Merits and Signficiance of the Regulating Act of 1773 with a video.

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Merits and Significance of the Regulating Act;

The Regulating Act was a measure of great constitutional significance. It was the first in the series of the British Parliament Acts that altered the British Government in India from time to time. From the historical point of view, it became the basis of the Indian Constitution that came alive on January 26, 1950.

1. It was the first British Parliament legislation that imparted constitutional form to the arbitrary sovereignty that a trading company of London acquired in India.

2. The Regulating Act changed the nature of a commercial corporation. The East India Company was a commercial body that had turned into a territorial power that was not under the control of the British Parliament. The company originated in London as per the laws of Britain. But, it had turned into a sovereign in a foreign land while sustaining its existence on the strength imparted to it by the British laws. It had raised the question of the position of the British Parliament, the mother who had given birth to it. It had risen to the status of a Crown and sought an equal platform with the British crown in the international arena. One of the solutions was to dissolve the company, which the British law had all the power to do. However, by the Regulating Act, the British Parliament saved the work of a British corporation for the British nation. In the process, British law changed the nature of the British trading corporation.

3. The Regulating Act started a series of legislation that started a process of centralisation concerning Indian administration. The Governor of Bengal became the Governor General of Bengal and the other presidencies with their governor came under its supreme control. It became the genesis of the unitary type of government in India. It is considered to be one major factor towards the unification of India.

4. The Regulating Act also achieved a unique and novel solution through the parliamentary process. By this legislation, the British nation as a nation took over the responsibility of the government of the territories which were acquired by the servants of the commercial organisation. It was never done before in the history of Europe, and Britain was the first nation to do it.

5. The Regulating Act brought the working of the Company under the direct control of the British Parliament, curtailed the powers and patronage of the Company over Indian civil and military activities, and regularised the internal economy of the company.

6. The Regulating Act became a major historic act in the history of India. All the activities of the company in India were made the record of the British Parliament. The British Parliament watched and recorded all the developments in India. British Parliament curbed the corruption which the servants of the company shamelessly practised and discussed in its sessions. It resulted in historic speeches of reputed legal minds of the time in Parliament and jolted the conscience of the British nation. All those speeches are now preserved in pages of the Parliamentary records. Those documents preserved the proceedings on impeachments of the Governor Generals and the questionable deeds of different officers and ultimately became the basis of correcting the flaws of the Regulating Act.

7. The Regulating Act did not take over the administration of the Indian territories in the name of the Crown. It was done later. However, it started a process of securing an efficient and orderly government in India based on Parliamentary principles.

The Regulating Act contained flaws. It soon came to the notice of the British Parliament. It took time, but gradually corrected it to make the Regulating Act worthy of the British Parliament. A brief of the corrective legislation is given below.

In passing, it is worth mentioning that the Regulating Act contained flaws. It soon came to the notice of the British Parliament. It took time but gradually corrected it to make the Regulating Act worthy of the British Parliament. The British Parliament took some time but finally passed the Amending Act 1781, generally referred to as a Supplement to the Regulating Act.