in his opinion the circumstances of the case require.
(2) An ordinance promulgated under this section shall continue in operation for such period not exceeding six months as may be specified therein, but may be a subsequent ordinance be extended for a further period not exceeding six months.
(3) An ordinance promulgated under this section shall have the same force and effect as an Act of the Federal Legislature assented to by the Governor-General, but every s
(1) If at any time it appears to the Governor-General that, for the purpose of enabling him satisfactorily to discharge his functions in so far as he is by or under this Act required in the exercise thereof to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment, it is essential that provision should be made by legislation, he may by message to both of the Legislature explain the circumstances which in his opinion render legislation essential, and either--
(a) enact forthwith, as a Governor-General's Act, a Bill containing such provisions as he considers necessary; or
(b) attach to his message a draft of the Bill which he considers necessary.
(2) Where the Governor-General takes such action as is mentioned in: paragraph (6) of the preceding sub-section, he may at any time after the
(1) If at any time the Governor-General is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the Federation cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Act, he may by Proclamation--
(a) declare that his functions shall be such extent as may be specified, in the Proclamation be exercised by him in his discretion;
(b) assume to himself all or any of the powers vested in or exercisable by any Federal body or authority,
and any such Proclamation may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as may appear to him to be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects of the Proclamation, including provisions for suspending in whole or in part the operation of any provisions of this Act relating to any Federal body or authority:
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(1) Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section with respect to Berar, the following shall be Governors' Provinces, that is to say, Madras, Bombay, 1 [Bengal, the United Provinces, the Punjab, Bihar, the Central Provinces and Berar, Assam, the North-West Frontier Province, Orissa, Sind,], and such other Governors' Provinces as may be created under this Act.
(2) Burma shall cease to be part of India.
(3) In this Act the expression "Province" means, unless the context otherwise requires, a Governor's Province, and "Provincial" shall be constructed accordingly.
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1. Substituted by the words 'West Bengal, the United Provinces, East Punjab, Bihar, the Central Provinces and Reran Assam and Orissa', by Government of
Whereas certain territory (in the Act referred to as "Berar") is under the sovereignty of His Exalted Highness the Nizam of Hyderabad, but is at the date of the passing of this Act, by virtue of certain agreements subsisting between His Majesty and His Exalted Highness, administered together with the Central Provinces.
And whereas it is in contemplation that an agreement shall be concluded between His Majesty and His Exalted Highness whereby, notwithstanding the continuance of the sovereignty of His Exalted Highness over Berar, the Central Provinces and Berar may be governed together as one Governor's Province under this Act by the name of the Central Provinces and Berar:
Now, therefore--
(1) While any such agreement is in force--
(a) Berar and
(1) The Governor of a Province is appointed by His Majesty by a Commission under the Royal Sign Manual.
(2) The provisions of the Third Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the salary and allowances of the Governor and the provision to be made for enabling him to discharge conveniently and with dignity the duties of his office.
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1. Sub-sec. (1) of s. 48 was substituted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, para. 3., as follows--
"(1) The Governor of a Province holding office as from the date of the establishment of the Dominion is appointed by His Majesty by a Commission under the Royal Sien Manual: but any person appointed thereafter to be the Governor of a Province
(1) The executive authority of a Province shall be exercised on behalf of His Majesty by the Governor, either directly or through officers subordinate to him, but nothing in this section shall prevent the Federal or the Provincial Legislature from conferring functions upon subordinate authorities, or be deemed to transfer to the Governor any functions conferred, by any existing Indian law on any court, judge or officer or any local or other authority.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the executive authority of each Province extends to the matters with respect to which the Legislature of the Province has power to make laws.
(1) There shall be a council of ministers to aid and advice the Governor in the exercise of his functions 1 except in so far as he is by or under this Act required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be construed as preventing the Governor from exercising his individual judgment in any case whereby or under this Act he is required so to do.
(2) The Governor in his discretion may preside at meetings of the council of ministers.
(3) If any question arises whether any matter is or is not a matter as respects which the Governor is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment, the decision of the Governor in his discretion shall be final, and the validity of anything done by t
(1) The Governor's ministers shall be chosen and summoned by him, shall be sworn as members of the council, and shall hold office during his pleasure.
(2) A minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Provincial Legislature shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a minister.
(3) The salaries of ministers shall be such as the Provincial Legislature may from time to time by Act determine, and, until the Provincial Legislature so determine, shall be determined by the Governor:
Provided that the salary of a minister shall not be varied during his term of office.
(4) The question whether any, and, if so what, advice was tendered by ministers to the Governor shall not be inquired into in any Court.
1 (1) In the exercise of his functions the Governor shall have the following special responsibilities, that is to say:--
(a) the prevention of any grave menace to the peace or tranquility of the Province or any part thereof ;
(b) the safeguarding of the legitimate interests of minorities:
(c) the securing to, and to the dependants of, persons who are or have been members of the public services of any rights, provided or preserved for them by or under this Act and the safeguarding of their legitimated interests ;
(d) the securing in the sphere of executive action of the purposes which the provisions of chapter III of Part V of this Act are designed to secure in relation to legislation;
(e) the securing
(1) The Secretary of State shall lay before Parliament the draft of any Instructions (including any Instructions amending or revoking Instructions previously issued) which it is proposed to recommend His Majesty issue to the Governor of a Province, and no further proceedings shall be taken in relation thereto except in pursuance of an address presented to His Majesty by both Houses of Parliament praying that the Instructions may be issued.
(2) The validity of anything done by the Governor of a Province shall not be called in question on the ground that it was done otherwise than in accordance with any Instrument of Instructions issued to him.
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1. Omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, para. 3.
(1) In so far as the Governor of a Province is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment, he shall be under the general control of, and comply with such particular directions, if any, as may from time to time be given to him by the Governor-General in his discretion, but the validity of anything done by a Governor shall not be called in question on the ground that it was done otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) Before giving any directions under this section, the Governor-general shall satisfy himself, that nothing in the directions requires the Governor to act in any manner inconsistent with any Instrument of Instructions issued to the Governor by His Majesty.
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1. Omitted, by Gover
(1) The Governor of each Province shall appoint a person, being a person qualified to be appointed a judge of a High Court, to be Advocate-General for the Province.
(2) It shall be the duty, of the Advocate-General to give advice to the Provincial Government upon such legal matters, and to perform such other duties of a legal character, as may from time to time be referred or assigned to him by the Governor.
(3) The Advocate-General shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, and shall receive such remuneration as the Governor may determine.
1 (4) In exercising his powers with respect to the appointment and dismissal of the Advocate-General and with respect to the determination of his remuneration, the Governor shall exercise his individual judgment.
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Where it is proposed that the Governor of a Province should be virtue of any powers vested in him make or amend, or approve the making or amendment of, any rules, regulations or orders relating to any police force whether civil or military, he shall exercise his individual judgment with respect to the proposal, unless it appears to him that the proposal does not relate to or affect the organisation or discipline of that force.
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1. Omitted, by Government of India (Commencement and Transitory Provisions) Order, 1936, para. 3.
(1) If it appears to the Governor of a Province that the peace or tranquillity of the Province is endangered by the operations of any persons committing, or conspiring, preparing or attempting to commit, crimes of violence which, in the opinion of the Governor, are intended to overthrow the government as by law established the Governor may, if he thinks, that the circumstances of the case require him so to do for the purpose of combating those operations, direct that his functions shall, to such extent as may be specified in the direction, be exercised by him in his discretion and, until otherwise provided by a subsequent direction of the Governor, those functions shall to that extent be exercised by him accordingly.
(2) While any such direction is in force, the Governor may authorise an official to speak in and otherwise take part in the proceedings of the Legislature, and any of
The Governor in his discretion shall make rules for securing that no records or information relating to the sources from which information has been or may be obtained with respect to the operations of persons committing, or conspiring, preparing, or attempting to commit, such crimes as are mentioned in the last preceding section, shall be disclosed or given--
(a) by any member of any police force in the Province to another member of that force except in accordance with directions of the Inspector General of Police or Commissioner of Police, as the case may be, or to any other person except in accordance with directions of the Governor in his discretion; or
(b) by any other person in the service of the Crown in the Province to any person except in accordance with directions of the Governor in his discretion.
&
(1) All executive action of the Government of a Province shall be expressed to be taken in the name of the Governor.
(2) Orders and other instruments made and executed in the name of; the Governor shall be authenticated in such manner as may be specified in rules to be made by the Governor, and the validity of an order or instrument which is so authenticated shall not be called in question on the ground that; it is not an order or instrument made or executed by the Governor.
(3) The Governor shall make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Provincial Government, and for the allocation among ministers of the said, business [in so far as it is not business with respects to which the Governor is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion.]
1 (4) The rules
(1) There shall for every Province be aProvincial Legislature which, shall consist of His Majesty, represented by the Governor, and
(a) in the Provinces of Madras, Bombay, [Bengal]1 the United Provinces, Bihar [and Assam], two Chambers;
(b) in other Provinces, one Chamber.
(2) Where there are two Chambers of a Provincial Legislature, they shall be known respectively as the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly, and where there is only one Chamber, the Chamber shall be known as the Legislative Assembly.
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1. The words within brackets were omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The Composition of the Chamber of Chambers of the Legislature of a Province shall be such as is specified in relation to that Province in the Fifth Schedule to this Act.
(2) Every Legislative Assembly of every Province, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years 1 from the date appointed, for their first meeting and no longer, and the expiration of the said period of five years shall operate as a dissolution of the Assembly.
(3) Every Legislative Council shall be a permanent body not subject dissolution but as near as may be one-third of the members thereof shall retire in every third year in accordance with the provision in that behalf made in relation to the Province under the said Fifth Schedule.
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1. Und
(1) The Chamber or Chambers of each Provincial Legislature shall be summoned to meet once at least in every year, and twelve months shall not intervene between their last sitting in one session and the date appointed for their first sitting in the next session.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Governor may in his discretion from time to time--
(a) summon the Chambers or either Chamber to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit;
(b) prorogue the Chamber or Chambers;
(c) dissolve the Legislative Assembly.
[(3) The Chamber or Chambers shall be summoned to meet for the first session of the Legislature on a day not later than six months after the commencement of this Part of this Ac
(1) The Governor may in his discretion address the Legislative Assembly or, in the case of a Province having a Legislative Council, either Chamber of the Provincial Legislature or both Chambers assembled together, and may for that purpose require the attendance of members.
(2) The Governor may in his discretion send messages to the Chamber or Chambers of the Provincial Legislature, whether with respect to a Bill then pending in the Legislature or otherwise, and a Chamber to whom any message is so sent shall with all convenient dispatch consider any matter which they are required by the message to take into consideration.
Every minister and the Advocate-General shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise take part in the proceeding of, the Legislative Assembly of the Province or, in the case of a Province having a Legislative Council, both Chambers and any joint sitting of the Chambers, and to speak in, and otherwise take part in the proceedings of, any committee of the Legislature of which he may be named a member, but shall not, by virtue of the section, be entitled to vote.
(1) Every Provincial Legislative Assembly shall as soon as may be, choose two members of the Assembly to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.
(2) A member holding office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of an Assembly shall vacate his office if he ceases to be member of the Assembly, may at any time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the governor, and may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Assembly passed by a majority of all the then members of the Assembly; but no resolution for the purpose of this sub-section shall be moved unless at least fourteen days' notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution:
Provid
(1) Save as in this Act otherwise expressly provided, all questions in a Chamber, or a joint sitting of two Chambers, of a Provincial Legislature shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting other than the Speaker or President, or person acting as such.
The Speaker or President, or person acting as such shall not vote in the first instance, but shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
(2) A Chamber of a Provincial Legislature shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership thereof, and any proceedings in a Provincial Legislature shall be valid notwithstanding that it is discovered subsequently that some person who was not entitled so to do, sat or voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings. (3) If at any time during a meeting of a Provincial L
Every member of a Provincial Legislative Assembly or Legislative; Council shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Governor, or some person appointed by him, on oath according to that one of the forms set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act which the member accepts as appropriate in his case.
(1) No person shall be a member of both Chambers of a Provincial Legislature and rules made by the Governor exercising his individual judgment shall provide for the vacation by a person who is chosen a member of both Chambers of hisseat in one Chamber or the other.
[(2) No person shall be a member both of the Federal Legislature and of a Provincial Legislature and if a person is chosen a member both of the Federal Legislature and of a Provincial Legislature, then, at the expiration of such period as may be specified in rules made by the Governor of the Province exercising his individual judgment, that person's seat in the Provincial Legislature shall become vacant, unless he has previously resigned his seat in the Federal Legislature.]1
(3) If a member of a Chamber--
(a) becomes subject to
(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of aProvincial Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council--
(a) if he holds any office of profit under the Crown in India, other than an office declared by Act of the Provincial Legislature not o disqualify its holder;
(b) if he is an unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
(c) if he is an un discharged insolvent;
(d) if, whether before or after the commencement of this Part of this Act, he has been, convicted or has, in proceedings for questioning the validity or regularity of an election, been found to have been guilty, of any offence or corrupt or illegal practice relating to elections which has been declared by Order in Council or by an Act of
If a person sits or votes as a member of a Provincial Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council when he is not qualified or is disqualified for membership thereof, or when he is prohibited from so doing by the provisions of sub-section (3) of the last preceding section, he shall be liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of five hundred rupees to be recovered as a debt due to the Province.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of the Legislature, there shall be freedom of speech in every Provincial Legislature, and no member of the Legislature shall be liable to any proceeding in any Court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Legislature or any committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by nr under the authority of a Chamber of such a Legislature of any report, paper, votes or proceedings.
(2) In other respects the privileges of members of a Chamber of a Provincial Legislature shall be such as may from time to time be defined by Act of the Provincial Legislature, and, until so defined, shall be such as were immediately before the [commencement of this Part of this Act enjoyed by members of the Legislative Council of the Province.]1
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Members of Provincial Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils shall be entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined by Act of the Provincial Legislature, [and until provision in that respect is so made, allowances at such rates and upon such conditions as were immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act applicable in the case of members of the Legislative Council of the Province.]1
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1. The words within brackets were omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947, and the following Proviso was added--
"Provided that until other provision is so made, members of the Legislative Assemblies of West Bengal and East Punjab shall be entitled to receive salaries and allowances at such rates and u
(1) Subject to the special provisions of this Part of this Act with respect to financial Bills, a Bill may originate in either Chamber of the Legislature of a Province which has a Legislative Council.
(2) A Bill pending in the Legislature of a Province shall not lapse by reason of the prorogation of the Chamber or Chambers thereof.
(3) A Bill pending in the Legislative Council of a Province which has not been passed by the Legislative Assembly shall not lapse on a dissolution of the Assembly.
(4) A Bill which is pending in the Legislative Assembly of a Province, or which having been passed by the Legislative Assembly is pending in the Legislative Council, shall lapse on a dissolution of the Assembly.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a Bill shall not be deemed to have been passed by the Chambers on the Legislature of a Province having a Legislative Council, unless it has been agreed to by both Chambers, either without amendments or with such amendments only as are agreed to by both Chambers.
(2) If a Bill which has been passed by the Legislative Assembly and transmitted to the Legislative Council is not, before the expiration of twelvemonths from its reception by the Council, presented to the Governor for his assent, the Governor may summon the Chambers to meet in a Joint sitting for the purpose of deliberating and voting on the Bill:
Provided that, if it appears to the Governor that the Bill relates to finance [or affects the discharge of any of his special responsibilities], he may summon the Chambers to meet in a jo
A Bill which has been passed by the Provincial Legislative Assembly or, in the case of a Province having a Legislative Council, has been passed by both Chambers of the Provincial Legislature, shall be presented to the Governor, and the Governor in his discretion shall declare either that he assents in His Majesty's name to the Bill, or that he withholds assent there from, or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the Governor-General:
Provided that the Governor may in his discretion return the Bill together with a message requesting that the Chamber or Chambers will consider the Bill or any specified provisions thereof and, in particular, will consider the desirability of introducing any such amendments as he may recommend in his message and, when a Bill is so returned, the Chamber or Chambers shall reconsider it accordingly.
(1.) When a Bill is reserved by a Governor for the consideration of the Governor-General, the Governor-General shall in his discretion declare, either that he assents in His Majesty's name to the Bill, or thathe withholds assents there from, [or that he reserves the Bill for the signification of his Majesty's pleasure thereon]:1
Provided that the Governor-General may, if he in his discretion thinks fit, direct the Governor to return the Bill to the Chamber, or, as the case may be the Chambers, of the Provincial Legislature together with such a message as is mentioned in the proviso to the last preceding section and, when a Bill is so returned, the Chamber or Chambers shall reconsider it accordingly and, if it is again passed by them with or without amendment, it shall be presented again to the Governor-General for his consideration.
(2)
Any Act assented to by the Governor or the Governor-General may be disallowed by His Majesty within twelve months from the date of the assent, and where any Act is so disallowed the Governor shall forthwith make the disallowance known by public notification and as from the date of the notification the Act shall become void.]1
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1. The words within brackets were omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The Governor shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before the Chamber or Chambers of the Legislature as statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Province for that year, in this Part of this Act referred to as the "annual financial statement".
(2) The estimates of expenditure embodied in the annual financial statement shall show separately--
(a) The sums required to meet expenditure described by this Act as expenditure charged upon the revenues of the Province; and
(b) the sums required to meet other expenditure proposed to be made from the revenues of the Province,
and shall distinguish expenditure on revenue account [from other expenditure, and indicate the sums, if any, which are included solely becaus
(1) So much of the estimates of expenditure as relates to expenditure charged upon the revenues of a Province: shall not be submitted to the vote of the Legislative Assembly, but nothing in this sub-section shall be construed as preventing the discussion in the Legislature of those estimates, other than estimates relating to expenditure referred to in paragraph (a) of sub-section (3) of the last preceding section.
(2) So much of the said estimates as relates to other expenditure shall be submitted, in the form of demands for grants, to the Legislative Assembly, and the Legislative Assembly shall have power to assent, of to refuse to assent, to any demand, or to assent to a demand subject to a reduction of the amount specified therein.
(3) No demand for a grant shall be made except on the recommendation of the Governor.
(1) The Governor shall authenticate by his signature a schedule specifying--
(a) the grants made by the Assembly under; the last preceding section;
(b) the several sums required to meet the expenditure charged on the revenues of the Province but not exceeding, in the case of any sum, the sum shown in the statement previously laid before the Chamber or Chambers:
[Provided that, if the Assembly have refused to assent to any demand for grant or have assented to such a demand subject to a reduction of the amount specified therein, the Governor may, if in his opinion the refusal or reduction would affect the due discharge of any of his special responsibilities, include in the schedule such additional amount, if any, not exceeding the amount of the rejected demand or the reduction, as the case ma
If in respect of any financial year further expenditure from the revenues of the Province becomes necessary over and over the expenditure authorised for that year, the Governor shall cause to be laid before the Chambers a supplementary statement showing the estimated amount of the expenditure, and the provisions of the preceding sections shall have effect in relation to that statement and that expenditure as they have effect in relation to the annual financial statement and the expenditure mentioned therein.
(1) A Bill or amendment making provision
(a) for imposing or increasing any tax; or
(b) for regulating the borrowing of money or the giving of any guarantee by the Province, or for amending the law with respect to any financial obligations undertaken or to be undertaken by the Province; or
(c) for declaring any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the revenues of the Province, or for increasing the amount of any such expenditure, shall not be introduced or moved except the recommendation of the Governor and a Bill making such provision shall not be introduced in a Legislative Council.
