- Charter Act of 1853 was the last of the series of Charter Acts passed by the British Parliament between 1793 and 1853 and it was a significant constitutional landmark.
- Governor-General of Bengal was made the Governor-General of India by Charter Act of 1833.
Features of the 1853 Act were -1. For the first time, it separated the legislative and executive functions of the Governor-General’s council.
2. It added six new members called legislative councilors to the council.
3. Thus, it established a separate Governor-General’s legislative council which came to be known as the Indian (Central) Legislative Council.
4. This legislative wing of the council functioned as a mini-Parliament, adopting the same procedures as the British Parliament.
5. Thus, legislation, for the first time, was treated as a special function of the government, requiring special machinery and special process.
6. It introduced an open competition system of selection and recruitment of civil servants.
7. The covenanted civil service was thus thrown open to the Indians also.
8. Thus, the Macaulay Committee (Committee on the Indian Civil Service) was appointed in 1854.
9. It extended the Company’s rule and allowed it to retain the possession of Indian territories on trust for the British Crown. But, it did not specify any specific period, unlike the previous Charters.
10. This meant that the Company’s rule could be terminated at any time the Parliament liked.
11. For the first time, it introduced local representation in the Indian (Central) Legislative Council.
12. 4 out of 6 new members were appointed by the local (provincial) governments of Madras, Bombay, Bengal and Agra.
