Bombay Legislative Council was the legislature of the Bombay Province and later the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

of the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

legislature of Bombay Province in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

and the Indian state of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

History

The

Indian Councils Act 1861 The Indian Councils Act 1861 ( 24 & 25 Vict. c. 67) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that transformed India's Executive Council to function as a cabinet run on the portfolio system. This cabinet had six "ordinary members", w ...

set up the Bombay Legislative Council as an advisory body through which the colonial administration obtained advice and assistance. The Act empowered the provincial Governor to nominate four non-English Indian members to the council for the first time. Under the Act, the nominated members were allowed to move their own bills and vote on bills introduced in the council. However, they were not allowed to question the executive, move resolutions or examine the budget and not interfere with the laws passed by the Central Legislature. The Governor was also the president of the Council and he had complete authority over when, where and how long to convene the Council and what to discuss. Two members of his Executive Council and the Advocate-General of Bombay were also allowed to participate and vote in the Council. The first meeting of the erstwhile Legislative Council of the then Bombay Province was held on 22 January 1862 at the Durbar Hall of the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. The meeting was then chaired by the then Governor, Sir George Russell Clerk. The first five Indian members of the council were chosen such that three of them did not know English. In 1892, the role of the Council was expanded by the Indian Councils Act 1892 and increased the total number of members of the Council to twenty. The non-official members were to be nominated from the Bombay Municipal Corporation, the Fellows of

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

, the Chamber of Commerce of Bombay, the Chamber of Commerce of

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, the zamindars of Sind, the sardars of the Deccan, the municipalities of the Northern Division, the local boards of the Southern Division and three representatives of the Central Division. The Council could discuss the annual financial statement and ask questions subject to certain limitations. The

Indian Councils Act 1909 The Indian Councils Act 1909 ( 9 Edw. 7. c. 4), commonly known as the Morley–Minto or Minto–Morley Reforms, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that brought about a limited increase in the involvement of Indians in the gover ...

officially introduced the method of electing members to the Council, but did not provide for direct election of the members. It abolished automatic official (executive) majorities in the Council and gave its members the power to move resolutions upon matters of general public interest and the budget and also to ask supplementary questions. Based on the recommendations of the Montague-Chelmsford report, the Government of India Act of 1919 was enacted. The Act enlarged the Bombay legislative council and increased the strength of elected members to be greater than that of nominated and official members. It introduced a system of

dyarchy Diarchy (from Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally spelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate. is a form of government charact ...

in the Provinces. The Government of India Act of 1935 abolished dyarchy and established provincial autonomy. It created a

legislature in the Bombay province. The Legislature consisted of the Governor and two Legislative bodies - a Legislative Assembly and a Legislative Council. The Council was a permanent body not subject to dissolution by the Governor and one-third of its members retired every three years. After India became

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

in 1947 and the

Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is the supreme legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and ...

was adopted in 1950, the Legislative Council continued to be the upper chamber of the legislature of the

Bombay State Bombay State was a large Indian state created in 1950 from the erstwhile Bombay Province, with other regions being added to it in the succeeding years. Bombay Province (in British India roughly equating to the present-day Indian state of Mah ...

. The legislature of

ceased to exist in 1960 after the bifurcation of Bombay into

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

and

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

List of members (1862–1909)

Indian Councils Act 1909

The

expanded the strength of the legislative council to 49 (including the Governor) and introduced the indirect election of members to the Council. The legislative council was composed of * Ex-officio members (4): Executive council members (3) and the Advocate-General (1) * Nominated members (21): Officials (up to 14), Experts (2) and Non-Officials * Elected members (21): Bombay Municipal Corporation (1), Municipalities (4),

University of Bombay University of Mumbai is a public university, public List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, state university in Mumbai. It is one of the List of largest universities and university networks by enrollment, largest univ ...

(1), Landholders (3), Muslims (4), Bombay Chamber of Commerce (1), Karachi Chamber of Commerce (1), Millowners' associations of Bombay (1) and Ahmadabad (1) and the Indian commercial community (1). Rafiuddin Ahmed, Sir Chinubhai Ranchhodlal, Lallubhai Shamaldas Mehta (1910-1912), R. P. Paranjpye (1912-1915), Sir Gokuldas Parekh (1912-1915), Vithalbhai Patel (1913-1920), Dinshaw Edulji Wacha (1915), Balkrishna Sitaram Kamat, Wadero Ghulam Kadir Dayo,(1913-1920) and Chunilal Mehta (1916) were among the notable members.

Government of India Act 1919

The Government of India Act of 1919 which introduced the concept of diarchy in the province further enlarged the council and gave the elected members a majority. The composition of the Council was as follows: *Nominated Members **Ex-officio Members of the Governor's Executive Council **Nominated Officials (25) **Nominated from special interest groups (5): Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians, Labour, Depressed Classes, Cotton Trade *Elected Members (86) **Non-Muhammadan (General) (46): ***Urban (11): Bombay City (North) (3), Bombay City (South) (3), Karachi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Sholapur, Poona ***Rural (35): Ahmedabad (2), Broach, Kaira (2), Panch Mahals, Surat (2), Thana (2), Ahmednagar (2), East Khandesh (3), Nasik (2), Poona (2), Satara (3), Belgaum (2), Bijapur, Dharwar (2), Kanara, Ratnagiri (2), Eastern Sind, Western Sind, Sholapur, Kolaba, West Khandesh **Muhammadan (27): ***Urban (5): Bombay City (2), Karachi City, Ahmedabad & Surat, Poona & Sholapur ***Rural (22): Northern Division (3), Central Division (3), Southern Division (3), Hyderabad (2), Karachi (2), Larkana (3), Sukkur (2), Thar & Parkar (2), Nawebshah, Upper Sind Frontier **European (2): Bombay City, Presidency **Landholders (3): Deccan Sardars, Gujarat Sardars, Sind Jagirdars & Zamindars **University (1): University of Bombay **Commerce & Industry (7): Bombay Chamber of Commerce (2), Karachi Chamber of Commerce, Bombay Trades Association, Bombay Millowners' Association, Ahmedabad Millowners' Association, Indian Merchants' Chamber & Bureau 7 of the constituencies were reserved for Marathas. Indians were elected as the President of the Council such as N. G. Chandavarkar (1921-1923), Ibrahim Rahimtullah (1923) and Ali Muhammad Khan Dehlavi (1927).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bombay Legislative Council Bombay Presidency Defunct upper houses in India Bombay State Legislatures of British India

History

List of members (1862–1909)

Indian Councils Act 1909

Government of India Act 1919

See also

References