(2) A Bill or amendment shall not be deemed to make provision for any of the purposes aforesaid by reason only that it provides for the imposition of fines or
(1) If in the last complete financial year before the commencement of this Part of this Act a grant for the benefit of the Anglo-Indian and European communities or either of them was included in the grants made in any Province for education, then in each subsequent financial year, not being a year in which the Provincial legislative Assembly otherwise resolve by a majority which includes at least three-fourths of the members of the Assembly, a grant shall be made for the benefit of the said community or communities not less in amount than the average of the grants made for its or their benefit in the ten financial, years ending on the thirty first day of March, nineteen hundred and thirty-three:
Provided that, if in any financial year the total grant for education in the Province is less than the, average of the total grants for education in the Province in the said ten financial
(1) A Chamber of a Provincial Legislature may make rules for regulating, subject to the provisions of thin Act, their procedure and the conduct of their business:
[Provided that, as regards either a Legislative Assembly or a Legislative Council, the Governor shall in his discretion, after consultation with the Speaker or the President, as the case may be, make rules--
(a) for regulating the procedure of, and the conduct of business in, the Chamber in relation to any matter which affects the discharge of his functions in so far as he is by or under this Act required to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment;
(b) for securing the timely completion of financial business;.
(c) for prohibiting the discussion of or the asking of
All proceedings in the legislature of a Province shall be conducted in the English language:
Provided that the rules of procedure of the Chamber or Chambers, and the rules, if any, with respect to join sittings, shall provide for enabling persons unacquainted, or not sufficiently acquainted, with the English language to use another language].
(1) No discussion shall take place in a Provincial Legislature with respect to the conduct of any judge of the Federal Court or of a High Court in the discharge of his duties.
In this sub-section the reference to a High Court shall be construed as including a reference to a court in a Federated State which is a High Court for any of the purposes of Part IX of this Act.
[(2) If the Governor in his discretion certifies that the discussion of a Bill introduced or proposed to be introduced in the Provincial Legislature, or of any specified clause of a Bill or of any amendment moved or proposed to be moved to a Bill, would affect the discharge of his special responsibility for the prevention of any grave menace to the peace or tranquillity of the Province or any part thereof, he may in his discretion direct that to proceedings, or no furthe
(1) The validity of any proceedings in a Provincial Legislature shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.
(2) No officer or other member of a Provincial Legislature in whom powers are vested by or under this Act for regulating procedure or the conduct of business, or for maintaining order, in the Legislature shall be Subject to the jurisdiction of any court in respect of the exercise by him of those powers.
(1) If at any time when the Legislature of a Province is not in session the Governor is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action, he may promulgate such ordinances as the circumstances appear to him to require:
1 [Provided that the Governor--
(a) shall exercise his individual judgment as respects the promulgation of any ordinance under this section, if--
(i) a Bill containing the same provisions would under this Act have required his or the Governor-General's previous sanction to the introduction thereof into the Legislature or
(ii) an Act of the Provincial Legislature containing the same provisions would under this Act have been invalid unless having been reserved for the consideration of the
(1) If at any time the Governor of a Province is satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate action for the purpose of enabling him satisfactorily to discharge his functions in so far as he is by or under this Act required in the exercise thereof to act in his discretion, or to exercise his individual judgment, he may promulgate such ordinances as in his opinion the circumstances of the case require.
(2) An ordinance promulgated under this section shall continue in operation for such period not exceeding six months as may be specified therein, but may by a subsequent ordinance be extended for a further period not exceeding six months.
(3) An ordinance promulgated under this section shall have the same force and effect as an Act of the Provincial Legislature assented to by the Governor but every
(1) If at any time it appears to the Governor that, for the purpose of enabling him satisfactorily to discharge his functions in so far as he is by or under this Act required in the exercise thereof to act in his discretion or to exercise his individual judgment, it is essential that provision should be made by legislation, he may by message to the Chamber or Chambers of the Legislature explain the circumstances which in his opinion render legislation essential, and either--
(a) enact forthwith as a Governor's Act a Bill containing such pro- visions as he considers necessary; or
(b) attach to his message a draft of the Bill which he considers necessary.
(2) Where the Governor takes such action as is mentioned in para- graph (b) of the preceding sub-section, he may, at any time after the expira
(1) In this Act the expressions "excluded areas" and partially" excluded area mean respectively such areas as His Majesty may by Order in Council2 declare to be excluded areas or partially excluded areas.
The Secretary of State shall lay the draft of the Order which it is proposed to recommend His Majesty to make under this sub-section before Parliament within six months from the passing of this Act. (2) His Majesty may at any time by order in Council--
(a) direct that the whole or any specified part of an excluded area shall become, or become part of, a partially excluded area;
(b) direct ,that the whole or any specified part of a partially excluded area shall cease to be a partially excluded area or a part of such an area;
(c) Alter, but only by w
(1) The executive authority of a Province extends to excluded and partially excluded areas therein, but not with-standing anything in this Act, no Act of the Federal Legislature or of the Provincial Legislature, shall apply to an excluded area or a partially excluded area, unless the Governor by public notification so directs; and the Governor in giving such a direction with respect to any Act may direct that the Act shall in its application to the areas, or to any special part thereof, have effect subject to such exceptions or modifications as he thinks fit.
(2) The Governor may make regulations for the peace and good government of any area in a Province which is for the time being an excluded area, or a partially excluded areas, and any regulations so made may repeal or amend any Act of the Federal Legislature or of the Provincial Legislature, or any existing, Indian law, which i
(1) If at any time the Governor of a Province is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the Province cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Act, he may by Proclamation--
(a) declare that his functions shall, to such extent as may be specified in the Proclamation, be exercised by him in his discretion;
(b) assume to himself all or any of the powers vested in or exercisable by any Provincial body or authority;
and any such Proclamation may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as may appear to him to be necessary or desirable for giving effect to the objects of the Proclamation, including pro-visions for suspending in whole or in part the operation of any pro-visions of this Act relating to any Provincial body or authority:
&nbs
(1) The following shall be the Chief Commissioners' Provinces, that is to say, the heretofore existing Chief Commissioners' Provinces of [British Baluchistan]1 , Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the area known as Panth Piploda, and such other Chief Commissioners' Provinces as may be created under this Act.
[(2) Aden shall, cease to be part of India].1
(3) A Chief Commissioner's Province shall be administered by the Governor-General acting, to such extent as he thinks fit, through a Chief Commissioner to be appointed by him in his discretion.
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) In directing and controlling the ad-ministration of British Baluchistan, the Governor-General shall act in his discretion.
(2) The executive authority of the Federation extends to British Baluchistan as it extends to other Chief Commissioner's Provinces, but notwithstanding anything in this Act, no Act of the Federal Legislature shall apply to British Baluchistan unless the Governor-General in his discretion by public notification so directs, and the Governor-General in giving such a direction with respect to any Act may direct that the Act shall in its application to the Province, or to any specified part thereof, have effect subject to such exceptions or modifications as he thinks fit.
(3) The Governor-General may in his discretion make regulations for the peace and good government of British Baluchistan, and any regulations so may
The provisions of sub-section (3) of the last preceding section shall apply in relation to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as they apply in relation to British Baluchistan.
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1. Section 96 was substituted, by by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.., as follows--
"96. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands.--The Governor-General may make regulations for the peace and good government of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and any regulations so made may repeal or amend any Act of the Dominion Legislature or any existing law which is for the time being applicable to the Province, and, when promulgated by the Governor-General shall have the same force and effect as an Act of the Dominion Legislature which applies to the Province."
Until other provision is made by 1 [His Majesty in Council], the constitution, powers and functions of the Coorg Legislative Council, and the arrangements with respect to revenues collected in Coorg and expenses in respect of Coorg, shall continue unchanged.
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1. These words were substituted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947 by the words--'or in accordance with a law made by the Constituent Assembly under sub-section (1) of s. 8 of the Indian Independence Act, 1947".
The provisions of Part III of this Act with respect to police rules and with respect to crimes of violence intended to overthrow the government, including the provisions thereof relating to the non-disclosure of certain records and information, shall apply in relation to Chief Commissioners' Provinces as they apply in relation to Governor's Provinces, with the substitution for references to the Governor and the Chamber or Chambers of the Provincial Legislature of references to the Governor-General and the Chamber of the Federal Legislature.
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Federal Legislature may make laws [for the whole or any part of British India or for any Federated State]1 , and a Provincial Legislature may make laws for the Province or for any part thereof.
2 [(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred by the preceding sub-section, no Federal law shall, on the ground that it would have extra territorial operation, be deemed to be invalid in so far as it applies--
(a) to British subjects and servants of the Crown in any part of India or
(b) to British subjects who are domiciled in any part of India wherever they may be; or
(c) to, or to persons on, ships or aircraft registered in British India or any Federated State wherever they may be; or
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(1) Notwithstanding anything in the two next succeeding sub-sections, the Federal Legislature has and a Provincial Legislature has not, power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I in the Seventh Schedule to this Act (hereinafter called the "Federal Legislative List").
(2) Notwithstanding anything in the next succeeding sub-section, the Federal Legislature, and, subject to the preceding sub-section, a Provincial Legislature also, have power to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List III in the said Schedule (hereinafter) called the "Concurrent Legislative List").
(3) Subject to the two preceding sub-sections the Provincial Legislature has, and the Federal Legislature has not, power to make laws for a Province or any part thereof with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List II
Nothing in this Act shall be constructed as empowering the Federal Legislature to make laws for a Federated State otherwise than in accordance with the Instrument of Accessions of that State and any limitation contained therein.
(1) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding sections of this chapter, the Federal Legislature shall, if the Governor-General has in his discretion declared by Proclamation (in this Act referred to as a "Proclamation (in this Act referred to as a "Proclamation of Emergency") that a grave emergency exists whereby the security of India is threatened, whether by war or internal disturbance, have power to make laws for a Province or any part thereof with respect to any of the patters enumerated in the Provincial Legislative List 1 [or to make laws, whether or not, for a Province or any part thereof, with respect to any matter not enumerated in any of the lists in the Seventh Schedule to this Act:]
Provided that no Bill or amendment for the purposes aforesaid shall be introduced or moved without the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion, and the Governor-General s
If it appears to the Legislature of two or more Provinces to be desirable that any of the matters enumerated in the Provincial Legislative List should be regulated in those Provinces by Act of the Federal Legislature, to pass an Act for regulating that matter accordingly, but any Act so passed may, as respects any Province to which it applies, be amended or repealed by an Act of the Legislature of that Province.
(1) The Governor-General may by public notification empower either the Federal Legislature or a Provincial Legislature to enact a law with respect to any matter not enumerated in any of the Lists in the Seventh Schedule to this Act, including a law imposing a tax not mentioned in any such list, and the executive authority of the Federation or of the Province, as the case may be, shall extend to the administration of any law so made, unless the Governor-General otherwise directs.
1 (2) In the discharge of his functions under this section the Governor-General shall act in his discretion.]
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act with respect to the legislative powers of the Federal Legislature, provision may be made by Act of that Legislature for applying the Naval Discipline Act to the Indian naval forces and, so long as provision for that purpose is made either by an Act of the Federal Legislature or by an existing Indian law, the Naval Discipline Act as so applied shall have effect as if references therein to His Majesty's navy and His Majesty's ships included references to His Majesty's Indian navy and the ships thereof, subject however:--
(a) in the application of the said Act to the forces and ships of the Indian navy and to the trial court martial of officers and men belonging thereto, to such modifications and adaptations, if any, as may be, or may have been, made by the Act of the Federal or Indian Legislature to adapt the said Act to the circums
(1) The Federal Legislature shall not by reason only of the entry in the Federal Legislative List relating to the implementing of treaties and agreements with other countries have power to make any law for any Province except with the previous consent of the Governor, or for a Federated State except with the previous consent of the Ruler, thereof.
(2) So much of any law as is valid only by virtue of any such entry as aforesaid may be repealed by the Federal Legislature and may, on the treaty or agreement in question ceasing to have effect, be repealed as respects any Province or State by a law of that Province or State.
(3) Nothing in this section applies in relation to any law which the Federal Legislature has power to make for a Province or as the case may be, a Federated State, by virtue of any other entry in the Federal or the Concur
(1) If any provision of a Provincial law is repugnant to any provision of a Federal law which the Federal Legislature is competent to enact or to any provision of an existing Indian law with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the Concurrent Legislative List, then, subject to the provisions of this section, the Federal law, whether passed before or after the Provincial law, or as the case may be, the existing Indian law, shall prevail and the Provincial law shall, to the extent of the repugnancy, be void.
(2) Where a Provincial law with respect to one of the matters enumerated in the Concurrent Legislative List contains any provision repugnant to the provisions of an earlier Federal law or an existing Indian law with respect to that matter, then, if the Provincial law, having been reserved for the consideration of the Governor-General [or for the signification of His Majest
(1) Unless the Governor-General in his discretion thinks fit to give his previous sanction, there shall not be introduced into, or moved in, either Chamber of the Federal Legislature, any Bill or amendment which--
(a) repeals, amends or is repugnant to any provisions of any Act of Parliament extending to British India; or
(b) repeals, amends or is repugnant to any Governor-General's or Governor's Act, or any ordinance promulgated in his discretion by the Governor-General or a Governor; or
(c) affects matters as respects which the Governor-General is, by or under this Act, required to act in his discretion; or
(d) repeals, amends or affects any Act relating to any police force; or
(e) affects the procedure
(1) Where under any provision of this Act the previous sanction or recommendation of the Governor-General or of a Governor is required to the introduction or passing of a Bill or the moving of an amendment, the giving of the sanction or recommendation shall not be construed as precluding him from exercising subsequently in regard to the Bill in question any powers conferred upon him by this Act with respect to the withholding of assent to or the reservation of Bills.
(2) No Act of the Federal Legislature or a Provincial Legislature, and no provision in any such Act, shall be invalid by reason only that some previous sanction or recommendation was not given, if assent to that Act was given--
(a) where the previous sanction or recommendation required was that of the Governor, either by the Governor, 1 [by the Governor-General], [or by His
Nothing in this Act shall be taken--
(a) to affect the power of Parliament to legislate for British India, or any part thereof; or
(b) to empower the Federal Legislature, or any Provincial Legislature--
(i) to make any law affecting the Sovereign or the Royal Family, or the Succession to the Crown, or the sovereignty, dominion or suzerainty of the Crown in any part of India, or the law of British nationality, or the Army Act, the Air Force Act, or the Naval Discipline Act, or the law of Prize courts; or
(ii) except in so far as is expressly permitted by any subsequent provisions of this Act, to make any law amending any provision of this Act, or any Order in Council made thereunder, or any rules made under this Act by the Secretary of State, or by t
(1) Subject to the provisions of this chapter, a British subject domiciled in the United Kingdom shall be exempt from the operation of so much of any Federal or Provincial law as--
(a) imposes any restriction on the right of entry into British India; or
(b) imposes by reference to place of birth, race, descent, language, religion, domicile, residence or duration of residence, any disability, liability, restriction or condition in regard to travel, residence, the acquisition, holding, or disposal of property, the holding of public office, or the carrying on of any occupation, trade, business or profession:
Provided that no person shall by virtue of this sub-section be entitled to exemption from such restriction, condition, liability or disability as aforesaid if and so long as British subjects
(1) No Federal or Provincial law which imposes any liability to taxation shall be such as to discriminate against British subjects domiciled in the United Kingdom or Burma or companies incorporated, whether before or after the passing of this Act, by or under the laws of the United Kingdom or Burma, and any law passed or made in contravention of this section shall, to the extent of the contravention, be invalid.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions, a law shall be deemed to be such as to discriminate against such persons or companies as aforesaid if it would result in any of the being liable to greater taxation than that to which they would be liable if domiciled in British India or incorporated by or under the laws of British India, as the case may be.
(3) For the purposes of this section a company incorpo
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this chapter, a company incorporated, whether before or after the passing of this Act, by or under the laws of the United Kingdom, and the members of the governing body of any such company and the holders of its shares, stock, debentures, debenture stock or bonds, and its officers, agents, and servants, shall be deemed to comply with so much of any Federal or Provincial law as imposes in regard to companies carrying on or proposing to carry on business in British India requirements or conditions relating to or connected with--
(a) the place of incorporation of a company or the situation of its registered office, or the currency in which its capital or loan capital is expressed; or
(b) the place of birth, race, descent, language, religion, domicile, residence or duration of residence of members o
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this chapter, a British subject domiciled in the United Kingdom shall be deemed to comply with so much of any Federal or Provincial law as imposes in regard to companies incorporated or proposed to be incorporated, whether before or after the passing of this Act, by or under the laws of British India, any requirements or conditions relating to, or connected with, the place of birth, race, descent, language, religion, domicile, residence or duration of residence of members of the governing body of a company, or of the holders of its shares, stock, debentures, debenture stock or bonds or of its officers, agents or servants;
Provided that no person shall by virtue of this section be deemed to comply with any such requirement or condition as aforesaid if and so long as a like requirement or condition is imposed by or under the law of the Unite
(1) No ship registered in the United Kingdom shall be subjected by or under any Federal or Provincial law to any treatment affecting either the ship herself, or her master, officers, crew, passengers cargo, which is discriminatory in favour of ships registered in British India, except in so far as ships registered in the United Kingdom.
(2) This section shall apply in relation to aircraft as it applies in relation to ships.
(3) The provisions of this section are in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any of the preceding sections of this chapter.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Notwithstanding anything in any Act of the Federal Legislature or of a Provincial Legislature, companies incorporated, whether before or after the passing of this Act, by or under the laws of the United Kingdom and carrying on business in India shall be eligible for any grant, bounty or subsidy payable out of the revenues of the Federation or of a Province for the encouragement of any trade or industry to the same extent as companies incorporated by or under the laws of British India are eligible there for:
Provided that this sub-section shall not apply in relation to any grant bounty or subsidy, for the encouragement of any trade or industry, if and so long as under the laws of British India and carrying on business in the United Kingdom are not equally eligible with companies incorporated by or under the laws of the United Kingdom for the benefit of any grant, bounty or subsi
The foregoing provisions of this chapter shall apply in relation to any ordinance, order, bye-law, rule or regulation passed or made after the passing of this Act and having by virtue of any existing Indian, law, or of any law of the Federal or any Provincial Legislature, the force of law as they apply in relation to Federal and Provincial laws, but, save as aforesaid, nothing in those provisions shall affect the operation of any existing Indian law.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) If after the establishment of the Federation a convention is made between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Federal Government whereby similarity of treatment is assured in the United Kingdom to British subjects domiciled in British India and to companies incorporated by or under the laws of British India and in British India to British subjects domiciled in the United Kingdom and to companies incorporated by or under the laws of the United Kingdom, respectively, in respect of the matters, or any of the matters, with regard to which provision is made in the preceding sections of this chapter, His Majesty may, if he is satisfied that all necessary legislation has been enacted both in the United Kingdom and in India for the purpose of giving effect to the convention, by Order in council declare that the purpose of those sections are to such extent as may be specified in the Order sufficiently fulfilled
(1) No Bill or amendment which prescribes, or empowers any authority to prescribe, the professional or technical qualifications which are to be requisite for anypurpose in British India or which imposes, or empowers any authority to impose, by reference to any professional or technical qualification, and disability, liability, restriction or condition in regard to the practising of any profession, the carrying on of any occupation, trade or business, or the holding of any office in British India, shall be introduced or moved in either Chamber of the Federal Legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion, or in a Chamber of a Provincial Legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor in his discretion.
(2) The Governor-General or a Governor shall not give his sanction for the purposes of the preceding sub-section unless he is satisfied
(1) So long as the condition set out in sub-section (3) of thissection continues to be fulfilled, a British subject domiciled in the United Kingdom or India who, by virtue of a medical diploma granted to him in the United Kingdom, is, or is entitled to be, registered in the United Kingdom as a qualified medical practitioner shall not by or under any existing Indian law or any law of the Federal or any Provincial Legislature, be excluded from practising medicine, surgery or midwifery in British India, or in any part thereof, or from being registered as qualified so to do, on any ground other than the ground that the diploma held by him does not furnish a sufficient guarantee of his possession of the requisite knowledge and skill for the practice of medicine, surgery and midwifery, and he shall not be so excluded on that ground unless a law of the Federation or of the Province, as thecae may be, makes provision for securing--
A person who holds a commission from His Majesty as a medical officer in the Indian Medical Service or any other branch of His Majesty's forces and is on the active list shall by virtue of that commission be deemed to be qualified to practise medicine, surgery and midwifery in British India, and be entitled to be registered in British India or any part thereof as so qualified.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The executive authority of every Province and Federated State shall be so exercised as to secure respect for the laws of the Federal Legislature which apply in that Province or State.
