Government of India Act 1915

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Government of India Act 1915[lower-alpha 1]
Act of Parliament
File:Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long titleAn Act to consolidate enactments relating to the Government of India.
Citation5 & 6 Geo. 5. c. 61
Territorial extentUnited Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent29 July 1915
Commencement1 January 1916[lower-alpha 2]
Repealed1 April 1937
Other legislation
AmendsSee § Repealed enactments
RepealsSee § Repealed enactments
Amended by
Repealed byGovernment of India Act 1935
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Government of India Act 1915 (5 & 6 Geo. 5. c. 61) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which consolidated prior acts of Parliament concerning British India into a single act. It was passed in July 1915 and went into effect on 1 January 1916.[1]

Section 130 of the act, and the fourth schedule to, the act repealed 47 enactments, starting with the East India Company Act 1770 (10 Geo. 3. c. 47), and replaced them with a single act containing 135 sections and five schedules. It was introduced first to the House of Lords, where it was referred to a joint committee of Parliament chaired by Lord Loreburn. The committee removed several provisions which went beyond the simple consolidation of existing law.

A supplemental act, mostly technical in nature and including several of the provisions struck out of the consolidation act, was introduced and passed in 1916, becoming the Government of India (Amendment) Act 1916 (6 & 7 Geo. 5. c. 37).

The 1915 act and its supplemental act the following year "made the English statute law relating to India easier to understand, and therefore easier to amend."[2] The Government of India Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 101) made substantial changes to the law.

Provisions[edit | edit source]

Repealed enactments[edit | edit source]

Section 130 of the act repealed 47 enactments, listed in the fourth schedule to the act.[3]

Citation Short title Extent of repeal
10 Geo. 3. c. 47 East India Company Act 1770 The whole act.
13 Geo. 3. c. 63 East India Company Act 1772 The whole act, except sections forty-two, forty-three and forty-five.
21 Geo. 3. c. 70 East India Company Act 1780 The whole act, except section eighteen.
26 Geo. 3. c. 57 East India Company Act 1786 Section thirty-eight.
33 Geo. 3. c. 52 East India Company Act 1793 The whole act.
37 Geo. 3. c. 142 East India Act 1797 The whole act, except section twelve.
39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. 79 Government of India Act 1800 The whole act.
53 Geo. 3. c. 155 East India Company Act 1813 The whole act.
55 Geo. 3. c. 84 Indian Presidency Towns Act 1815 The whole act.
4 Geo. 4. c. 71 Indian Bishops and Courts Act 1823 The whole act.
6 Geo. 4. c. 85 Indian Salaries and Pensions Act 1825 The whole act.
7 Geo. 4. c. 56 East India Officers' Act 1826 The whole act.
3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 85 Government of India Act 1833 The whole act, except section one hundred and twelve.
5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 52 India (North-West Provinces) Act 1835 The whole act.
7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 47 India Officers' Salaries Act 1837 The whole act.
5 & 6 Vict. c. 119 Indian Bishops Act 1842 The whole act.
16 & 17 Vict. c. 95 Government of India Act 1853 The whole act.
17 & 18 Vict. c. 77 Government of India Act 1854 The whole act.
21 & 22 Vict. c. 106 Government of India Act 1858 The whole act, except section four.
22 & 23 Vict. c. 41 Government of India Act 1859 The whole act.
23 & 24 Vict. c. 100 European Forces (India) Act 1860 The whole act.
23 & 24 Vict. c. 102 East India Stock Act 1860 The whole act, except section six.
24 & 25 Vict. c. 54 Indian Civil Service Act 1861 The whole act.
24 & 25 Vict. c. 67 Indian Councils Act 1861 The whole act.
24 & 25 Vict. c. 104 Indian High Courts Act 1861 The whole act.
28 & 29 Vict. c. 15 Indian High Courts Act 1865 The whole act.
28 & 29 Vict. c. 17 Government of India Act 1865 The whole act.
32 & 33 Vict. c. 97 Government of India Act 1869 The whole act.
32 & 33 Vict. c. 98 Indian Councils Act 1869 The whole act.
33 & 34 Vict. c. 3 Government of India Act 1870 The whole act.
33 & 34 Vict. c. 59 East India Contracts Act 1870 The whole act.
34 & 35 Vict. c. 34 Indian Councils Act 1871 The whole act.
34 & 35 Vict. c. 62 Indian Bishops Act 1871 The whole act.
37 & 38 Vict. c. 3 East India Loan Act 1874 Section fifteen.
37 & 38 Vict. c. 77 Colonial Clergy Act 1874 Section thirteen.
37 & 38 Vict. c. 91 Indian Councils Act 1874 The whole act.
43 Vict. c. 3 Indian Salaries and Allowances Act 1880 The whole act.
44 & 45 Vict. c. 63 India Office Auditor Act 1881 The whole act.
47 & 48 Vict. c. 38 Indian Marine Service Act 1884 Sections two, three, four and five.
55 & 56 Vict. c. 14 Indian Councils Act 1892 The whole act.
3 Edw. 7. c. 11 Contracts (India Office) Act 1903 The whole act.
4 Edw. 7. c. 26 Indian Councils Act 1904 The whole act.
7 Edw. 7. c. 35 Council of India Act 1907 The whole act.
9 Edw. 7. c. 4 Indian Councils Act 1909 The whole act.
1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 18 Indian High Courts Act 1911 The whole act.
1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 25 Government of India Act Amendment Act 1911 The whole act.
2 & 3 Geo. 5. c. 6 Government of India Act 1912 The whole act.

Subsequent developments[edit | edit source]

The whole act was repealed by section 321 of, and the tenth schedule to, the Government of India Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 42), which came into force on 1 April 1937.[4]

Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Section 135.
  2. ↑ Section 135.
  3. ↑ Section 8(1).
  4. ↑ Section 8(2).

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ Ilbert, Courtenay Peregrine (1922), The Government of India (Third revised and updated ed.), Clarendon Press, p. 122
  2. ↑ Ilbert (1922), p. 123.
  3. ↑ Template:Cite legislation UK
  4. ↑ Template:Cite legislation UK

External links[edit | edit source]

Template:UK legislation

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