The Company Rule-Regulating Act of 1773

The Company Rule (1773-1858)

Regulating Act of 1773: The 1773 Act is particularly important in India's constitutional history inasmuch as it was the beginning of the efforts at British Parliamentary control over the company administration in India. The administration of territories under the company rule was no more a private affair of the traders of the company. The Regulating Act of 1773 for the first time presented a written constitution for company rule in India and acknowledged the political and administrative responsibilities of the company. This Act was also perhaps the first step in the direction of consolidation o f the British Rule and centralization of administration in India. The Act established a Supreme Court at Calcutta, brought the three erstwhile independent and separate Presidencies generally under the control of the Governor-General of Bengal with his four newly appointed Councillors, and brought about fundamental reforms in the composition of the court of Directors in England.