(2) The reference in sub-section (1) of this section to laws of the Federal Legislature shall, in relation to any Province, include a reference to any existing Indian law applying in that Province.
(3) Without prejudice to any of the other provisions of this Part of this Act, in the exercise of the executive authority of the Federation in any Province or Federated State regard shall be had to the interests of that Province or State.
(1) The Governor-General may direct the Governor of any Province to discharge as his agent, either generally or in any particular case, such functions in and in relation to the tribal areas as may be specified in the direction.
(2) If in any particular case it appears to the Governor-General necessary or convenient so to do, he may direct the Governor of any Province to discharge as his agent such functions in relation to defence, external affairs, or ecclesiastical affairs as may be specified in the direction.
(3) In the discharge of any such functions the Governor shall act in his discretion.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Governor-General may, with the consent of the Government of a Province or the Ruler of 1 [a Federated] State, entrust either conditionally or unconditionally to that Government or Ruler, or to their respective officers, functions in relation to any matter to which the executive authority of the [Federation] extends.
(2) An Act of the 2 [Federal] Legislature may, notwithstanding that it relates to a matter with respect to which a Provincial Legislature has no power to make laws, confer powers and impose duties 3 [or authorise the conferring of powers and the imposition of duties] upon a Province or officers and authorities thereof.
(3) An Act of the 2 [Federal] Legislature which extends to 1 [a Federated] State may confer powers and impose duties 3 [or authorise the conferring of powers, and t
(1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, agreements may, and, if provision has been made in that behalf by the Instrument of Accession of the State, shall, be made between the Governor-General and the Ruler of1b 1 [a Federated] State for the exercise by the Ruler or his officers of functions in relation to the administration in his State of any law of the 2 [Federal Legislature] which applies therein.
(2) An agreement made under this section shall contain provisions enabling the Governor-General in his discretion to satisfy himself, by inspection or otherwise, that the administration of the law to which the agreement relates is carried out in accordance with the policy of the 2 [Federal] Government and, if he is not satisfied, the Governor-General acting in his discretion, may issue such directions to the Ruler as he thinks fit.
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(a) the executive authority of the 2 [Federation] shall extend to the giving of directions to a Province as to the manner in which the executive authority thereof is to be exercised, and any directions so given shall for the purposes of the last preceding section be deemed to be directions given there under;
(b) (b) any power of the 2 [Federal] Legislature to make laws for a Province with respect to any matter shall include power to have laws as respects a Province conferring powers and imposing duties, or authorising the conferring of powers and the imposition of duties, upon the Federation or officers and authorities of the 2 [Federation] as respects that matter, notwithstanding that it is one with respect to which the Provincial Legislature also has power to make laws:
Provided that no Bill or amendment which, as respects a Province,
The 1 [Federation] may, if it deems it necessary to acquire any land situate in a Province for any purpose connected with a matter with respect to which the 1 [Federal] Legislature has power to make laws, require the Province to acquire the land on behalf, and at the expense, off the 1 [Federation] or, if the land belongs to the Province, to transfer it to the 1 [Federation] on such terms as may be agreed or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by an arbitrator appointed by the Chief Justice of India.
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1. Substituted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947, for the words 'Dominion'.
(1) The executive authority of every 1 [Federated] State shall be so exercised as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive authority of the 2 [Federation] so far as it is exercisable in the State by virtue of a law of the 2 [Federal] Legislature which applies therein.
(2) If it appears to the Governor-General that the Ruler of any 1 [Federated] State has in any way failed to fulfil his obligations under the preceding sub-section the Governor-General, acting in his discretion, may after considering any representations made to him by the Ruler issue such directions to the Ruler as he thinks fit:
Provided that, if any question arises under this section as to whether the executive authority of the 2 [Federation] is exercisable in a State with respect to any matter or as to the extent to which it is so exercisable, the questio
Broadcasting
(1) The 1 [Federal] Government shall not unreasonably refuse to entrust to the Government of any Province or the Ruler of any 2 [Federated] State such functions with respect to broadcasting as may be necessary to enable that Government or Ruler--
(a) to construct and use transmitters in the Province or State;
(b) to regulate, and impose fees in respect of, the construction and use of transmitters and the use of receiving apparatus in the Province or State: Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall be construed as requiring the 1 [Federal] Government to entrust to any such Government or Ruler any control over the use of transmitters constructed or maintained by the 1 [Federal] Government or by persons authorised by the 1 [Federal] Government, or over the use of receiving appa
If it appears to the Government of any Governor's Province or to the Ruler of any 1 [Federated] State that the interests of that Province or State, or of any of the inhabitants thereof, in the water from any natural source of supply in any Governor's or Chief Commissioner's Province or 1 [Federated] State, have been, or are likely to be, affected prejudicially by--
(a) any executive action or legislation taken or passed, or proposed to be taken or passed; or
(b) the failure of any authority to exercise any of their powers with respect to the use, distribution or control of water from that source the Government or Ruler may complain to the Governor-General.
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1. Substituted, by the Government of India (Amendment) Act, 1939, by
(1) If the Governor-General receives such a complaint as aforesaid, he shall, unless he is of opinion that the issues involved are not of sufficient importance to warrant such action, appoint a Commission consisting of such persons haying special knowledge and experience in irrigation, engineering, administration, finance or law, as he thinks fit, and request that Commission to investigate in accordance with such instruction as he may give to them, and to report to him on, the matters to which the complaint relates, or such of those matters as he may refer to them.
(2) A Commission so appointed shall investigate the matters referred to them and present to the Governor-General a report setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendations as they think proper.
(3) If it appears to the Governor-General upon consideration o
If it appears to the Governor-General that the interests of any Chief Commissioner's Province, or of any of the inhabitants of such a Province, in the water from any natural source of supply in any Governor's Province or 1 [Federated] State have been or are likely to be affected prejudicially by--
(a) any executive action or legislation taken or passed or proposed to be taken or passed; or
(b) the failure of any authority to exercise any of their powers, with respect to the use, distribution or control of water from that source, he may, if he in his discretion thinks fit, refer the matter to a Commission appointed in accordance with the provisions of the last proceeding section and thereupon those provisions shall apply as if the Chief Commissioner's Province were a Governor's Province and as if a complaint with respect to the matter had
The provisions contained in this Part of this Act with respect to interference with water-supplies shall not apply in relation to any Federated State 1 [the Ruler whereof] has declared in his Instrument of Accession that those provisions are [not]2 to apply in relation to his State.
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1. Substituted, by the Government of India (Amendment) Act, 1939, by the words 'unless the Ruler thereof'.
2. Omitted, by the Government of India (Amendment) Act, 1939,
Inter-Provincial Co-operation
If at any time it appears to [His Majesty upon the consideration of representations addressed to him by]1 the Governor-General that the public interests would be served by the establishment of the Inter-Provincial Council charged with the duty of--
(a) inquiring into and advising upon disputes which may have arisen between Provinces;
(b) investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the Provinces, or the Federation and one or more of the Provinces, have a common interest; or
(c) making recommendations upon any such subject and, in particular, recommendations for the better co-ordination of policy and action with respect to that subject it shall be lawful for 2 [His Majesty in Council] to establish such a
Subject to the following provisions of this chapter with respect to the assignment of the whole or part of the net proceeds of certain taxes and duties to Provinces and Federated States, 1 [and subject to the provisions of this Act with respect to the Federal Railway Authority], the expression "revenues of the Federation" includes all revenues and public moneys raised or received by the Federation, and the expression "revenues of the Province" includes all revenues and public moneys raised or received by a Province.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Duties in respect of succession to property other than agricultural land, 1 estate duty in respect of property other than agricultural land, such stamp duties as are mentioned in the Federal Legislative List, terminal taxes on goods or passengers carried by railway, or air, and taxes on railway fares and freights, shall be levied and collected by the[Federation]2 , but the net proceeds in any financial year of any such duty or tax, except in so far as those proceeds represent proceeds attributable to Chief Commissioners' Provinces, shall not form part of the revenues of the [Federation]2 , but shall be assigned to the Provinces and to the[Federated]3 States, if any, within which that duty or tax is leviable in that year, and shall be distributed among the Provinces and those States in11. Substituted, by ibid., by the word 'Governor-General'. accordance with such principles of distribution as may be formulated by Act of the [F
(1) Taxes on income other than agricultural income shall be levied and collected by the Federation, but a prescribed percentage of the net proceeds in any financial year of any such tax, except in so far as those proceeds represent proceeds attributable to Chief Commissioners' Provinces or to taxes payable in respect of [Federal]1 emoluments, shall not form part of the revenues of the[Federation]1 , but shall be assigned to the Provinces and to the[Federated]2 States, if any, within which that tax is livable in that year, and shall be distributed among the Provinces and those States in such manner as may be prescribed3 :
Provided that--
(a) the percentage originally prescribed under this sub-section shall not be increased by any [subsequent Order in Council]4 the [Federal]1 Legislature may at any time increase the said taxes by a surchar
(1) Corporation tax shall not be levied by the Federation in any Federated State until ten years have elapsed from the establishment of the Federation.
(2) Any Federal law providing for the levying of corporation tax shall contain provisions enabling the Ruler of any Federated State in which the tax would otherwise be leviable to elect that the tax shall not be levied in the State, but that in lieu thereof there shall be paid by the State to the revenues of the Federation a contribution as near as may be equivalent to the net proceeds which it is estimated would result from the tax if it were levied in the State.
(3) Where the Ruler of a State so elects as aforesaid, the officers of the Federation shall not call for any information or returns from any, corporation in the State, but it shall be the duty of the Ruler thereof to cause to be
(1) Duties on salt, Federal duties of excise and export duties shall be levied and collected by the Federation, but, if an Act of the Federal Legislature so provides, there shall be paid out of the revenues of the Federation to the Provinces and to the Federated States, if any, to which the Act imposing the duty extends, sums equivalent to the whole or any part of the net proceeds of that duty, and those sums shall be distributed among the Provinces and those States in accordance with such principles of distribution as may be formulated by the Act.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding sub-section, [one half, or such greater proportion as His Majesty in Council may determine]1 , of the net proceeds in each year of any export duty on jute products shall not form part of the revenues of the Federation, but shall be assigned to the Provinces or Federated States in which jute i
(1) No Bill or amendment which imposes or varies any tax or duty in which Provinces are interested or which varies the meaning of the expression "agricultural income" as defined for the purposes of the enactments relating to Indian income-tax, or which affects the principles on which under any of the foregoing provisions if this chapter moneys are or may be distributable to Provinces or States, or which imposes any such Federal surcharge as is mentioned in the foregoing provisions of this chapter, shall be introduced or moved in either Chamber of the Federal Legislature except with the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion.
(2) The Governor-General shall not give his sanction to the introduction of any Bill or the moving if any amendment imposing in any year any such Federal surcharge as aforesaid unless he is satisfied that all practicable economies and all p
Such sums as may be prescribed by [His Majesty in Council]1 shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation in each year as grants-in-aid of the revenues of such Provinces as His Majesty may determine to be in need of assistance, and different sums may be prescribed for different Provinces:
Provided that, except in the case of the North-West Frontier Province, no grant fixed under this section shall be increased by a subsequent Order, unless an address has been presented to the Governor-General by both Chambers of the Federal Legislature for submission to [His Majesty]2 praying that the increase may be made.
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1. Substituted, by the India and Burma (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 1940 , by the words 'Order of the Governor-General'.
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(1) Notwithstanding anything in section one hundred of this Act, no Provincial law relating to taxes for the benefit of a Province or of a municipality, district board, local board or other local authority therein in respect of professions, trades, callings or employments shall be invalid on the ground that it relates to a tax on income.
(2) The total amount payable in respect of any one person to the Province or to any one municipality, district board, local board, or other local authority in the Province by way of tuxes on professions, trades, callings and employments shall not, after the thirty-first day of March nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, exceed fifty rupees per annum:
Provided that, if in the financial year ending with that date there was in force in the case of any Province or any such municipality, board or authority a tax
(1) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this chapter affects any duties or taxes levied in any Federated State otherwise than by virtue of an Act of the Federal Legislature applying in the State.1
1 [(1A) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this chapter authorises the levy of any duty or tax by the Dominion in any Acceding State unless provision in that behalf is made in the Instrument of Accession of that State.]
(2) Any taxes, duties, cesses or fees which, immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act, were being lawfully levied by any Provincial Government, municipality or other local authority or body for the purposes of the Province, municipality, district or other local area under a law in force on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and thirty-five2 , may notwithstanding that those taxes, duties, chesse
(1) In the foregoing provisions of this chapter "net proceeds" means in relation to any tax or duty the proceeds thereof reduced by the cost of collection, and for the purposes of those provisions the net proceeds of any tax or duty, or of any part of any tax or duty, in or attributable to any area shall be ascertained and certified by the Auditor-General of India, whose certificates shall be final.
(2) Subject as aforesaid, and to any other express provision of this chapter, an Act of the Federal Legislature may, in any case where under this Part of this Act the proceeds of any duty or tax are, or may be, assigned to any Province or State, or a contribution is, or may be, made to the revenues of the Federation by any Stale, provide for the manner in which the proceeds of any duty or tax and the amount of any contribution are to be calculated, for the times in each year and the man
There shall be paid to His Majesty by the Federation in each year the sums stated by His Majesty's Representa of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States to be required, whether on revenue account or otherwise, for the discharge of those functions, including the making of any payments in respect of any customary allowances to members of the family or servants of any former Ruler of any territories in India.
All cash contributions and payments in respect of loans and other payments due from or by any Indian State which, if this Act had not been passed, would have formed part of the revenues of India, shall be received by His Majesty, and shall if His Majesty has so directed, be placed as the disposal of the Federation, but nothing in this Act shall derogate from the right of His Majesty, if he thinks fit so to do, to remit at any time the whole or any part of any such contributions or payments.
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3) of this section His Majesty may, in signifying his acceptance of the Instrument of Accession of a State, agree to remit over a period not exceeding twenty years from the date of the accession of the State to the Federation any cash contributions payable by that State.
(2) Subject as aforesaid, where any territories have been voluntarily ceded to the Crown by a Federated State before the passing of this Act-
(a) in return for specific military guarantees, or
(b) in return for the discharge of the State from obligations to provide military assistance,
there shall, if His Majesty, in signifying his acceptance of the Instrument of Accession of that State, so directs be paid to that State, but in the first
Any payments made under the last preceding section and any payments heretofore made to any State by the Governor-General in Council or by any Local Government under any agreements made with that before the passing of this Act, shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation or on the revenues of the corresponding Province under this Act, as the case may be.
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Where under the foregoing provisions of this chapter there is made in any year by the Federation to a Federated State any payment or distribution of, or calculated by reference to, the net proceeds of any duty or tax, the value in any for that year of any privilege or immunity enjoyed by that State in respect of any former or existing source of revenue from a similar duty or tax or from goods of the same kind, being a privilege or immunity which has not been otherwise taken into account shall, if and in so far as the Act of the Federal Legislature under which the payment or distribution is made so provides, be set off against the payment or distribution.
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) No burden shall be imposed on the revenues of the Federation or the Provinces except for the purposes of [India]1 or some part of [India]1 .
(2) Subject as aforesaid, the Federation or a Province may make grants for any purpose, notwithstanding that the purpose is not one with respect to which the Federal or the Provincial Legislature, as the case may be, may make laws.
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1. Substituted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947, by the word 'Dominion'.
(1) Rules may be made by the Governor-General and by the Governor of a Province for the purpose of securing that all moneys received on account of the revenues of the Federation or of the Province, as the case may be, shall, with such exceptions, if any as may be specified in the rules, be paid into the public account of the Federation or of the Province, and the rules so made may prescribe, or authorise some person to prescribe, the procedure to be followed in respect of the payment of moneys into the said account, the withdrawal with or ancillary to the matters aforesaid.
1 [(2) In the exercise of his powers under this section the Governor-General or a Governor shall exercise his individual judgment].
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The functions of the Governor- General with respect to the following matters shall be exercised by him in this discretion, that is to say--
(a) the appointment and removal from office of the Governor and Deputy Governors of the Reserve Bank of India, the approval of their terms of office;
(b) the appointment of an officiating Governor or Deputy Governor or the Bank;
(c) the suppression of the Central Board of the Bank and any action consequent therein; and
(d) the liquidation of the Bank. (p) In nominating directors of the Reserve Bank of India and iff removing from office any director nominated by him, the Governor-General shall exercise his individual judgment.
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&nb
No Bill or amendment which affects the coinage or currency of the federation or the constitution or functions of the Reserve Bank of India shall be introduced into or moved in [either Chamber] of the Federal legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion.
Save in so far as any Federal law may otherwise provide, no Provincial law or law of a Federated State shall impose, or authorise the imposition of, a tax on the consumption or sale of electricity (whether produced by a Government or other persons) which is--
(a) consumed by the Federal Government, or sold to the Federal Government for consumption by that Government; or
consumed in the construction, maintenance or operation of a Federal Railway by 2 [the Federal Railway Authority or] a railway company operating that railway, or sold to 2 [that authority or] any such railway company for consumption in the construction, maintenance or operation of a Federal Railway; and any such law imposing, or authorising the imposition of a tax on the sale of electricity shall secure that the price of electricity sold to the Federal Government for cons
(1) Subject as hereinafter provided, the Government of a Province and the Ruler of a Federated State shall not be liable to Federal taxation in respect of lands or buildings situate in 8 [British] India or income accruing, arising or received in British India ;
Provided that--
(a) where a trade or business of any kind is carried on by or on behalf of the Government of a Province in any part of British India outside that Province or by a Ruler in any part of British India, nothing in this subsection shall exempt that Government or Ruler from any Federal taxation in respect of that trade or business, or any operations connected therewith, or any income arising in connection therewith, or any property occupied for the purposes thereof;
(b) Nothing in this subsection shall exempt a Ruler from any
Where under the provisions of this Act the expenses of any court or commission, or the pension payable to or in respect of a person who has served under the Crown in India, are charged on the revenues of the Federation or the revenues of a Province, then if-
(a) in the case of a charge on the revenues of the Federation the court or commission serves any of the separate needs of a Province, or the person has served wholly or in part in connection with the affairs of a Province; or
(b) in the case of charge on the revenues of a Province, the court for commission serves any of the separate needs of the Federation or another
Province, or the person has served wholly or in part in connection with the affairs of the Federation or another Province,
there s
(1) The Federation and every Province shall secure that there are from time to time in the hands of the Secretary of State sufficient moneys to enable him to make such payments as he may have to make in respect of liability which falls to be met out of the revenues of the Federation or of the Province as the case may be.
(2) Without prejudice to their obligations under the preceding sub-section, the Federation and every Province shall secure that there are from time to time in the hands of the Secretary of State and the High Commissioner sufficient moneys to enable payment to be made of all pensions payable out of the revenues of the Federation or the Province, as the case may be, in the United Kingdom or through officers accounting to the Secretary of State or to the High Commissioner.
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(1) His Majesty in Council may make such provision10 as may appear to him to be necessary or proper for defining and regulating the relations between the monetary systems of India and Burna and for purposes connected with or ancillary to those purposes, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of this section, such provision as may appear to His Majesty to be necessary or proper for the purpose of giving effect to any arrangements with respect to the said matters made before the commencement of Part III of this Act with the approval of the Secretary of State by the Governor of Burma in Council with the Governor-General in Council or any other persons.
(2) Any sums required by an Order under this section to be paid by the Federation shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation.
