E lectoral system before independence
‘impossibility of applying any uniform system throughout’. However,
Morley suggested ‘the principle of Electoral Colleges’. The purpose
was that ‘minorities would be protected against exclusion by majori-
ties and all large and important sections of the population would have
the opportunity of returning members in proportion to their ratio to
the total population’.11 The electoral system suggested by the com-
mittee consisted of the principles of minority and class representation
along with communal representation.
Provisions of the Act of 1909
The following are the some of the significant provisions of the Indian
Councils Act of 1909 – the size of the councils was enlarged, the addi-
tional members of the Governor General’s Council were increased up to a
maximum of sixty, the Act did not provide for any official majority in the
provincial legislative councils, there was representation by the classes and
interests and there were separate legislative constituencies for Muham-
madans along with their to right to vote in the general constituencies.
The functions of the councils were increased. The members were
given the right to ask questions and move resolutions in the councils.
The system of election was indirect. The people elected members of
local bodies and they in turn elected a member of an Electoral Col-
lege. The Electoral College elected the members of the Provincial Leg-
islatures. They in turn elected members of Imperial legislature. It is
important to emphasize that the Act of 1909 gave a legal recognition
to the principle of election ‘which involved the imposition of legal
disqualifications for election’.
The Government of India, on November 15, 1909, issued the Regu-
lations for giving effect to the Indian Councils Act 1909. The compo-
sition of the Indian Legislative Councils (Table 2.1), as reconstituted
under the Indian Councils Act of 1909, consisted of Imperial Legisla-
tive Council and the Provincial Legislative Councils of Madras, Bom-
bay, Bengal, Bihar, United Provinces, the Punjab, Burma and Assam.
As is evident from the table, these Councils had non-official majorities,
with a large proportion of elected members.12
In the context of legislative councils, Broomfield observed that
‘Morley . . . recognized that although Bengal had only a Lieutenant-
Governor, its administrative problems demanded that, unlike other
Lieutenant-Governors’ provinces, it should not be denied an Execu-
tive Council’.13 In the legislative reforms of 1909, Bengal’s superior
political maturity was acknowledged by the provision of Representa-
tive Government. No other province was given this privilege.14
39
