View source for Indian Councils Act 1892

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
|short_title          = Indian Councils Act, 1892{{efn|Short title as conferred by section 8 thereof. Modern conventions for [[short title]]s omit the comma after "Act".}}
|parliament           = Parliament of the United Kingdom
|long_title           = 
|year                 = 1892
|statute_book_chapter = 55 & 56 Vict. c. 14
|introduced_by        = [[R. A. Cross, 1st Viscount Cross]] on 9 February 1892
|territorial_extent   = 
|royal_assent         = 20 June 1892
|commencement         = 3 February 1893
|repeal_date          = 
|amendments           = 
|related_legislation  = 
|repealing_legislation= [[Government of India Act 1915]]
|status               = Repealed
|original_text        = 
|legislation_history  = 
|use_new_UK-LEG       =
|revised_text         =
}}

The '''Indian Councils Act 1892''' was an [[Act of Parliament|Act]] of [[British parliament|British Parliament]] that introduced various amendments to the composition and function of [[legislative council]]s in [[British India]]. Most notably, the act expanded the number of members in the central and provincial councils. For example, the number of additional members elected to the Governor-General's council{{efn|The Governor-General's Council also is called the Viceroy's council and the Central council.}} was increased from twelve to sixteen members{{sfn|Ilbert|1911|p=246}} of whom – as per the [[Indian Councils Act 1861]] – not less than half were to be non-officials, i.e. persons not in the civil or military service of the Crown. The Governor-General was empowered to invite different bodies in India to elect, select or delegate their representatives and to make 
regulations for their nomination.{{sfn|Ilbert|1911|p=248}}

After being presented to the [[House of Lords]] in 1890, the Act was passed in 1892 in response to nationalist movements beginning to surface across British India.{{cn|date=April 2021}} 
This scheme would be overturned by passage of the [[Indian Councils Act 1909]] – also called the Morley-Minto reforms – which introduced indirect elections to Indian councils along with special electoral preferences for muslim minorities and various commercial and functional interests.

== Membership ==
Under the regulations adopted, the Governor-General's council was to consist of nine ex-officio members (the Governor-General, six members of the Executive Council, the Commander-in-Chief, and the head of the province in which the council met), six official additional members and ten non-official members of the Legislative Councils of Bengal, Bombay, Madras and the Northwestern province. When Legislative Councils were established in Punjab and Burma, one member each was returned from these also. In conjunction with the ex-officio members, the official members constituted a majority.{{cn|date=April 2021}}

Similar changes were introduced in the composition of provincial legislative Councils. In all the provinces – with some exception in Bombay – an official majority,{{efn|An official majority being when a majority of councillors are British civil service or military officials.}} while not required by statute, was maintained.{{sfn|Ilbert|1911|p=247}}

While the Central Legislative Council was expanded to include between 10 and 16 Additional Members, specifics in provinces varied: Bombay came to have 8 Additional Members; Madras 20; Bengal 20; Northwestern Province & Oudh 15.{{cn|date=April 2021}} 

The universities, district board, municipalities, [[zamindars]] and chambers of commerce were empowered to recommend members to provincial councils. While such recommendations could theoretically be rejected, in practice, they were not refused.{{sfn|Ilbert|1911|p=248}} Thus, while failing to answer calls for direct elections, {{cn span|the principle of representation was introduced|date=April 2021}}.

== Council powers ==
In addition to these changes, the Act relaxed restrictions imposed by the [[Indian Councils Act 1861]] in allowing councils to discuss – but not vote on – each year's annual financial statement.{{sfn|Ilbert|1911|pp=251–52|ps=. 'Under this power one or two days were allotted annually in every council to a discussion of a budget already settled by the executive government'.}} Councillors could also put questions within certain limits to the government on the matter of public interest after giving six days' notice, but none of them was given right to ask supplementary questions.{{sfn|Ilbert|1911|p=254}}

==See also==
*[[Indian National Congress]]
*[[British Committee of the Indian National Congress]]
*[[William Wedderburn]]
*[[Dadabhai Naoroji]]
*[[Indian Councils Act 1909]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite book |last=Ilbert |first=Courtenay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IfYaAAAAYAAJ|title=The Government of India: Being a Digest of the Statute Law Relating Thereto|date=1898|publisher=Clarendon Press|language=en |location=Oxford}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Ilbert|first=Courtenay|date=1911|title=The Indian Councils Act, 1909|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/752520|journal=Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation|volume=11|issue=2|pages=243–254|issn=1479-5973}}<!-- Old source, but does describe factual changes in the mechanics of government in detail. Would not, however, rely on the judgements, conclusions, or speculations then given. -->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Councils Act 1892}}
[[Category:United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1892]]
[[Category:Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning India]]
[[Category:1892 in India]]
[[Category:Legislation in British India]]
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