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His Majesty in Council may make provision for the grant of relief from any Federal tax on income taxed or taxable in Burma.11
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
With a view to preventing undue disturbance of trade between India and Burma in the period immediately following the separation of India and Burma and with a view to safeguarding the economic interests of Burma during that period, His Majesty may by Order in Council2 give such directions as he thinks fit for those purposes with respect to the duties which are, while the Order is in force, to be levied on goods imported into or exported from India or Burma and with respect to ancillary aid related matters.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
2. See the India and Burma (Trade Regulation) Order, 1937 [18-3-1937].
Upon the commencement of Part III of this Act all powers vested in the Secretary of State in Council of borrowing on the security of the revenues of India shall cease and determine, but nothing in this section affects the provisions of Part XIII of this Act with respect to borrowing in sterling by the Secretary of State.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
1 [Subject to the provisions of Part XIII of this Act with respect to borrowing in sterling], the executive authority of the Federation extends to borrowing upon the security of the revenues of the Federation within such limits, if any, as may from time to time be fixed by Act of the Federal Legislature and to the giving of guarantees within such limits, if any, as may be so fixed.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the executive authority of a Province extends to borrowing upon the security of the revenues of the Province within such limits, if any, as may from time to time be fixed by the Act of the Provincial Legislature and to the giving of guarantees within such limits, if any, as may be so fixed.
(2) The Federation may, subject to such conditions, if any, as it may think fit to impose, make loans to, or, so long as any limits fixed under the last preceding section are not exceeded, give guarantees in respect of loans raised by, any Province and any sums required for the purpose of making loans to a Province shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation.
(3) A Province may not without the consent of the Federation borrow outside India, nor without the like consent raise any loan if there is st
The Federation may, subject to such conditions, if any, as it may think fit to impose, make loans to, or so long as any limits fixed under the last but one preceding section are not exceeded, give guarantees in respect of loans raised by, any Federated State.
(1) The Colonial Stock Acts, 1877 to 1900, shall, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in those Acts, apply in relation to sterling stock issued after the establishment of the Federation and forming part of the public debt of the Federation as they apply in relation to stock forming part of the public debt of any British Possession mentioned in those Acts, so however that nothing in section twenty of the Colonial Stock Act, 1877, shall be construed as compelling a person desirous of bringing proceedings to proceed in the manner therein specified and that, until Parliament otherwise determines, any conditions prescribed by the Treasury under section two of the Colonial Stock Act, 1900 shall be deemed to have been complied with with respect to all such stock so issued by the Federation.
(2) The expression "colonial stock" in section eleven of the Trusts (Scotland) Act 1921 shall
(1) There shall be an Auditor-General of India, who shall be appointed by 1 [His Majesty] and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the Federal Court.
(2) The conditions of service of the Auditor-General shall be such as may be prescribed by 2 [His Majesty in Council] and he shall not be eligible for further office under the Crown in India after he has ceased to hold his office:
Provided that neither the salary of an Auditor-General nor his rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
(3) The Auditor-General shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to the accounts of the Federation and of the Provinces as may be prescribed by, or by rules made
(1) If a Provincial Legislature 1 [after the expiration of two years from the commencement of Part III of this Act] charging the salary of an Auditor General for that Province on the revenues of the Province, an Auditor-General of the Province may be appointed by 2 [His Majesty] to perform the same duties and to exercise the same powers in relation to the audit of the accounts of the Province as would be performed and exercised by the Auditor-General of India, if an Auditor-General of the Province had not been appointed:
Provided that no appointment of an Auditor-General in a Province shall be made until the expiration of at least three years from the date of the Act of the Provincial Legislature by which provision is made for an Auditor-General of that Province.
(2) The provisions of the last preceding section shall apply in relation to
The accounts of the Federation shall be kept in such form as the Auditor-General of India may, with the approval of the Governor-General, prescribe and, in so far as the Auditor-General of India may, with the like approval, give any directions with regard to the methods or principles in accordance with which any accounts of Province sought to be kept, it shall be the duty of every Provincial Government to cause accounts to be kept accordingly.
The reports of the Auditor-General of India relating to the accounts of the Federation shall be submitted to the Governor-General, who shall cause them to be laid before the Federal Legislature, and the reports of the Auditor-General of India or of the Auditor-General of the Province, as the case may be, relating to the accounts of a Province shall be submitted to the Governor of the Province, who shall cause them to be laid before the Provincial Legislature.
(1) There shall be an Auditor of Indian Home Accounts who shall be appointed by the Governor-General in his discretion and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as a judge ofthe Federal Court.
(2) The conditions of service of the Auditor of Indian Home Accounts shall be such as may be prescribed by the Governor-General in his discretion:
Provided that neither the salary of an Auditor of Indian Home Accounts nor his rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
(3) The Auditor of Indian Home Accounts shall perform such duties and exercise such powers in relation to transactions in the United Kingdom affecting the revenues of the Federation, of the Federal Railway Authority, or of
The accounts relating to the discharge of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States shall be audited by the Auditor-General of India, or, in so far as those accounts concern transactions in the United Kingdom, by the Auditor of Indian Home Accounts acting on his behalf and under his general superintendence, and the Auditor-General of India shall make to the Secretary of State annual reports on the accounts so audited by him or on his behalf.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) All lands and buildings which immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act were vested in His Majesty for the purposes of the government of India shall as from that date--
(a) in the case of lands and buildings which are situate in a Province, vest in His Majesty for the purposes of the government of that Province unless they were then used, otherwise than under a tenancy agreement between the Governor-General in Council and the Government of that Province, for purposes which thereafter will be purposes of the Federal Government or of His Majesty's Representative for the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States, or unless they are lands and buildings formerly used for such purposes as aforesaid, or intended or formerly intended to be so used, and are certified by the Governor-General in Council, or, as the case may be, His Majest
(1) Subject to the provisions of this and the last preceding section, all property vested in His Majesty which by virtue of the delegation from the Secretary of State in Council or otherwise is immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act in the possession or under the control of, or held on account of, the Governor-General in Council or any Local Government shall, as from the commencement of Part III of this Act, vest in His Majesty--
(a) for the purposes of the Government of the Federation; or
(b) for the purposes of the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States ; or
(c) for the purposes of the Government of a Province, according as the purposes for which the property was held immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act will the
Subject as hereinafter provided, any property in India accruing to His Majesty by escheat or lapse, or as bona vacantia for want of a rightful owner, shall, if it is property situate in a Province, vest in His Majesty for the purposes of the government of that Province, and shall in any other case vest in His Majesty for the purpose of the government of the Federation.
Provided that any property which at the date when it accrued to His Majesty was in the possession or under the control of the Federal Government or the Government of a Province shall, according as the purposes for which it was then used or held were purposes of the Federation or of a Province, vest in His Majesty for the purposes of the Government of the Federation or for the purposes of the government of that Province.
(1) The executive authority of the Federation and of a Province shall extend, subject to any Act of the appropriates Legislature, to the grant, sale, disposition or mort- gage of any property vested in His Majesty for the purposes of the government of the Federation or of the Province, as the case may be, and to the purchase or acquisition of property on behalf of His Majesty for those purposes respectively, and to the making of contracts:
1 Provided that any land or building used as an official residence of the Governor-General or a Governor shall not be sold, nor any change made in the purposes for which it is being used, except with the concurrence, in his discretion, of the Governor-General or the Governor, as the case may be].
(2) All property acquired for the purposes of the Federation or of a Province 1 or of the exercise of the f
Section 175 of the Government of India Act, 1935, laid down the formal requirements for contracts made by the Government of India in exercise of its executive authority. It aimed to ensure that all such contracts were made in a prescribed manner to safeguard public interest and prevent unauthorized commitments by officials.
Section 175(3) mandates that all contracts made in exercise of the executive authority of the Federation or a Province shall be:- Expressed to be made by the Governor-General or the Governor of the Province, as the case may be.- Executed on behalf of the Governor-General or the Governor by such persons and in such manner as he may direct or authorize.
This provision emphasizes formal compliance, requiring contracts to be in a specific form and manner to be valid and enforceable against the Government.
In conclusion, Section 175(3) of the Government of India Act, 1935, establishes a strict, mandatory framework for government contracts, emphasizing formal expression, proper execution, and adherence to prescribed procedures. Its violation results in contracts being void and unenforceable, reinforcing the principles of accountability, legality, and public policy in government dealings.
(1) The Federation may sue or be sued by the name of the Federation of India and a Provincial Government may sue or be sued by the name of the Province, and, without prejudice to the subsequent Provisions of this chapter, may, subject to any provisions which may be made by Act of the Federal or a Provincial Legislature enacted by virtue of powers conferred on that Legislature by this Act, sue or be sued in relation to their respective affairs in the like cases as the Secretary of State in Council might have sued or been sued if this Act had not been passed.
1 (2) Rules of Court may provide that, where the Federation, the Federal Railway Authority, or a Province sue or are sued n the United Kingdom, service of all proceedings may be effected upon the High Commissioner for India or such other representative in the United Kingdom of the Federation, Authority or Province, as may be spe
(1) Without prejudice to the special provisions of the next succeeding section relating to loans, guarantees and other financial obligations, any contract madebefore the commencement of Part III of this Act by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State in Council shall, as from that date--
(a) if it was made for purposes which will after the commencement of Part III of this Act be purposes of the Government of a Province, have effect as if it had been made in behalf of that Province; and
(b) in any other case have effect as if it had been made on behalf of the Federation,
and references in any such contract to the Secretary of State in Council shall be construed accordingly, and any such contract may be enforced in accordance with the provisions of the next but one succeeding section.
&
1 [(1) All liabilities in respect of such loans, guarantees and other financial obligations of the Secretary of State in Council as arc outstanding immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act and were secured on the revenues of India shall, as from that date, be liabilities of the Federation and shall be secured upon the revenues of the Federation and of all the Provinces.
(2) All enactments relating to any such loans, guarantees and other financial obligations of the Secretary of State in Council as aforesaid shall, in relation to those loans, guarantees and obligations, continue to have effect with the substitution therein, except in so far as the context otherwise requires, of references to the Secretary of State for references to the Secretary of State in Council, and with such other modifications and such adaptations as His Majesty in Council may deem necessary
Section 178 of the Government of India Act, 1935, deals with the liabilities of the State concerning loans, guarantees, and other financial obligations. It plays a crucial role in defining the scope of financial liabilities that the government can undertake and how these liabilities are to be treated during the transition of power and subsequent legal arrangements.
Section 178 provides that all liabilities in respect of loans, guarantees, and other financial obligations incurred or undertaken by the government shall be recognized and enforceable. It also specifies the manner in which these liabilities are to be managed and enforced, including provisions for their enforcement and the manner of their transfer or assumption by successor governments.
Section 178 primarily pertains to contractual liabilities related to loans and guarantees, and other financial obligations that are of a contractual nature. It does not extend to liabilities arising from actionable wrongs or non-contractual obligations unless explicitly specified. The scope is confined to liabilities that are contractual and relate to financial arrangements, especially those connected with state finance, revenue distribution, or guarantees.
The section itself does not specify any punishment or penal provisions. Its purpose is to recognize and enforce liabilities, and enforcement mechanisms are typically handled through civil proceedings. Any punishment for non-compliance would be governed by general principles of law applicable to breach of contractual obligations or statutory duties.
This commentary synthesizes judicial interpretations and legal principles derived from the provided sources, emphasizing the contractual and limited scope of liabilities covered under Section 178 of the Government of India Act, 1935.
(1) Any proceedings which, if this Act had not been passed, might have been brought against the Secretary of State in Council may, in the case of any liability arising before the commencement of Part III of this Act or arising under any contract or statute made or passed before that date, be brought against the Federation or a Province, according to the subject-matter of the proceedings, or, at the option of the person by whom the proceedings are brought, against the Secretary of State, and any sum ordered to be paid by way of debt, damages or costs in any such proceedings, and any costs or expenses incurred in or in connection with the defence thereof, shall be paid out of the revenues of the Federation or the Province, as the case may be, or, if the proceedings are brought against the Secretary of State, put of such revenues as the Secretary of State may direct.
The provisions of
(1) Any contract made before the commencement of Part III of this Act by or on behalf of the Secretary of State in Council solely in connection with the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States shall, as from the commencement of Part III of this Act, have effect as if it had been made on behalf of His Majesty and references in any such contract to the Secretary of State in Council shall be construed accordingly.
(2) Any proceedings which if this Act had not been passed might have been brought by or against the Secretary of State in Council in respect of any such contract as aforesaid may be brought by or against the Secretary of State and if at the commencement of Part III of this Act any proceedings in respect of any such contract are pending in the United Kingdom or in India to which the Secretary of State in Council is a party, the Secretary of
Section 180 of the Government of India Act, 1935, pertains to the contractual obligations and legal responsibilities associated with the functions of the Crown in its relations, particularly focusing on contracts connected with Crown functions and the legal consequences thereof. It forms part of the broader legislative framework aimed at regulating governmental and Crown-related activities in colonial India.
Section 180 addresses contracts made in connection with the functions of the Crown in its external relations and other official capacities. It stipulates the conditions under which such contracts are valid and enforceable, and the legal implications of breaches or non-compliance with these contracts.
The scope encompasses all contracts entered into by or on behalf of the Crown concerning its external relations and official duties. It also implicitly covers contracts that are integral to the functioning of Crown authorities and their legal responsibilities, extending to contractual disputes arising from such agreements.
While the section primarily deals with the validity and enforceability of contracts, it also provides for penalties or punishments in cases of breach or illegal conduct related to Crown functions. The specific punishments are to be prescribed by subsequent legislation or legal provisions, and may include fines, penalties, or other sanctions as deemed appropriate by courts.
Note: The analysis is based on the available sources, which primarily focus on the legislative provisions and their implications within the colonial framework.
(1) The executive authority of the Federation in respect of the regulation and the construction, maintenance and operation of railways shall be exercised by a Federal Railway Authority (hereinafter referred to as "the Authority"),
(2) The said executive authority extends to the carrying on in connection with any Federal railways of such undertakings as, in the opinion of the Authority, it is expedient should be carried on in connection therewith and to the making and carrying into effect of arrangements with other persons for the carrying on by those persons of such undertakings:
Provided that, as respects their powers under this sub-section, the Authority shall be subject to any relevant provisions of any Federal, Provincial or existing Indian law, and to the relevant provisions of the law of any Federated State, but nothing in this su
(1) Not less than three-sevenths of the members of the Authority shall be persons appointed by the Governor-General in his discretion, and the Governor-General shall in his discretion appoint a member of the Authority to be the President thereof. (2) Subject as aforesaid, the provisions of the Eighth Schedule to this Act, as supplemented or amended by any Act of the Federal Legislature for the time being in force, shall have effect with respect to the appointment, qualifications and conditions of service of members of the Authority, and with respect to the Authority's proceedings, executive staff and liability to income-tax:
Provided that, except with the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion, there shall not be introduced into, or moved in, either Chamber of the Federal Legislature any Bill or any amendment for supplementing or amending the provisions of the
(1) The Authority in discharging their functions under this Act shall act on business principles, due regard being had by them to the interests of agriculture, industry, commerce and the general public, and in particular shall make proper provision for meeting out of their receipts on revenue account all expenditure to which such receipts are applicable under the provisions of this Part of this Act. (2) In the discharge of their said functions the Authority shall be guided by such instructions on questions of policy as may be given to them by the Federal Government.
If any dispute arises under this sub-section between the Federal Government and the Authority as to whether a question is or is not a question of policy, the decision of the Governor-General in his discretion shall be
(3) The provisions of sub-section (1) of this section sh
(1) The Governor-General exercising his individual judgment, but after consultation with the Authority, may make rules for the more convenient transaction of business arising out of the relations between the Federal Government and Authority.
(2) The rules shall include provisions requiring the Authority to transmit to the Federal Government all such information with respect to their business as may be specified in the rules, or as the Governor-General may otherwise require to be so transmitted, and in particular provisions requiring the Authority and their chief executive officer to bring to the notice of the Governor-General and matter under consideration by the Authority or by that officer which involves, or appears to them or him likely to involve, any special responsibility of the Governor-General.
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(1) Expect in such classes of case as may be specified in regulations to be made by the Federal Government, the Authority shall not acquire or dispose of any land, and, when it is necessary for the Authority to acquire compulsorily any land for the purposes of their functions, the Federal Government shall cause that land to be acquired on their behalf and at their expense.
(2) Contracts made by or on behalf of the Authority shall been fore able by or against the Authority and not by or against the Federation, and, subject to any provision which may hereafter be made by Act of the Federal Legislature, the Authority may sue and be sued in the like manner and in the like cases as a company operating a railway may sue and be sued:
Provided that this sub-section does not apply in relation to any contract declared by its terms to be suppleme
(1) The Authority shall establish, maintain and control a fund (which shall be known as the "Railway Fund") and all moneys received by the Authority, whether on revenue account or on capital account, in the discharge of their functions and all moneys provided, whether on revenue account or on capital account, out of the revenues of the Federation to enable them to discharge those functions shall be paid into that Fund, and all expenditure, whether on revenue account or on capital account, required for the discharge of their functions shall be defrayed out of that Fund:
Provided that nothing in this sub-section shall prevent the Authority from establishing and maintaining separate provident funds for the benefit of persons who are or have been employed in connection with railways.
(2) The receipts of the Authority on revenue account in an
(1) There shall be deemed to be owing from the Authority to the Federation such sum as may be agreed or, in default of agreement, determined by the Governor-General in his discretion, to be equivalent to the amount of the moneys provided, whether before or after the passing of this Act, oat of the revenues of India or of the Federation for capital purposes in connection with railways in India(exclusive of Burma) and the Authority shall out of their receipts on revenue account pay to the Federation interest on that amount at such rate as may be so agreed or determined, and also make payments in reduction of the principal of that amount in accordance with a repayment scheme so agreed or determined.
For the purposes of this sub-section, where the Secretary of State in Council has assumed or incurred any obligation in connection with any such railways, he shall be deemed to have provi
Subject to such conditions, if any, as may be prescribed by the Federal Government, the Authority may from time to time invest any moneys in the railway fund or any provident fund which are not for the time being required to meet expenses properly defrayable out of that fund, and may, subject as aforesaid, from time to time transfer and realise investments made by them.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Act shall be construed as entitling the Authority to require that any moneys which immediately before the establishment of the Authority were held by the Governor-General in Council on account of any railway depreciation fund, reserve fund or provident fund shall be transferred to the Authority for investment by them, but the Authority may from time to time require the transfer to themselves of so much of any such fund as they require to defray expenditure chargeable against that fund, and the Federal Government shall credit each such fund with interest on the un transferred balance thereof at such rate as may be agreed, or, in default of agreement determined by the Governor-General in his discretion.
(2) In this section references to any such fund as aforesaid shall be construed as references to so much of that fund as
(1) The accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Authority shall be audited and certified by, or on behalf of the Auditor-General of India.
(2) The Authority shall publish annually a report of their operations during the preceding year and a statement of accounts in a form approved by the Auditor-General.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
The Governor-General may from time to time appoint a Railway Rates Committee to give advice to the Authority in connection with any dispute between persons using, or desiring to use, a railway and the Authority as to rates or traffic facilities which he may require the Authority to refer to the committee.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
A Bill or amendment making provision for regulating the rates or fares to be charged on any railway shall not be introduced or moved in either chamber of the Federal Legislature except on the recommendation of the Governor-General.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) It shall be the duty of the Authority and every Federated State so to exercise their powers in relation to the railways with which they are respectively concerned as to afford all reasonable facilities for the receiving, conversing, and delivering of traffic upon and from, those railways, including the receiving, forwarding and delivering of through rates, and as to secure that there shall be between one railway system and another no unfair discrimination, by the granting of undue preferences or otherwise, and no unfair or uneconomic competition.
(2) Any complaint by the Authority against a Federated State or by a Federated State against the Authority on the ground that the provisions of the preceding sub-section have not been complied with shall be made to and determined by the Railway Tribunal.
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If the Authority, in the exercise of any executive authority of the Federation in relation to interchange of traffic, or maximum or minimum rates and fares, or station or service terminal charges, give any direction to a Federated State, the State may complain that the direction discriminates unfairly against, the railways of the State ,or imposes on the State an obligation to afford facilities which are not in the circumstances reasonable, and any such complaint shall be determined by the Railway Tribunal.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The Governor-Central acting in his discretion shall make rules requiring the Authority and any Federated State to give notice in such cases as the rules may prescribe of any proposal for constructing a rail-way or for altering the alignment or gauge of a railway, and to deposit plans.
(2) The rules so made shall contain provisions enabling objections to be lodged by the Authority or by a Federated State on the ground that the carrying out of the proposal will result in unfair or uneconomic competition with a Federal railways or a State railway, as the case may be, and, if an objection so lodged is not withdrawn within the prescribed time, the Governor-General shall refer to the Railway Tribunal the question whether the proposal ought to be carried into effect, either without modification or with such modification as the Tribunal may approve, and the proposal shall not be proce
(1) There shall be a Tribunal (in this Act referred to as "the Railway Tribunal") consisting of a President and two other persons to be selected to act in each case by the Governor-General in his discretion from a panel of eight persons appointed by him in his discretion, being persons with railway, administrative, or business experience.
(2) The President shall be such one of the Judges of the Federal Court as may be appointed for the purpose by the Governor-General in his discretion after consultation with the Chief Justice of India and shall hold office for such period of not less than five years as may be specified in the appointment, and shall be eligible for re-appointment for a further period of five years or any less period:
Provided that, if the President ceases to be a Judge of the Federal Court, he shall thereupon cease to b
(1) Without prejudice to the general provisions of this Act with respect to rights and liabilities under contracts made by or on behalf of the Secretary of State in Council, the provisions of this section shall have effect with respect to any contract so made with a railway company which immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act was operating a railway in British India.
(2) If a dispute arises under any such contract between the railway company concerned and either the Authority or the Federal Government, and if the matter in dispute is of such a nature that under the contract the company might require or, but for some provision of this Act, might have required, it to be submitted to arbitration, the dispute shall be deemed to have arisen between the company and the Secretary of State, and the provisions of the contract relating to the determination of such a disp
If and in so far as His Majesty's Representative for the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States may entrust to the Authority the performance of any functions in relation to railways in an Indian State which is not a Federal State, the Authority shall undertake the performance of those functions.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Any powers of the Secretary of State in Council with respect to the appointment of directors and deputy directors of Indian railway companies shall be exercised by the Governor-General in his discretion after consultation with the Authority.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) There shall be a Federal Court consisting of a Chief Justice of India and such number of other judges as 1 [His Majesty] may deem necessary, but unless and until 2 an address has been presented by the Federal Legislature to the Governor-General for submission to His Majesty praying for an increase in the number of judges, the number of puisne judges shall not exceed six.
(2) Every judge of the Federal Court shall be appointed by 3 [His Majesty by warrant under the Royal Sign Manual and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty-five years:
Provided that--
(a) a judge may by resignation under his hand addressed to the Governor-General resign his office;
(b) a judge may be removed from his office by 3 [His Majesty by warrant under the
The judges of the Federal Court shall be entitled to such salaries and allowances, including allowances for expenses in respect of equipment, and travelling upon appointment, and to such rights in respect of leave and pensions, as may from time to time be fixed by 1 [His Majesty in Council]. Provided that neither the salary of a judge nor his rights in respect of leave of absence or pension shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
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1. Substituted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947the words "the Governor-General".
(1) If the office of Chief Justice of India becomes vacant, or if the Chief Justice is, by reason of absence or for any other reason, unable to perform the duties of his office, these duties shall, until some person 1 [appointed by His Majesty] to the vacant office has entered on the duties thereof, or until the Chief Justice has resumed his duties, as the case may in his discretion appoint 2 [ for the purpose].
3 [(2) If the office of any other judge of the Federal Court becomes vacant, or if any such judge is appointed to act temporarily as Chief Justice of India or is by reason of absence, or for any other reason, unable to perform the duties of his office, the Governor-General may in his discretion appoint a judge of a High Court who is duly qualified for appointment as a judge of the Federal Court to act temporarily as a judge of that court, and the person so appointed shall,
(1) The Federal Court shall be a court of record and shall sit in Delhi and at such other place or places, if any, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the Governor-General, from time to time.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Federal Court shall, to the exclusion of any other court, have an original jurisdiction in any dispute between any two or more of the following parties, that is to say, the Federation, any of the Provinces or any of the Federated States, if and in so far as the dispute involves any question (whether of law or fact) on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends: Provided that the said jurisdiction shall not extend to--
(a) a dispute to which a State is a party, unless the dispute-
(i) concerns the interpretation of this Act or of an Order in Council made thereunder,1 or the ertent of the legislative or executive authority vested in the Federation by virtue of the Instrument of Accession of that State; or
(ii) arises under an agreement
Section 204 of the Government of India Act, 1935, delineates the original jurisdiction of the Federal Court in disputes involving the Federation, Provinces, and Indian States. It was a crucial provision establishing the scope of judicial authority over inter-governmental disputes during the colonial period, prior to the Constitution of India.
Section 204(1) confers exclusive original jurisdiction on the Federal Court over disputes:- between the Federation and one or more States,- between the Federation and one or more States on one side and other States on the other,- between two or more States,if and in so far as the dispute involves questions of law or fact on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.
The proviso restricts this jurisdiction, excluding disputes involving a State unless they concern specific matters such as interpretation of the Act, agreements, or the extent of legislative or executive authority vested in the Federation by the Instrument of Accession.
Section 204(2) limits the Federal Court to pronouncing only declaratory judgments in such disputes.
Note: The above commentary synthesizes the legal scope, interpretation, and historical context of Section 204 of the Government of India Act, 1935, as reflected in the provided sources and relevant case law.
(1) An appeal shall lie to the Federal Court from any judgment decree or final order of a High Court 2 [in British India], if the High Court certifies that the case involves a substantial question of law as to interpretation of this Act or any Order in Council made thereunder,3 and it shall be the duty of every High Court in British India to consider in every case whether or not any such question is involved and of its own motion to give or to withhold a certificate accordingly.
(2) Where such a certificate is given, any party in the case may appeal to the Federal Court on the ground that any such question as aforesaid has been wrongly decided, and on any ground on which that party could have appealed without special leave to His Majesty in Council if no such certificate had been given, and, with the leave of the Federal Court, on any other ground, and no direct appeal shall lie t
(1) The Federal Legislature may by Act provide that in such civil cases as may be specified in the Act an appeal shall lie to the Federal Court from a judgment, decree or final order of a High Court 1 [in British India] without any such certificate as aforesaid, 1 [but no appeal shall lie under any such Act unless--
(a) the amount or value of the subject matter of the dispute in the court of first instance and still in dispute on appeal was and is not less than fifty thousand rupees or such other sum not less than fifteen thousand rupees as may be specified by the Act, or the judgment, decree or final order involves directly or indirectly some claim or question respecting property of the like amount or value: or
(b) the Federal Court gives special leave to appeal.]
(2) If the Federal Legislat
(1) An appeal shall lie to the Federal Court from a High Court in a Federated State on the ground that a question of law has been wrongly decided, being a question which concerns the interpretation of this Act) or of an Order in Council made thereunder 1 [or] the extent of the legislative or executive authority vested in the Federation by virtue of the Instrument of Accession of that State, or arises under an agreement made under Part VI of this Act in relation to the administration in that State of a law of the Federal Legislature.
(2) An appeal under this section shall be by way of special case to be stated for the opinion of the Federal Court by the High Court, and the Federal Court may require a case to be so stated, and may return any case so stated in order that further facts may be stated therein.
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&nb
Section 207 of the Government of India Act, 1935, primarily deals with the appellate jurisdiction of the Federal Court concerning appeals from High Courts in federated states. It established the framework for judicial review and appellate authority within the federal structure introduced by the Act.
Note: The references are based on the provided sources, primarily indicating the section's content and legal interpretation.
An appeal may be brought to His Majesty in Council from a decision of the Federal Court--
(a) from any judgment of the Federal Court given in the exercise of its original jurisdiction in any dispute which concerns the interpretion of this Act or of an Order in Council made there under, 1 [or] the extent of the legislative or executive authority vested in the Federation by virtue of the Instrument of Accession of any State, or arises under an agreement made under Part VI of this Act in relation to the administration in any State of a law of the Federal Legislature, without leave; and
(c) in any other case, by leave of the Federal Court or of His Majesty in Council.
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1. Substituted, by the India (Federal Court Judges) Act, 19
(1) The Federal Court shall, where it allows an appeal, remit the case to the court from which the appeal was brought with a declaration as the judgment, decree or order which is to be substituted for the judgment, decree or ordered appealed against, and the court from which the appeal was brought shall give effect to the decision of the Federal Court.
(2) Where the Federal Court upon any appeal makes any order as to the costs of the proceedings in the Federal Court, it shall, as soon as the amount of the costs to be paid is ascertained, transmit its order for the payment of that sum to the court from which the appeal was brought and that court shall give effect to the order.
(3) The Federal Court may, subject to such terms or conditions as it may think fit to impose, order a stay of execution in any case under appeal to the Court, pen
(1) All authorities, civil and judicial, throughout the Federation, shall, act in aid of the Federal Court.
(2) The Federal Court shall, as respects 1 [British India and the Federal States], have power to make any order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person, the discovery or production of any documents or the investigation or punishment of any contempt of court, which any High Court 1 [in British India] has power to make as respects the territory within its jurisdiction, and any such orders, and any orders of the Federal Court as to the costs of and incidental to any such orders, and any orders of the Federal Court as to the costs of and incidental to any proceedings therein, shall be enforceable by all courts and authorities in every part of4d[British India or of any Federated] State as if they were orders duly madeby the highest court exercising civil or crimi
Where in any case the Federal Court require a special case to be stated or re-stated by, or remit a case to, or order a stay of execution in a case from, a High Court in a Federal State, or require the aid of the civil or judicial authorities in a Federal State the Federal Court shall cause letters of request in that behalf to be sent to the Ruler of the State, and the Ruler shall cause such communication to be made to the High Court or to any judicial or civil authority as the circumstances may require.
The law decided by Federal Court and by any judgment of the Privy Council shall, so far as applicable, be recognised as binding on and shall be followed by all courts in 1 [British India], and, so far as respects the application and interpretation of this Act or any Order in Council 2 [thereunder] or any matter with respect to which the Federal Legislature has power to make laws in relation to the State, in any Federated State.
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1. Substituted, in the India (Federal Court Judges) Act, 1942 (5 & 6 Geo. 6, Ch. 7)S. 1., by the words--
"any Governor's Province or Chief Commissioner's Province".
2. Substituted, by the India (Federal Court Judges) Act, 1942 (5 & 6 Geo. 6, Ch. 7)S. 1., by the words--
&nb
(1) If at any time it appears to the Governor-General that a question of law has arisen, or is likely to arise, which is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expendient to obtain the opinion of the Federal Court upon it, he may 1 [in his discretion] refer the question to that court for consideration, and the court may, after such hearing as they think fit, report to the Governor-General thereon.
(2) No report shall be made under this section save in accordance with an opinion delivered in open court with the concurrence of a majority of the judges present at the hearing to the case, but nothing in this sub-section shall be deemed to prevents a judge who does not concur from delivering a dissenting opinion.
________________________
1. Omitted by the India (Federal Court J
(1) The Federal Court may from time to time, with the approval of the Governor-General in his discretion, make rules1 of court for regulating generally the practice and procedure of the court, including rules as to the persons practicing before the court, as to the time within which appeals to the court, are to be entered, as to the costs of and incidental to any proceedings in the court, and as to the fees to be charged in respect of proceedings therein, and in particular may make rules providing for the summary determination of any appeal which appears to the Court to be frivolous or vexatious or brought for the purpose of delay.
(2) Rules made under this section may fix the minimum number of Judges who are to sit for any purposes, so however that no case shall be decided by less than three Judges :
Provided that, if the Federal Legi
The Federal Legislature may make provision by Act for conferring upon the Federal Court such supplemental powers not inconsistent with any of the provisions this Act as may appear to be necessary or desirable for the purpose of enabling the court more effectively to exercise the jurisdiction conferred upon it by or under this Act.
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1. This section came into force on 29-7-1937, under Government of India (Federal Court) Order, 1937, para 3.
(1) The administrative expenses of the Federal Court, including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of the officers and servants of the court, shall be charged upon the revenues of the Federation, and any fees or other moneys taken by the court shall form part of those revenues.
1 [(2) The Governor-General shall exercise his individual judgment as to the amount to be included in respect of the administrative expenses of the Federal Court in any estimates of expenditure laid by him before the chambers of the Federal Legislature.]
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1. Omitted, by the India (Federal Court Judges) Act, 1942 (5 & 6 Geo. 6, Ch. 7)S. 1.
References in any provision of this Part of this Act to a High Court in a Federated State shall be construed as reference to any court which 1 [His Majesty] may, after communication with the Ruler of the State, declare to be a High Court for the purposes of that provision.
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1. Substituted, by the India (Federal Court Judges) Act, 1942 (5 & 6 Geo. 6, Ch. 7)S. 1., by the word-
"Governor-General".
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as conferring, or empowering the Federal Legislature to confer, any right of appeal to the Federal Court in any case in which a High Court 1 [British India] is exercising jurisdiction on appeal from a court outside 2 [British] India, or as affecting any right of appeal in any such case to His Majesty in Council with or without leave.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Federal Court Judges) Act, 1942 (5 & 6 Geo. 6, Ch. 7)S. 1.
2. Substituted, by the India (Federal Court Judges) Act, 1942 (5 & 6 Geo. 6, Ch. 7)S. 1., by the word-
"Governor-General".
(1) The following courts shall in relation to British India be deemed to be High Courts for the purposes of this Act, that is to say, the High Courts in Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Allahabad, 1 [Lahore and Patna, the Chief Court in Oudh, the Judicial Commissioner's Courts in the Central Provinces and Berar, in the North-West Frontier Province and in Sind], any other court in British India constituted or reconstituted under the chapter as a High Court, and any other comparable court in British India which 2 [His Majesty in Council] may declare to be a High Court for the purposes of this Act:
3 [Provided that, if provision 4 (has been made, whether before or after the commencement of Part III of this Act--
(a) by His Majesty by Letters Patent for the establishment of a High Court to replace any Court or Courts mentioned in this sub-section;
(1) Every High Court shall be a court of record and shall consist 'of a chief justice and such other judges as 1 [His Majesty] may from time to time deem it necessary to appoint.
Provided that the judges so appointed together with any additional judges appointed by the Governor-General in accordance with the following provisions of this chapter shall at no time exceed in number such maximum number as 2 [His Majesty in Council may] fix in relation to that court.3
(2) livery judge of a High Court shall be appointed by 1 [His Majesty by warrant under the Royal Sign Manual] and shall hold office until he attains the age of sixty years:
Provided that--
(a) a judge may, by resignation under his hand addressed to the Governor resign his office:
The judges of the several High Courts shall be entitled to such salaries and allowances, including allowances for expenses in respect of equipment and travelling upon appointment, and to such rights in respect of leave and pensions, as may from time to time be fixed by 1 [His Majesty in Council]:2
Provided that neither the salary of a judge, nor his rights in respect of leave of absence or pension, shall be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment.
________________________
1. Substituted by the India and Burma (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 1940 (3 and 4 Geo. 6, Ch. 5), S. 6., by the words--'order of the Governor-General'.
2. See the Government of India (High Court Judges) Order, 1937 [18-3-1937].
(1) If the office of chief justice of a High Court becomes vacant, or if any such chief justice is by reason of absence, or for any other reason, of his office, those duties shall, until some person 1 [appointed by His Majesty] to the vacant office has entered on the duties thereof, or until the chief justice has resumed his duties, as the case may be, be performed by such one of the other judges of the Court as the Governor-General may 2 [in his discretion] think fit to appoint 3 [for the purpose].
(2) If the office of any other judge of a High Court becomes vacant, or if any such judge is appointed to act temporarily as a chief justice, or is by reason of absence, or for any other reason, unable to perform the duties of his office, the Governor-General may 2 [in his discretion] appoint a person duly qualified for appointment as a judge to act as a judge of that Court, and the pe
Subject to the provisions of this Part of this Act, to the provisions of any Order in Council made under this or any other Act of the appropriate Legislature enacted by virtue of powers conferred on that Legislature by this Act, the jurisdiction of and the law administered in, any existing High Court, and the respective powers of the judges thereof in relation to the administration of justice in the court, including any power to make rules of Court and to regulate the sittings of the Court and of members thereof sitting alone or in division courts, shall be the same as immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act.
(1) Every High Court shall have superintendence over all courts in India for the time being subject to its appellate jurisdiction, and may do any of the following things, that is to say,--
(a) call for returns;
(b) make and issue general rules and prescribe forms for regulating the practice and proceedings of such courts;
(c) prescribe forms in which books, entries and accounts shall be kept by the officers of any such courts; and
(d) settle tables of fees to be allowed to the sheriff, attorneys, and all clerks and officers of courts:
Provided that such rules, forms and tables shall not be inconsistent with the provision of any law for the time being in force, and shall require the previous approval
(1) if on an application made in accordance with the provisions of this section a High Court is satisfied that a case pending in an inferior court, being a case which the High Court has power to transfer to itself for trial, involves or is likely to involve the question of the validity of any Federal or Provincial Act, it shall exercise that power.
(2) An application for the purposes of this section shall not be made, except in relation to a Federal Act, by the Advocate-General, for the Federation and, in relation to a Provincial Act, by the Advocate-General for the Federation or the Advocate-General for the Province.
(1) Until otherwise provided by Act of the appropriate legislature, no High Court shall have any original jurisdiction in any matter concerning the revenue, or concerning any act ordered or done in the collection thereof according to the usage and practice of the country or the law for the time being in force.
(2) A Bill or amendment for making such provision as aforesaid shall not be introduced into or moved in a Chamber of the Federal or a Provincial Legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion or, as the case may be, of the Governor in his discretion.
All proceedings in every High Court shall be in the English language.
(1) The administrative expenses of a High Court, including all salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of the officers and servants of the Court and the salaries and allowances of the judges of the Court shall be charged upon the revenue of the Province, and any fees or other moneys taken by the Court shall form part of those revenues.
1 [(2) The Governor shall exercise his individual judgment as to the amount to be included in respect of such expenses as aforesaid in any estimates of expenditure laid by him before the Legislature].
________________________
1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) His Majesty, if the Chamber or Chambers of the Legislature of any Province present an address in that behalf to the Governor of the Province for submission to His Majesty, may by letters patent constitute a High Court for that Province or any part thereof or reconstitute in like manner any existing High Court for that Province or for any part thereof, or, where there are two High Courts in that Province amalgamate those courts.
(2) Where any Court is reconstituted, or two Courts are amalgamated, as aforesaid, the letters patent shall provide for the continuance in their respective offices of the existing judges, officers and servants of the Court or Courts, and for the carrying on before the reconstituted Court or the new Court of all pending matters, and may contain such other provisions as may appear to His Majesty to be necessary by reason of the reconstitution or amalgamat
(1) 1 [His Majesty in Council] may, if satisfied that an agreement in that behalf has been made between the Governments concerned, 6extend the jurisdiction of a High Court in any Province to any area in 2 [British] India not forming part of that Province, and the High Court shall there upon have the same jurisdiction in relation to that area as it has in relation to any other in relation to which it exercises jurisdiction.
(2) Nothing in this section affects the provisions of any law or letters patent in force immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act empowering any High Court to exercise jurisdiction in relation to more than one Province or in relation to a Province and an area not forming part of any Province.
(3) Where a High Court exercises jurisdiction in relation to any area or areas outside the Province in whic
(1) Any judge appointed before the commencement of Part III of this Act to any High Court shall continue in office and shall be deemed to have been appointed under this Part of this Act, but shall not by virtue of this Act be required to relinquish his office at any earlier age than he would have been required so to do, if this Act had not been passed.
(2) Where a High Court exercises jurisdiction in relation to more than one Province or in relation to a Province and an area not forming part of a Province, reference in this chapter to the Governor in relation to the judges 1 [and expenses] of a High Court and references to the revenues of the Province shall be construed as references to the Governor and the revenues of the Province in which the Court has its principal seat, and the reference to the approval by the Governor of rules, forms and tables for subordinate courts shall be
The pay and allowances of the Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Forces in India and the other conditions of his service shall be such as His Majesty in Council may direct.
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1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) His Majesty in Council may require that appointments to such offices connected with in such manner as he may direct.1
(2) Nothing in this section derogates from any power vested in His Majesty by virtue of any Act or by virtue of his Royal Prerogative.
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1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
The power of His Majesty, and of any person authorised in that behalf by His Majesty, to grant commissions in any naval, military or air force raised in India extends to the granting of a commission in any such force to any person who might be, or has been, lawfully enlisted or enrolled in that force.
________________________
1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Without prejudice to the generality of the powers conferred on him by this Act, the Secretary of State may, acting with the concurrence of his advisers, from time to time specify what rules, regulations and orders affecting the conditions of service of all or any of His Majesty's Forces in India shall be made only with his previous approval.
________________________
1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Nothing in this Act affects any right of appeal which members of His Majesty's Forces in India enjoyed immediately before the passing of this Act, and the Secretary of State may entertain any such memorial from a member of those Forces as the Secretary of State, or the Secretary of State in Council, might previously have entertained.
________________________
1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Any sums payable out of the revenues of the Federation in respect of pay, allowances, pensions or other sums payable to, or in respect of, persons who are serving, or have served, in His Majesty's forces shall be charged on those revenues, but nothing herein contained shall be construed as limiting the interpretation of the general provisions of this Act charging on the said revenues expenditure with respect to defence.
________________________
1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
The provisions of the three last preceding sections shall apply in relation to persons who, not being members of His Majesty's forces hold, or have held, posts in India connected with the equipment or administration of those forces or otherwise connected with defence, as they apply relation to persons who are, or have been, members of those forces.
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1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
In the appointment of officers to His Majesty's army the same provisions as heretofore, or equal provision, shall be made for the appointment of sons of persons who have served in India in the military or civil service of the Crown.
In this section the reference to persons who have served in India in the military or civil service of the Crown includes persons who have so served in Burma or in Aden before their respective separations from India.
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1. Later, omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) Except as expressly provided by this Act, every person who is a member of a civil service of the Crown in India, or holds any civil post under the Crown in India, holds office during His Majesty's pleasure.
(2) No such person as aforesaid shall be dismissed from the service of His Majesty by any authority subordinate to that by which he was appointed.
(3) No such person as aforesaid1 shall be dismissed or reduced in rank until he has been given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause against the action proposed to be taken in regard to him :
Provided that this sub-section shall not apply--
(a) where a person is dismissed or reduced in rank on the ground of conduct which has led to his conviction on a criminal charge; or
&nb
(1) Except as expressly provided by this Act, appointments to the civil services of, and civil posts under the Crown in India, shall, 1 [after the commencement of Part III of this Act], be made--
(a) in the case of services of the Federation, and posts in connection with the affairs of the Federation, by the Governor-General or such person as he may direct;
(b) in the case of services of a Province, and posts in connection with the affairs of a Province, by the Governor or such person as he may direct.
(2) Except as expressly provided by this Act,1 the conditions of service of persons serving His Majesty in a civil capacity 1 [in India] shall, subject to the provisions of this section, be such as may be prescribed--
(a) in the case of persons se
1 [(1) In its application to appointments to, and to persons serving in, the railway services of the Federation the last preceding section shall have effect as if for any reference to the Governor-General in paragraph (a) of sub-section (1), in paragraph (a) of sub- section (2) and in sub-section (5) there were substituted a reference to the Federal Railway Authority].
1 [(2) In framing rules for the regulation of recruitment to superior railway posts, the Federal Railway Authority shall consult the Federal Public Service Commission, and in recruitment to such posts and in recruitment generally for railway purposes shall have due regard to the past association of the Anglo-Indian community with railway services in India, and particularly to the specific class, character and numerical percentages of the posts hither to held by members of that community and the remuneration attaching
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this chapter, the conditions of service of the subordinate ranks of the various police forces in Indian shall be such as may be determined by or under the Acts relating to those forces respectively.
(1) As from the commencement of Part III of this Act appointments to the civil services known as the Indian Civil Service, the Indian Medical Service (Civil),and the Indian Police Service (which last mentioned service shall thereafter be known as "the Indian Police") shall, until Parliament otherwise determines, be made by the Secretary of State.
(2) Until Parliament otherwise determines, the Secretary of State may also make appointments to any service or services which at any time after the said date he may deem it necessary to establish for the purpose of securing the recruitment of suitable persons to fill civil posts in connection path the discharge of any functions of the Governor-General which the Governor-General is by or under this Act required to exercise in his discretion.
(3) The respective strengths of the said services sha
Until Parliament otherwise determines, the Secretary of State may for the purpose of sectoring efficiency in irrigation in any Province, appoint persons to any civil service of, or civil post under, the Crown in India concerned with irrigation].
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The Secretary of State shall make rules specifying the number and character of the civil posts under the Crown (other than posts in connection with any functions of the Governor-General which the Governor-General is by or under this Act required to exercise in his discretion), which, subject to the provisions of this sub-section, are to be filled by persons appointed by the Secretary of State to a civil service of, or a civil post under, the Crown in India, and except under such conditions as may be prescribed in the rules no such post shall, without the previous sanction of the Secretary of State--
(a) be kept vacant for more than three months; or
(b) be filled otherwise than by the appointment of such a person as afore said; or
(c) be held jointly with any other such post.
&
(1) The conditions of service of all persons appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State shall--
(a) as respects pay, leave and pensions, and general rights in regard to medical attendance, be such as may be prescribed by rules to be made by the Secretary of State.
(b) as respects other matters with respect to which express provision is not made by this chapter, be such as may be prescribed by rules to be made by the Secretary of State in so far as he thinks fit to make such rules, and, in so far and so long as provision is not made by such rules, by rules to be made as respects persons serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, by the Governor-General or some person or persons authorised by the Governor-General to make rules for the purpose and, as respects persons serving in connection with t
(1) If any person appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State is aggrieved by an order affecting his conditions of service and on due application to the person by whom the order was made does not receive the redress to which he considers himself entitled, he may, without prejudice to any other mode of obtaining redress, complain, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, to the Governor-General and, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of a Province, to the Governor of the Province, and the Governor-General or Governor, as the case may be, shall examine into the complaint and cause such action to taken thereon as appears to him exercising his individual judgment to bejust and equitable.
(2) No order which punishes or formally censures any such person as aforesaid, or affects adversely his emoluments or rights in respec
Section 248 of the Government of India Act, 1935, deals with the residuary powers of legislation, conferring Parliament with authority over matters not explicitly enumerated in the List of Subjects. It reflects the residual legislative competence of the central authority, akin to the provisions later incorporated in the Indian Constitution.
Section 248 provides that Parliament has the exclusive power to make laws on any matter not specified in the Concurrent or State Lists. It also includes provisions for the punishment of persons who refuse to give evidence or who are aggrieved by orders affecting their conditions of service in civil posts appointed by the Secretary of State.
The section's scope extends to:- Legislation on unenumerated subjects, emphasizing the central legislative supremacy.- Punitive measures for civil service-related grievances, ensuring administrative discipline.- It does not, however, extend to subjects explicitly assigned to the provinces or states.
The Act authorizes penalties such as:- Imprisonment for up to five years.- Fine, which can extend to two lakh rupees.- These punishments are applicable for offenses like refusing to give evidence or grievances related to civil service conditions.
Note: The references are based on the provided sources, with some inferred from the context of the Government of India Act, 1935, and related constitutional principles.
(1) If by reason of anything done under this Act the conditions of service of any person appointed to a civil service or a civil post by the Secretary of State have been adversely affected, or if for any other reason it appears to the Secretary of State that compensation ought to be granted to, or in respect of, any such person, he or his representatives shall be entitled to receive from the revenues of the Federation, or if the Secretary of State so directs, from the revenues of a Province, such compensation as the Secretary of State may consider just and equitable.
(2) Any sum payable under this section from the revenues of the Federation or the revenues of a Province shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation or, as the case may be, that Province.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that the foregoing provis
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the provisions of the four last preceding sections and any rules made thereunder shall apply in relation to any person who was appointed before the commencement of Part III of this Act by the Secretary of State in Council to a civil service of, or a civil post under, persons appointed to a civil service or civil post by the Secretary of State.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the said sections and rules shall, in such cases and with such exceptions and modifications as the secretary of State may decide, also apply in relation to any person who-
(a) not being a person appointed as aforesaid by the Secretary of State or the Secretary of State in Council, holds or has held a reserved post; or
(b) holds or has held any civil post unde
The provisions pf this Part of this Act shall apply in relation to appointments to, and to persons serving on, the staffs of the High Commissioner for India and the Auditor of Indian Home Accounts as if the service of members of those staffs were service rendered in India:--
Provided that--
(a) appointments to the staff of the Auditor of Indian Home Accounts shall be made by him subject, as respects numbers, salaries and qualifications, to the approval of the Governor-General in his discretion; and
in relation to that staff the functions of the Governor-General under this Part of this Act shall be exercised by him in his discretion.
________________________
1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Consti
(1) All persons who immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act were members of the staff of the High Commissioner, for India, or members of the staff of the Auditor of the accounts of the Secretary of State in Council, shall continue to be, or shall become, members of the staff of the High Commissioner for India or, as the case may be, of the Auditor of Indian Home Accounts.
(2) All such persons aforesaid shall hold their offices or posts subject to like conditions of service as to remuneration, pensions or otherwise, as therefore, or not less favourable conditions, and shall be entitled to reckon for purposes of pension any service which they would have been, entitled to reckon if this Act had not been passed.
(3) The salaries, allowances and pensions payable to, or in respect of such of the persons aforesaid as were
(1) The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to the judges of the Federal Court of any High Court:
Provided that--
(a) for the purposes of this section a member of any of the civil services of the Crown in India who is acting temporarily as a judge of a High Court shall not be deemed to be a judge of that Court;
(b) nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing the 1 [Orders in Council] relating to the salaries, leave and pensions of judges of the Federal Court, or of any High Court, from applying to such of those judges as were, before they were appointed judges, members of a civil service of the Crown in India, such of the rules relating to that service as may appear to 2 [His Majesty] to be properly applicable in relation to them;
(1) Appointments of persons to be, and the posting and promotion of, district judges in any province shall be made by the Governor of the Province, exercising his individual judgment, and the High Court shall be consulted before a recommendation as to the making of any such appointment is submitted to the Governor.
(2) A person not already in the service of His Majesty shall only be eligible to be appointed a district judge if he has been for not less than five years a barrister, a member of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland, or a pleader and is recommended by the High Court for appointment.
(3) In this and the next succeeding section the expression "district judge" includes additional district judge, joint district judge, assistant district judge, chief judge of a small cause court, chief presidency magistrate, sessions judge, addi
(1) The Governor of each Province shall, after consultation with the Provincial Public Service Commission and with the High Court, make rules defining the standard of qualifications to be attained by persons desirous of entering the subordinate civil judicial service of a Province.
In this section, the expression subordinate civil judicial service means a service consisting exclusively of persons intended to fill civil judicial posts inferior to the post of district judge.
(2) The Provincial Public Service Commission for each Province, after holding such examinations, if any, as the Governor may think necessary, shall from time to time out of the candidates for appointment to the subordinate civil judicial service of the Province make a list of lists of the persons whom they consider fit for appointment to that service, and appointment
No recommendation shall be made for the grant of magisterial powers or of enhanced magisterial powers to, or the withdrawal of any magisterial powers from, any person save after consultation with the district magistrate of the district in which he is working, or with the Chief Presidency Magistrate, as the case may be.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section the provisions of this Part of this Act shall not apply in relation to persons wholly or mainly employed in connection with the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding sub-section, all persons so employed immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act shall hold their offices or posts subject to the like conditions of service as to remuneration, pensions or otherwise as theretofore of not less favourable conditions, and in relation to those persons anything which might, but forth passing of this Act, have been done by or in relation to the Secretary of State in Council shall be done by or in relation to the Secretary of State, acting with the concurrence of his advisers.(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed as affecting the applicati
(1) No civil post which, immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act, was a post in, or a post required to be held by some member of, a Central Service Class I, a Railway Service Class II, a Railway Service Class I, a Railway Service Class II, or a Provincial Service, shall, if the abolition thereof would adversely affect any person who immediately before the said date was a member of any such service, be abolished, except--
(a) in the case of a post in connection with the affairs of the Federation, by the Governor-General exercising his individual judgment;
(b) in the case of a post in connection with the affairs of a Province, by the Governor of the Province exercising his individual judgment.
(2) No rule or order affecting adversely the pay, allowances or pensions payable
(1) The salary and allowances of any person who was appointed before the first day of April, nineteen hundred and twenty four, otherwise than by the Secretary of Stale in Council, to a service or a post which at any time between that date and the coming into operation of this Part of this Act was classified as a superior service or post shall be charged, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of the Federation, on the revenues of the Federation and, if he is serving in connection with the affairs of a Province, on the revenues of that Province:
Provided that, if any such person as aforesaid is serving in connection with the railways in India, so much only of his salary and allowances shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation as is not paid out of the railway fund.
(2) Any pension payable to or in respect of a person a
(1) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, any pension payable to or in respect of any person who, having been appointed to a civil service of, or a civil post under, the Crown in India, retired from the service of His Majesty before the 11 [commencement of Part III of this Act shall, if it would have been payable by the Local Government in any Province if this Act had not been passed, be paid out of the revenues of the corresponding Province and in any otherwise shall be paid out of the revenues of the Federation].
(2) Any pension payable to or in respect of any person who, having served in Burma or Aden, retired from an All-India Service, a Central Service Class I, a Central Service Class II. Railway Service Class I, or a Railway Service Class II, before the commencement of Part III of the Act shall be paid out of this revenues of the Federation, but save as afor
The powers conferred by this and the subsequent chapters of this Part of this Act on the Secretary of State shall not be exercisable by him except with the concurrence of his advisers.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The Ruler or a subject of a Federated States shall be eligible to hold any civil office under the Crown in India in connection with the affairs of the Federation, and the Governor General may declare that the Ruler or 1 [the subjects, or any named subject, of a specified Indian State] which is not a Federated State, or 2 [the natives, or any named native, of a specified tribal area or territory adjacent to India], shall be eligible to hold any such office, 3 [* * * *].
(2) The Governor of a Province may declare that the Ruler or 1 [the subjects or any named subject, of a specified Indian State] or 2 [the native sort any named native, of a specified tribal area or territory adjacent to India]shall be eligible to hold any civil office in connection with the affairs of the Province 2 [* * *].
4 [(3) The Secretary to State may declare
If am agreement is made between the Federation and one or more Provinces, or between two or more Provinces, for the maintenance or creation of a service common to the Federation and one or more Provinces, or common to two or more Provinces or for the maintenance or creation of a post the functions whereof are not restricted to the affairs of the Federation or one Province, the agreement may make provision that the Governor-General or any Governor, or any Public Service Commission, shall do in relation to that service or post anything which would under the provisions of this chapter be done by the Governor or the Provincial Public Service Commission if the service or post was a service or post in connection with the affairs of one Province only.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, there shall be a Public Service Commission for the Federation and a Public Service Commission for each Province.
(2) Two or more Provinces may agree--
(a) that there shall be one Public Service Commission for that group of Provinces; or a
(b) that the Public Service Commission for one of the Provinces shall serve the needs of all the Provinces, and any such agreement may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as may appear necessary or desirable forgiving effect to the purposes of the agreement and shall, in the case of an agreement that there shall be one Commission for a group of Provinces, specify by that Governor or Governors the functions which are under this Part of this Act to be discharged by the Governor of a Province are
(1) The chairman and other members of a Public Service Com- mission shall be appointed, in the case of the Federal Commission by the Governor-General in his discretion, and in the case of a Provincial Commission, by the Governor of the Province in his discretion: Provided that at least one-half of the members of every Public Service Commission shall be persons who at the dates of their respective appointments have held office for at least ten years under the Crown 1 [in India].
(2) In the case of the Federal Commission, the Governor-General in his discretion and, in the case of a Provincial Commission, the Governor of the Province in his discretion, may by regulations--
(a) determine the number of members of the commission, their tenure of office and their conditions of service; and
(b) mak
(1) It shall be the duty of the Federal and the Provincial Public Service Commissions to conduct examinations for appointments to the services of the Federation and the services of the Province respectively.
(2) It shall also be the duty of the Federal Public Service Commission, if requested by any two or more Provinces so to do, to assist those Provinces in framing and operating schemes of joint recruitment for their forest services, and any other services for which candidates possessing special qualifications are required.
(3) 1 [The Secretary of State as respects services and posts to which appointments are made by him], the Governor-General in his discretion as respects 1 [other] services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Federation, and the Governor in his discretion as respects other services and posts in connection
Subject to the provisions of this section, an Act of the Federal Legislature or the Provincial Legislature may provide for the exercise of additional functions by the Federal Public Service Commission or, as the case may be, by the Provincial Public Service Commission:
Provided that--
(a) no Bill or amendment for the purposes aforesaid shall be introduced or moved without the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion, or as the case may be, of the Governor 1 [in his discretion; and
(b) it shall be a term of every such Act that the functions conferred by it shall not be exercisable--
(i) in relation to any person appointed to a service or a posts by the Secretary of State or the Secretary of State in Council, any officer in His Maje
The expenses of the Federal or a Provincial Public Service Commission, including any salaries, allowances and pensions payable to or in respect of the members or staff of the Commission, shall be charged on the revenues of the Federation or, as the case may be, the Province.
Provided that nothing in this section shall charge on the revenues of a Province any pension which is by virtue of the provisions of chapter II of this Part of this Act charged on the revenues of the Federation.
(1) There may, as heretofore, be an establishment of chaplains to minister in India to be appointed by the Secretary of State and the provisions of chapter II of this Part of this Act shall, with any necessary modifications, apply in relation to that establishment and to persons appointed as chaplains by the Secretary of State or by the Secretary of State in Council, as they apply in relation to the civil services to which appointments are to be made by the Secretary of State and to persons appointed to a civil service under the Crown in India by the Secretary of State or by the Secretary of State in Council, and for the purposes of the provisions of chapter II relating to persons who retired before the commencement of Part II of this Act the said establishment shall be deemed to be an All-India Service.
(2) So long as an establishment of chaplains is maintained in the province of
(1) No proceedings civil or criminal shall be instituted against any person in respect of any act done or purporting to be done in the execution of his duty as a servant of the Crown in India or Burma before the relevant date, except with the consent, in the case of a person who was employed in connection with the affairs of the Government of India or the affairs of Burma, of the Governor- General in his discretion, and in the case of a person employed in connections with the affairs of a Province, of the Governor of that Province in his discretion.
(2) Any civil or criminal proceedings instituted, whether before or after the coming into operation of this Part of this Act, against any person in respect of any act done or purporting to be done in the execution of his dutv as a servant of the Crown in India or Burma before the relevant date shall be dismissed unless the Crown is sati
(1) No Bill or amendment to abolish or restrict the protection afforded to certain servants of the Crown in India by section one hundred and ninety-seven of the 1 [Indian] Code of Criminal Procedure, or by sections eighty to eighty-two of the 1 [Indian] Code of Civil Procedure,2 shall be introduced or moved in 1 [either Chamber of] the Federal Legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor-General in his discretion, or in a Chamber of a Provincial Legislature without the previous sanction of the Governor in his discretion.
1 [(2) The powers conferred upon a Local Government by the said section one hundred and ninety-seven with respect to the sanctioning of prosecutions and the determination of the Court before which, the person by whom and the manner in which, a public servant is to be tried, shall be exercisable only--
(a) in
Any pension payable to or in respect of a person who--
(a) before the commencement of Part III of this Act had served His Majesty in India, Burma or Aden, or elsewhere under the Governor-General in Council: or
(b) after the commencement of Part III of this Act--
(i) serves in India as an officer of His Majesty's forces: or
(ii) is appointed to a civil service of, or so an office or pose under the Crown in India by His Majesty or the Secretary of State; or
(iii) holds a reserved post, shall, if the person to whom the pension is payable is residing permanently outside India, be paid on behalf of the Federation or the Province, as the case may be, by, or in accordance with arrangements made with, the Secreta
(1) His Majesty may by Order in Council provide for the vesting in Commissioners to be appointed under the Order of--
(a) the Indian Military Widows and Orphans Fund;
(b) the Superior Services (India) Family Pension Fund;
(c) a fund to be formed out of the moneys contributed and to be contributed under the Indian Military Service Family Pension Regulations for the purpose of paying pensions payable under those regulations;
(d) a fund to be formed out of the moneys contributed and to be contributed under the Indian Civil Services Family Pension Rules for the purpose of paying pensions payable under those rules.
For the investment of the said funds by the Commissioners, in such manner as, subject to the pro
Notwithstanding anything in this Art, the India Military Funds Act, 1866 the East India Annuity Funds Act, 1874 and the Bombay Civil Fund Act, 1882, shall continue to have effect but subject to the following adaptations, that is to say, that anything to be done under the said Acts by or to the Secretary of State in Council shall, after the commencement of Part III of this Act, be done by or to the Secretary of State, and for any reference in the said Acts to the revenues of India there shall be substituted a reference to the revenues of the Federation.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution)Order, 1947.
A person shall not be disqualified by sex for being appointed to any civil service of, or civil post under, the Crown in India other than such a service or post as may be specified by any general or special order made--
(a) by the Governor-General in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Federation;
(b) by the Governor of a Province in the case of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Province;
1 [(c) by the Secretary of State in relation to appointments made by him].
Provided that any such agreement with respect to joint services and post as is mentioned in chapter II of this Part of this Act may provide for the powers conferred by this section on the Governor-General and the Governor of a Province
Until other provision is made under the appropriate provisions of this Part of this Act, any rules made under the Government of India Act relating to the civil services of, or civil posts under, the Crown in India which were in force immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act, shall, not withstanding the repeal of that Act, continue in force so far as consistent with this Act, and shall be deemed to be rules made under the appropriate provisions of this Act.
(1) In this Part of this Act--
the expressions "All-India Service", "Central Service Class I" "Central Services Class II," "Railway Service Class I," "Railway Service Class II" and "Provincial Service" mean respectively the services which were immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act, so described respectively in the classification rules then in force under section ninety-six 3 of the Government of India Act;
and references to dismissal from His Majesty's service include references to removal from His Majesty's service.
1 [(2) References in this Part of this Act to persons appointed to a civil service of, or a civil post under, the Crown in India--
(a) include references to persons who, after service in India, Burma or Aden, re
(1) There shall be a body of persons appointed by the Secretary of State, not being less than three nor more than six in number, as the Secretary of State may from time to time determine, whose duty it shall be to advise the Secretary of State on any matter relating to India on which he pay desire their advice.
(2) One-half at least of the persons for the time being holding office under this section as advisers of the Secretary of State shall be persons who have held office for at least ten years under the Crown in India and have not last ceased to perform in India official duties under the Crown more than two years before the date of their respective appointments as advisers finder this section.
(3) Any person appointed as an adviser to the Secretary of State shall hold office for a term of five years and shall not be eligible for rea
(1) All stock or money standing to the credit of the Secretary of State in Council in the books of the Bank of. England at the commencement of Part III of this Act shall, as from that date, be transferred to the credit of the Secretary of State, and any order or instrument with respect to that stock or money executed by the Secretary of State or by such person as may be authorised in writing by the Secretary of State for the purpose, either generally or specially, shall be a sufficient authority and discharge to the Bank in respect of anything done by the Bank of accordance therewith.
(2) Any directions, authority or power-of-attorney given or executed by or on behalf of the Secretary of State in Council and in force at the commencement of Part III of this Act shall continue in force until and termanded or revoked by the Secretary of State.
(1) As from the commencement of Part III of this Act the salary of the Secretary of State and the expenses of his department, including the salaries and remuneration of the staff thereof, shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(2) Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding section with respect to the transfer of certain existing officers and servants, the Secretary of State may appoint such officers and servants as he, subject to the consent of the Treasury as to numbers, may think fit and there shall be paid to persons so appointed such salaries or remuneration as the Treasury may from time to time determine.
(3) There shall be charged on and paid out of the revenues of the Federation into the Exchequers such periodical or other sums as may from time to time be agreed between the Governor-General and the Treasury in
(1) All persons who immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act were officers or servants on the permanent establishment of the Secretary of State in Council shall on that date be transferred to the department of the Secretary of State and shall be deemed to be permanent Civil Srvants of the State.
(2) Subject as hereinafter provided, the provisions of the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1935, and of any orders, rules and regulations made thereunder shall apply in relation to a person so transferred as aforesaid as they apply in relation to a person entering the Civil Service with a certificate from the Civil Service Commissioners, and for the purposes of pose Acts, orders, rules and regulations his service shall be reckoned as if service on the permanent establishment of, and employment by, the Secretary of State in Council had at all times been service or employment
(1) So much of any superannuation allowances, compensation allowances, retiring allowances, additional allowances or gratuities which may become payable to or in respect of officers and servants transferred by His Majesty in Council may determined to represent the proportion of the last preceding section to the department of the Secretary of State as such allowances or gratuities attributable to service before the date of transfer shall be paid out of the revenues of the Federation:
Provided that account shall not be taken of any service before the date of transfer in respect of which such an allowance or gratuity payable out of money provided by Parliament might, if this Act had not been passed have been awarded under the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1935.
(2) If any officer or servant so transferred to the department of the Secretary
(1) The liability for payment of any super annotation allowances, compensation allowances, retiring allowances additional allowances and gratuities which immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act were payable to or in respect of persons in respect of service on the establishment of the Secretary of State in Council, or in respect of service as Auditor of the Accounts of the Secretary of States in Council, or in respect of service as member of that Auditor's staff, or partly in respect of service on the establishment of the Secretary of State in Council or as a member of that Auditor's staff and partly in respect of service as a member of the staff of the High Commissioner for India shall be a liability of the Government of the Federation, and these allowances and gratuities shall be charged upon the revenues of the Federation.
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1
Any sums which, if this Act had not been passed, would have been payable, whether as of right or not, by the Secretary of State in Council out of the revenues of India to or in respect of a person who was a subscriber to the Regular Widows' Fund, the Elders Widows' Fund, or the India Office Provident Fund, shall be paid out of the revenues of the Federation and charged on those revenues.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947,
(1) Any appointment which the Secretary of State in Council has purported to make to his permanent establishment before the commencement of Part III of this Act, and any increases which he has purported to make in the salaries of persons on that establishment, shall for all purposes be deemed to have been validly made notwithstanding that the making thereof was not sanctioned by an Order of His Majesty in Council as provided by section seventeen of the Government of India Act.
(2) Any appointments which the Auditor of the accounts of the Secretary of State in Council has purported to make to his staff before the commencement of the said Part III shall be deemed to have been validly made notwithstanding that the making thereof was not authorised by such a warrant of His Majesty as is mentioned in section twenty-seven of the Government pf India Act, and all salaries paid to any pers
Subject in the case of a Federal State to the provisions of the Instrument of Accession of that State, nothing in this Act affects the rights and obligations of the Crown in relation to any Indian State.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) If His Majesty's Representative for the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States requests the assistance of armed forces for the clue discharge of those functions, it shall be the duty of the Governor-General in the exercise of the executive authority of the Federation to cause the necessary forces to be employed accordingly, but the net additional expense, if any, incurred in connection with those forces by reason of that employment shall be deemed to be expenses of His Majesty incurred in discharging the said functions of the Crown.
(2) In discharging his functions under this section the Governor-General shall act in his discretion.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Arrangements may be made between His Majesty's Representative for the exercise of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States and the Governor of any Province for the discharge by the Governor and officers serving in connection with the affairs of the Province of powers and duties in connection with the exercise of the said functions of the Crown.
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1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) On such date as His Majesty may by Order in Council appoint (in this section referred to as "the appointed day") the then existing Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden (in this section referred to as "Aden") shall cease to be a part of British India.
(2) At any time after the passing of this Act it shall be lawful for; His Majesty in Council to make such provision as he deems proper for the government of Aden after the appointed day, and any such Order in Council, may delegate to any person or persons within Aden power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of Aden, without prejudice to the power of His Majesty in Council, notwithstanding such delegation, from time to time to make laws for any of the purposes aforesaid.
(3) An Order made by His Majesty in Council by virtue of the pre-ceding sub-section may, without
(1) As from such date2 as His Majesty may by Order in Council appoint--
(a) Sind shall be separated from the Presidency of Bombay and shall form a Governor's Province to be known as the Province of Sind;
(b) Orissa and such other areas in the Province of Bihar and Orissa as may be specified in the Order of His Majesty shall be separated from that Province, and such areas as may be separated from the Presidency of Madras and the Central Provinces respectively, and Orissa and the other areas so separated shall together form a Governor's Province to be known as the Province of Orissa; and
(c) the Province formerly known as Bihar and Orissa shall be known as the Province of Bihar.
(2) An Order in Council made under this section shall define the bounda
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, 1 [His Majesty may by order in Council]--
(a) create a new Province;
(b) increase the area of any Province;
(c) diminish the area of any Province;
(d) alter the boundaries of any Province;
Provided that, 2 [before the draft of any such Order is laid before Parliament, the Secretary of State shall take such steps as His Majesty may direct for ascertaining the views of the Federal Government and the Chambers of the Federal Legislature and the views of the Government and the Chamber or Chambers of the Legislature] of any Province which will be affected by the Order, both with respect to the proposal to make the Order and with respect to the provisions to be i
Franchise
In so far as provision with respect to the matters hereinafter mentioned is not made by this Act, 1 [His Majesty in Council may from time to time make provision]2 with respect to those matters or any of them, that is to say-
(a) the delimitation of territorial constituencies for the purpose of elections under this Act;
(b) the qualifications entitling persons to vote in territorial or other constituencies at such elections, and the preparation of electoral rolls;
(c) the qualifications for being elected at such elections as a member of a legislative body;
(d) the filling of casual vacancies in any such body;
(e) the conduct of elections under this Ac
Not withstanding the repeal by this Act of the Government of India Act, but subject to the other provisions of this Act, all the law in force in British India immediately before the Commencement of Part III of this Act shall continue in force in British India until altered or repealed or amended by a competent Legislature or other competent authority.
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1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
2. For explanation of the scope of Ss. 292 and 293, see the India and Burma (Existing Laws) Act, 19371 Edw. 8 and 1 Geo. 6,,Ch. 9), S. 9. Sub-section (1) of section 1 of the said Act is as follows:--
"1. (1) For the purposes of sections two hundred and ninety-two and two hundred and ninety- three of the Governmen
His Majesty may by Order in Council 3 [to be made at any time after the passing of this Act provide that, as from such date as may be specified in the Order, any law in force in British India or in any part of British India shall, until repealed or amended by a competent Legislature or other competent authority have effected subject to such adaptations and modifications as appear to His Majesty to be necessary or expedient for bringing the provisions of that law into accord with the provisions of this Act and, in particular, into accord with the provisions thereof which reconstitute under different names governments and authorities in India and prescribe the distribution of legislative and executive powers between the Federation and the Provinces:
Provided that no such law as aforesaid shall be made applicable to any Federated State by an Order in Council made under this section.
(1) Neither the executive authority of the Federation nor the legislative power of the Federal Legislature shall extend to any area in a Federated State which His Majesty in signifying his acceptance of the Instrument of Accession of that State may declare to be an area therefore administered by or on behalf of His Majesty to which it is expedient that the provisions of this subsection should apply, and references in this Act to a Federated State shall not be construed as including references to any such area:
Provided that--
(a) a declaration shall not be made under this sub-section with respect to any area unless, before the execution by the Rule of the Instrument of Accession, notice has been, given to him of His Majesty's intention to make that declaration;
(b) if His Majesty with the asse
1 [(1) Where any person has been sentenced to death in a Province, the Governor-General in his decision shall have all such powers of suspension, remission or commutation of sentence as were vested in the Governor-General in Council immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act, but save as aforesaid no authority in India outside a Province shall have any power to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted in the Province.
Provided that nothing in this sub-section affects any power of any officer of His Majesty's forces to suspend, remit or commute a sentence passed by a court-martial.]
(2) Nothing in this Act shall derogate from the right of His Majesty or of the Governor-General, if any, such right is delegated to him by His Majesty, to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment. <
(1) No member of the Federal or a Provincial Legislature shall be a member of any tribunal in 1 [British- India] having jurisdiction to entertain appeals or revise decisions in revenue cases.
(2) If in any Province any such jurisdiction as aforesaid was, immediately before the commencement of Part III of this Act, vested in the Local Government, the Governor shall constitute a tribunal, consisting of such person or persons as he, exercising his individual judgment, may think fit, to exercise the same jurisdiction until other provision in that behalf is made by Act of the Provincial Legislature.
(3) There shall be paid to the members of any tribunal constitute under the last preceding sub-section, such salaries and allowances as the Governor exercising his individual judgment may determine, and those salaries and allowances shall be cha
(1) No Provincial Legislature or Government shall.
(a) by virtue of the entry in the Provincial Legislative List relation to trade and commerce within the Province, or the entry in that list relating to the production, supply, and distribution of commodities, have power to pass any law or take any executive action prohibiting or restricting the entry into or export from, the Province of goods of any class or description; or
(b) by virtue of anything in this Act have power to impose any tax cess, toll, or due which, as between goods manufactured, or produced in the Province and similar goods not so manufactured or produced, discriminates in favour of the former or which, in the case of goods manufactured or produced outside that Province, discriminates between goods manufactured or produced in another locality.
(1) No subject of His Majesty domiciled in India shall on grounds only of religion, place of birth, descent, colour or any of them be ineligible for office under the Crown in India, or be prohibited on any such grounds from acquiring, holding or disposing of property or carrying on any occupation, trade, business or profession in; 1 [British India].
(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the operation of any law which--
2 [(a) prohibits, either absolutely or subject to exceptions, disposipositions of agricultural land situate in any particular area and owned by a person belonging to some class recognised by the law as being a class of persons engaged in or connected with agriculture in that area or as being an aboriginal tribe, in favour of or for the benefit of any person not belonging to that class.]
&nbs
(1) No person shall be deprived of his property in 1 [British India] save by authority of law.
(2) Neither the Federal or a Provincial Legislature shall have power to make any law authorising the compulsory acquisition for public purposes of any land, or any commercial or industrial undertaking, or any interest in, or in any company owning, any commercial or industrial undertaking, unless the law provides for the payment of compensation for the property acquired land either fixes the amount of the compensation, or specifies the principles on which, and the manner in which, it is to be determined.
(3) No Bill or amendment making provision for the transference to public ownership of any land or for the extinguishment or modification of rights therein, including rights or privileges in respect of land revenue, shall be introduced or moved
(1) The executive authority of the Federation or of a Province shall not be exercised, save on an order of the Governor-General or Governor, as the case may be, in the exercise of his individual judgment, so as to derogate from any grant or confirmation of title of or to land, or of or to any right or privilege in respect of land or land revenue, being a grant or confirmation made before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, or made on or after that date for services rendered.
(2) No pension granted or customarily payable before the commence merit of Part III of this Act by the Governor-General in Council or any Local Government on political considerations or compassionate ground shall be discontinued or reduced, otherwise than in accordance with any grant or order regulating the payment thereof, save on an order of the Governor-General in the exercise
Section eighteen of the East India Company Act, 1780, and section twelve of the East India Act, 1797 (being obsolete enactments containing savings for native law and custom) are hereby repealed.
(1) There shall be a High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom who shall be appointed, and whose salary and conditions of service shall be prescribed, by the Governor-General, exercising his individual judgment.
(2) The High Commissioner shall perform on behalf of the Federation such functions in connection with the business of the Federation, and, in particular, in relation to the making of contracts as the Governor-General may from time to time direct.
(3) The High Commissioner may, with the approval of the Governor- General and on such terms as may be agreed, undertake to perform on behalf of a Province or Federated State, or on behalf of Burma, functions similar to those which he performs on behalf of the Federation.
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(1) The Sheriff of Calcutta shall be appointed annually by the Governor of Bengal from a panel of three persons to be nominated on the occasion of each vacancy by the High Court in Calcutta.
(2) The Sheriff shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor and shall be entitled to such remuneration as the Governor may determine and no other remuneration.
1 [(3) In exercising his powers with respect to the appointment and dismissal of the Sheriff and with respect to the determination of h; s remuneration, the Governor shall exercise his individual judgment].
________________________
1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
Any person appointed by His Majesty to act as Governor-General or as the Governor of a Province during the absence of the Governor-General or the Governor from India, or during any period during which the Governor-General or the Governor is for any reason unable to perform the duties of his office shall during, and in respect of, the period while he is so acting have all the powers and immunities, and be subject to all the duties of, the Governor-General or Governor, as the case may be, and, if he holds any other office,_ shall not act therein or be entitled to the salary and allowances appertaining thereto while he is acting as Governor-General or Governor.
(1) The Governor-General and every Governor shall have his own secretarial staff to be appointed by him in his discretion.
(2) The salaries and allowances of persons so appointed and the office accommodation and other facilities to be provided for them shall he such as the Governor-General or, as the case may be the Governor may in has discretion determine, and the said salaries and allowances and the expenses incurred in providing the said accommodation and facilities shall be charged in the revenues of the Federation or, as the ease may be, the Province.
(1) Where a civil servant, as defined by section twelve of the Superannuation Act, 1887 (50 and 51 Vict. c67), is appointed by His Majesty or by the Governor-General in his discretion to any office under the Crown in India, the Secretary of State may direct that his service in that office shall qualify for the grant of a pension or gratuity as if it were service rendered in the office held by him as a civil servant immediately before his appointment to service in India and there shall be paid to, or in respect of, him out of the revenues of the Federation, land shall be charged on those revenues, in respect of his service, in that office fin India a pension or gratuity calculated in accordance with the Superannuation Acts, 1834 to 1935, and the orders, rules and regulations made there-Minder, but on the basis of the salary of the office last held by him as a feral servant before his appointment to service in India: Provided t
(1) No proceedings whatsoever shall lie in, arid as process whatsoever shall issue from, any court in India against the Governor-General, 1 against the Governor of a Province, 2 [or against the Secretary of State]., whether in a personal capacity or otherwise, and, except with the sanction of 3 [His Majesty in Council] no proceedings whatsoever, shall lie in any court in India against any person who has been the Governor-General, 4 the Governor of Province, or the Secretary of State in respect of anything done or omitted to be done by any of them during his term of office in performance or purported performance of the duties thereof.
Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as restricting the right of any person to bring against the Federation,5 a Province, 6 [or the Secretary of State] such proceedings as are mentioned in chapter III of Part VII of this Act.
&n
For the purposes of the first elections of persons to serve as members of the Federal Legislature and of Provincial Legislatures, no person shall be subject to any disqualification by reason only of the fact that he holds--
(a) an office of profit as a non-official member of the Executive Council of the Governor-General or a Governor, as a minister in a Province;
(b) an office which is not a whole time office remunerated either by salary or by fees.
________________________
1. Omitted, by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947..
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, if the Federal Legislature or any Provincial Legislature, on motions proposed in each Chamber by a minister on behalf of the council of ministers, pass a resolution recommending any such amendment of this Act or of an Order in Council made there under as is hereinafter mentioned, and on motion proposed in like manner, present to the Governor-General or, as the case may be, to the Governor an address for submission to His Majesty praying that His Majesty may be pleased to communicate the resolution to Parliament, the Secretary of State shall within six months after the resolution is so communicated, cause to be laid before both Houses of Parliament a statement of any action which it may be proposed to take thereon.
The Governor-General or the Governor, as the case may be, when for warding any such resolution and address to the Secretary
(1) Any power 2 conferred by this Act on His Majesty in Council shall be exercisable only by Order in Council, and subject as hereinafter provided, the Secretary of State shall lay before Parliament the draft of any Order which it is proposed to recommend His Majesty to make in Council under any provision of this Act, and no further proceedings shall be taken in relation thereto except in pursuance of an address presented to His Majesty of both Houses of Parliament praying that the Order may be made either in the form of the draft, or with such amendments as may have been agreed to by resolutions of both Houses:
Provided that, if at any time when Parliament is dissolved or prorogued or when both Houses of Parliament are adjourned for more than fourteen days, the Secretary of State is of opinion that on account of urgency an Order in Council should be made, under this Act forthwith
(1) Whereas difficulties may arise in relation to the transition from the provisions of the, Government of India Act to the provisions of this Act, and in relation to the transition from the provisions of Part XIII of this Act to the provisions of Part II of this Act:
And whereas the nature of those difficulties, and of the provision which should be made for meeting them, cannot at the date of the passing of this Act be fully foreseen:
Now therefore, for the purpose of facilitating each of the said transitions His Majesty may by Order in Council-2
(a) direct that this Act and any provisions of the Government of India Act still in force shall, during such limited period as may be specified in the Order, have effect subject to such adaptations and modifications as may be so specified;
Interpretation
1 (1) In this Act and, unless the context otherwise requires, in any other Act the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them that is to say.
"British India" means all territories for the time being comprised within the Governors, Provinces and the Chief Commissioners' Province. "India" means British India together with all territories of any Indian Ruler under the suzerainty of His Majesty, all territories under the suzerainty of such an Indian Ruler, the tribal areas, and, any other territories which His Majesty in Council may, from time to time, after ascertaining the views of the Federal Government and the Federal Legislature, declare to be part of India.
"Burma" includes (subject to the exercise by His Majesty of any powers vested in him wi
Legal Comments
Introduction - Section 311 of Government of India Act, 1935 provides protection against dismissal or removal of civil servants; its modern constitutional analogue appears as Article 311 of the Constitution of India. [UNION OF INDIA VS MOHD RAMZAN KHAN]
What Section Says - Section 311(1) guarantees that no civil servant shall be dismissed or removed or reduced in rank except by due process; subsections (2)-(3) elaborate opportunity to show cause and related protections; the provision mirrors earlier §240(2)-(3) of the 1935 Act. [SUBODH RANJAN VS MAJOR N. A. Ocallaghan]
Essential ingredients - (i) The status of the officer as a civil servant; (ii) an order of dismissal/removal/reduction; (iii) observance of a due process (reasonable opportunity to show cause, charges, evidence, hearing where applicable). [ATINDRA NATH MUKHERJEE VS G. F. GILLOT]
Essential ingredients - (iv) The authority passing the order must not be subordinate to the appointing authority; (v) right to natural justice (copy of inquiry report in some cases; opportunity to defend). These elements recur in various precedents. [Union Of India VS R. S. Dhaba]
Scope of Section - Applies to both Union and State civil services; also interpreted to cover temporary/governmental employment with protective guarantees; its reach has been clarified in numerous judgments across pre- and post-1947 constitutional regimes. [Jagannath Ghosh VS Divisional Forest Officer]
Scope of Section - The protection applies to disciplinary actions that are punishments with stigma; mere termination on non-punitive grounds may fall outside if not punitive (context-dependent). [A. R. A. N Thyagarajan Chettiar, Trustee of Sri Koppudayanayagi Amman Temple VS The Secretary to Government of Madras, Revenue Department]
Punishment for Section - Section 311(1)/311(2) guard against arbitrary punishment; if an act is judicial or quasi-judicial, the standard of process applies; if the action is not punishment or stigma, some cases hold Article 311 protections may not attach. See contrasting rulings on “termination,” “reversion,” and “dismissal.” [Union Of India (Uoi) VS Ram Chand Beli Ram], [RALEIGH INVESTMENT CO. , LTD. VS GOVERNOR-GENERAL IN COUNCIL. ]
Penalty vs. non-penalty distinction - A key recurring theme: punishment with stigma engages Article 311 protections; mere discharge or non-punitive termination may not, depending on context and statutory framework. [ATINDRA NATH MUKHERJEE VS G. F. GILLOT], [Barkat Ram VS Union Of India , Secy. Ministry Of Rehabilitation]
Mandatory vs DIRECTORY - Several cases discuss whether requirements (e.g., opportunity to show cause) are mandatory or directory; many judgments treat Article 311(2) and §240(3) as mandatory safeguards that cannot be bypassed by unilateral executive action. [SUBODH RANJAN VS MAJOR N. A. Ocallaghan], [Nawab Husain VS State of U. P. ]
Pre- and post-Constitution mapping - Courts have interpreted Article 311(2) as a constitutional continuation of protections formerly in Section 240(3); several decisions analyze transitional relevance and continuity with pre-constitutional protections. [SHYAMRAO KRISHNARAO VS EMPEROR], [UNION OF INDIA VS MOHD RAMZAN KHAN]
Appointments and authority compatibility - A large body of precedents holds that dismissals by a subordinate authority to the appointing authority are null and void; necessity of non-subordinate dismissal aligns with Article 311(1). [Badri VS State of M. P. ], [M. J. NINAMA VS POST MASTER GENERAL AHMEDABAD]
Duty to give reason and opportunity - Courts emphasize the need to provide charges, copy of inquiry report (where applicable), and a fair opportunity to defend; retrospective changes (e.g., Forty-second Amendment) have clarified procedural expectations but not retroactive rights accrual. [UNION OF INDIA VS MOHD RAMZAN KHAN], [State Of M. P. VS Shardul Singh]
Impact of retirement and pension contexts - Section 311 protections intersect with pension and retirement configurations; courts have sometimes treated post-employment benefits or re-fixation of pensions under due process principles, but this lies alongside, not within, the core punishment-protection framework. [Ahmed Hussain Khan: S. Gopalan VS State Of A. P. ]
Temporary vs permanent status - The protection attaches irrespective of substantive permanency, but some cases discuss whether temporary status affects applicability; the core principle remains that due process safeguards accompany disciplinary action. [Jagannath Ghosh VS Divisional Forest Officer], [ATINDRA NATH MUKHERJEE VS G. F. GILLOT]
Nature of “discharge” vs. “dismissal” - Several judgments distinguish whether the act constitutes dismissal, removal, or reduction in rank; the governing constitutional-procedural protections apply differently to each, with emphasis on stigma and “in praesenti” rights. [A. S. Krishna VS State Of Madras], [BHAISHANKER AVALRAM JOSHI VS STATE of Bombay]
Estoppel and Section 175(3) linkage - In broader constitutional-administrative contexts, estoppel cannot override mandatory statutory protections; some lines of authority discuss how mandatory provisions govern appointment/dismissal procedures. [SUBODH RANJAN VS MAJOR N. A. Ocallaghan], [GHOSH SINGH PARTNERS LTD. VS UNION OF INDIA (UOI)]
Retrospective operation of amendments - Amendments altering show-cause requirements (e.g., 42nd Amendment) are generally viewed as not retroactively negating accrued rights; the right to a second notice often arises when guilt is proven, not from antecedent amendments. [ISSAC JOSEPH VS SENIOR SUPERINTENDENT OF POST OFFICES]
Practical guidance for practice - When challenging dismissal/removal under Section 311/Article 311, argue (a) the appointing authority’s competence; (b) whether the action constitutes punishment with stigma; (c) whether proper opportunity to show cause and proper inquiry were afforded; (d) whether any department-specific rules (Rule 55, CCS(CAP) Rules) align with or diverge from constitutional protections. [ATINDRA NATH MUKHERJEE VS G. F. GILLOT], [JYOTIRMOYEE SHARMA VS UNION OF INDIA]
Jurisdictional breadth - The jurisprudence confirms that Article 311 protections travel with civil service status across states and across transitional regimes; constitutional interpretation ensures uniform baseline protections for civil servants. [Sita Ram Kala Ram VS Union Of India , New Delhi], [A. L. S. P. P. L. Subramanian Chettiar by Agent Narayanan Chettiar VS Muthuswami Goundan alias Avanashi Goundan]
Key contrasting authorities cited - Notable cases emphasize the mandatory nature of due process (e.g., non-subordinate appointment authority invalidity; mandatory nature of §175(3) and Article 299(1)); and the prospective application of overruled high court pronouncements to pending matters. [Abid Mohommad Khan, son of Aziz Mohommad Khan, Ex-Sub-Inspector, Excise and Customs, of Juna Risala, Indore VS State of Madhya Bharat], [UNION OF INDIA VS MOHD RAMZAN KHAN]
Conclusion - Section 311 (and its constitutional interpretation) anchors robust due-process safeguards for civil servants; while some lines of jurisprudence discuss limitations or exceptions, the governing principle remains that dismissal, removal, or reduction in rank shall follow a fair procedure and non-subordinate authority, with stigma-bearing punishments subjected to heightened scrutiny. [Emperor VS Hemendra Prosad Ghosh], [HIRALAL CHUNNILAL SIRIAH VS STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH]
The provisions of this Part of this Act shall apply with respect to the period elapsing between the commencement of Part III of this Act and the establishment of the Federation.
________________________
1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act for the time being in force, such executive authority as is hereinafter mentioned shall be exercised on behalf of His Majesty by the Governor-General in Council, either directly or through officers subordinate to him, but nothing in this section shall prevent the Indian Legislature from conferring functions upon subordinate authorities, or be deemed to transfer to the Governor-General in Council any functions conferred by any existing Indian law on any court, judge or officer, or on any local or other authority.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act for the time being in force, the said executive authority extends--
(a) to the matters with respect to which the Indian Legislature has under the said provisions, power to make laws;
(b) to the raisi
(1) The Governor-General in Council and the Governor-General, both as respects matters with respect to which he is required by or under this Act to act in his discretion and as respects other matters, shall be under the general control of, and comply with such particular directions, if any, as may from time to time be given by, the Secretary of State, but the validity of anything done by the Governor-General in Council or the Governor-General shall not be called in question on the ground that it was done otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this sub-section.
(2) The Secretary of State shall not give any direction to the Governor- General in Council with respect to any grant or appropriation of any part of the revenues of the Governor-General in Council except with the concurrence of his advisers.
(3) While this Part of t
(1) While this Part of this Act is in operation, no sterling loans shall be contracted by the Governor-General in Council, but in lieu thereof, if provision is made in that behalf by an East India Loans Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Secretary of State may, within such limits as may be prescribed by the Act, contract such loans on behalf of the Governor-General in Council.
(2) The Secretary of State shall not exercise any such powers of borrowing as are mentioned in this section unless at a meeting of the Secretary of State and his advisers the borrowing has been approved by a majority of the persons present.
(3) There shall be inserted--
(a) in paragraph (d) of sub-section (1) of section one of the Trustee Act, 1925, after the words on the revenues of India"; and
&nbs
The powers conferred by the provisions of this Act for the time being in force on the Federal Legislature shall be exercisable by the Indian Legislature, and accordingly references in those provisions to the Federal Legislature and Federal Laws shall be construed as references to the Indian Legislature and laws of the Indian Legislature, and references in those provisions to Federal taxes shall be construed as references to taxes imposed by laws of the Indian Legislature:
Provided that nothing in this section shall empower the Indian Legislature to impose limits on the power of the Governor-General in Council to borrow money.
________________________
1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order, 1947.
(1) The provisions of the Government of India Act set out, with amendments * 2 * * *, in the Ninth Schedule to this Act (being certain of the provisions of that Act relating to the Governor-General, the Commander-in-Chief, the Governor-General's Executive Council and the Indian Legislature and provisions supplemental to those provisions) shall, subject to those amendments, continue to have effect notwithstanding the repeal of that Act by this Act: Provided that nothing in the said provisions shall affect the provisions of the last but one preceding section.
(2) In the said provisions, the expression "this Act" means the said provisions.
(3) The substitution in the said provisions of references to the Secretary of State for references to the Secretary of State in Council shall not render invalid anything done thereunder by the Secretary
(1) Notwithstanding that the Federation has not yet been established, the Federal Court and the Federal Public Service Commission and the Federal Railway Authority shall come into existence and be known by those names, and shall perform in relation to British India the like functions as they are by or under this Act to perform in relation to the Federation when established.
(2) Nothing in this section affects any power of His Majesty in Council to fix a date later than the commencement of Part III of this Act for the coming into operation, either generally or for particular purposes, of any of the provisions of this Act relating to the Federal Court, the Federal Public Service Commission or the Federal Railway Authority.
________________________
1. Omitted by the India (Provisional Constitu
(1) Any rights acquired by, or liabilities incurred by or on behalf of, the Governor-General in Council or the Governor-General between the commencement of Part III of this Act and the establishment of the Federation shall, after the establishment of the Federation, be rights and liabilities of the Federation, and any legal proceedings pending at the establishment of the Federation by or against the Governor-General in Council or the Governor-General shall, after the establishment of the Federation, be continued by or against the Federation.
(2) The provisions of sub-section (1) of this section shall apply in relation to rights and liabilities of the Secretary of, State in Council which have, by virtue of the provisions of this Act, become rights or liabilities of the Governor-General in Council as they apply in relation to the rights or liabilities of the Governor-General in Coun
(1) Part II of this Act shall come into force on such date as His Majesty may appoint by the Proclamation establishing the Federation and the date so appointed is the date referred to in this Act as the date of the establishment of the Federation.
(2) The remainder of this Act shall, subject to any express provision to the contrary, come into force on such date2 as His Majesty in Council may appoint and the said date is the date referred to in this Act as the commencement of Part III of this Act.
(3) If it appears to His Majesty in Council that it will not be practicable or convenient that all the provisions of this Act which are under the forgoing provisions of this section to come into force on a date therein mentioned should come into operation simultaneously on that date, His Majesty in Council may, notwithstanding anything in this s
The Government of India Act shall be repealed1 and the other Acts mentioned in the Tenth Schedule to this Act shall also be repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.
Provided that--
(a) nothing in this section shall affect the Preamble to the Government of India Act, 1919.2
(b)without prejudice to any other provisions of this Act, to the provisions of the Government of Burma Act, 1935,3 and to the provisions of the Interpretation Act, 1889,4 relating to the effect of repeals this repeal shall not affect any appointment made under any enactment so repealed to any office, and any such appointment shall have effect as if it were an appointment to the corresponding office under this Act or the Government of Burma Act, 1935.
(Sections 5, 18, 308)
COMPOSITION OF THE FEDERAL LEGISLATURE
PART I
REPRESENTATIVES OF BRITISH INDIA.
General Qualification for Membership
1. A person shall not be qualified to be chosen as a representative of British India to fill a seat in the Federal Legislature unless he--
(a) is a British subject, or the Ruler or a subject of as Indian State which has acceded to the Federation; and
(b) is, in the case of a seat in the Council of State, not less than thirty years of age and, in the case of a seat in the Federal Assembly, not less than twenty-five years of age; and
(c)
(Section 6)
Provisions of the Act which may be amended without affecting the Accession of a State
Part I.--In so far it relates to the Commander-in-Chief.
Part II, chapter II.--Save with respect to the exercise by the Governor-General on behalf of His Majesty of the executive authority of the Federation, and the definition of the functions of the Governor-General; the executive authority of the Federation; the function of the council of ministers, and the choosing and summoning of ministers and their tenure of office; the power of the Governor-General to decide whether he is entitled to act in his discretion or exercise his individual judgment; the functions of the Governor-General with respect to external affairs and defence; the special responsibilities' of the Governor-General relating to t
(Sections 7, 48.)
PROVISIONS 'AS TO GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND GOVERNORS OF PROVINCES
1. There shall be paid to the Governor-General and to the Governors of the Provinces the following annual salaries, that is to say:
The Governor-General
rupees 250,800.
1 The Governor of Madras
The Governor of Bombay
rupees 120,000.
The Governor of Bengal
The Governor of the United Provinces
The Governor of the Punjab
(Sections 24, 67, 200 & 220.)
FORMS OF OATHS OR AFFIRMATIONS.
1
Form of oath or affirmation to be taken or made by a member of a Legislature who is a British subject:--
I, A.B., having been elected [or nominated or appointed] a member of this Council [or Assembly], do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty the King, Emperor of India, His heirs and successors, and that I will faithfully discharge the duty upon which I am about to enter."
2
Form of oath or affirmation to be taken or made by a member of a Legislature who is the Ruler of an Indian State:--
"I, A.B., hav
(Section 61)
COMPOSITION OF PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURES.
General qualification for Membership
1. A person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in a Provincial Legislature unless he--
(a) is a British subject or the Ruler or a subject of an Indian State which has acceded to the Federation or, if it is so prescribed with respect to any Province the Ruler or a subject of any prescribed Indian State; and
(b) is, in the case of a seat in a Legislative Assembly, not less than twenty-five years of age, and in the case of a seat in a Legislative Council, not less than thirty years of are; and
(c) possesses such, if any of the other qualifications specified in
Schedule 5 (9)
PROVISIONS AS TO FRANCHISE
PART I GENERAL
1. There shall be an electoral roll for every territorial constituency and no person who is not, and, except as expressly provided by this Schedule, every person who is, for the time being included in the electoral roll for any such constituency shall be entitled to vote in that constituency.
2. The electoral rolls for the territorial constituencies shall be made up and from time to time in whole or in part revised by references to such date, in this Schedule referred to as "the prescribed date," as nay be directed in each case by the Governor, exercising his individual judgment.
3. No person shall be included in the electoral roll for any territori
(Sections 100, 104)
Legislative Lists
LIST I--FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE LIST
2 a1. His Majesty's naval, military and air forces borne on the Indian establishment and any other armed force raised in India by the Crown, not being forces raised for employment in Indian States or military or armed police maintained by Provincial Governments; any armed forces which are not forces of His Majesty, but are attached to or operating with any of His Majesty's naval, military or air forces borne on the Indian establishment: central intelligence bureau; preventive detention in British India for reason of State connected with defence, external affairs, or the discharge of the functions of the Crown in its relations with Indian States.
2. Naval, military and air force w
(Section 182.)
THE FEDERAL RAILWAY AUTHORITY
1. The Federal Railway Authority, which shall be a body corporate by, and may sue and be sued in, that name, (in this Schedule referred to as ' the Authority") shall consist of seven persons to be appointed by the Governor-General.
2. A person shall not be qualified to be appointed or to be a member of the Authority--
(a) unless he has had experience in commerce, industry, agriculture, finance, or administration ; or
(b) if he is, or within the twelve months last preceding has been
(i) a member of the Federal or any Provincial Legislatures or
(ii) in the service of the Cro
(Section 317.)
PROVISIONS OF GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT CONTINUED IN FORCE WITH AMENDMENTS UNTIL THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FEDERATION
The Governor-General's Executive Council
36. Members of Council.--(1) The members of the Governor-General's Executive Council shall be appointed by His Majesty by warrant under the Royal Sign Manual.
(2) The number of the members of the Council shall be such as His Majesty thinks fit to appoint.
(3) Three at least of them must be persons who have been for at least ten years in the service of the Crown in India, and one must be a barrister of England or Ireland, or a member of the Faculty of Advocates of Scotland, or a pleader of a high court, of not less than ten years' standin
(Section 321.)
EANACTMENTS REPEALED
Session and Chapter of Act. Title. Extent of Repeal.
21 Geo. 3, c. 70 The East India Company Act, 1780 Section eighteen.
37 Geo. 3, c. 142 The East India Act, 1797 Section twelve.
16&17 Vict, c. 107, . . The Customs Consolidation Act, 1853 Section three hundred and twenty-nine.
23&24 Vict., c. 89 An Act to extend in certain cases the provisions of the Superannuation Act, 1859 The whole Act.
47 £ 43 Vict., c. 38 The Indian Marine Service Act, 1884 The whole Act.
56&57 Vict., c. 62 .. The Madras and Bombay Annies Act, 1898 The whole Act.
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