Q30. Which Indian Councils Act explicitly expanded the elective principle in legislative councils?
[Punjab and Haryana High Court Clerk (2022)]
A. 1920
B. 1935
C. 1909
D. 1916
Answer: C. 1909
Explanation: The Indian Councils Act, 1909, also called the Morley-Minto Reforms, enlarged legislative councils and introduced separate Muslim electorates. The 1909 reform introduced distinctive electoral constituencies, including separate electorates for Muslims, beyond the earlier indirect selection practices.
Q29. Section 43 of the Charter Act, 1813, principally concerned which subject?
[OPSC Assistant Section Officer (2022)]
A. Public order
B. Education
C. Trade taxes
D. Cultural renaissance
Answer: B. Education
Explanation: The Charter Act of 1813 reduced the Company’s commercial monopoly and made an annual educational allocation, while preserving specified tea and China trading privileges. It provided an annual sum of one lakh rupees for promoting literature, knowledge and science among people in British India.
Q28. The East India Company legislation enacted in 1813 was called what?
[RRB Group D (2022)]
A. Charter Act
B. British Parliament Act
C. Indian Councils Act
D. Indian Independence Act
Answer: A. Charter Act
Explanation: The Charter Act of 1813 reduced the Company’s commercial monopoly and made an annual educational allocation, while preserving specified tea and China trading privileges. The Charter Act renewed Company privileges for a limited period while removing much of its exclusive trade with India.
Q27. Which Act provided for setting up a Supreme Court at Calcutta?
[SSC MTS (2022)]
A. Regulating Act, 1773
B. Pitt’s India Act, 1784
C. Charter Act, 1853
D. Charter Act, 1793
Answer: A. Regulating Act, 1773
Explanation: The Regulating Act of 1773 was the first major parliamentary step to supervise the East India Company, creating a Bengal Governor-General and providing for a Calcutta Supreme Court. The Supreme Court opened in 1774 and operated with a Chief Justice and three other judges.
Q26. Which Act authorised the establishment of a Supreme Court in Calcutta?
[Odisha Police Sub-Inspector (2022)]
A. Regulating Act, 1773
B. Charter Act, 1813
C. Pitt’s India Act, 1784
D. Charter Act, 1833
Answer: A. Regulating Act, 1773
Explanation: The Regulating Act of 1773 was the first major parliamentary step to supervise the East India Company, creating a Bengal Governor-General and providing for a Calcutta Supreme Court. The Court at Fort William provided a Crown judicial institution alongside Company administration, often producing jurisdictional disputes.
Q25. Which Act created the Board of Control for Company affairs?
[Odisha Police Sub-Inspector (2022)]
A. Government of India Act, 1858
B. Regulating Act, 1773
C. Charter Act, 1833
D. Pitt’s India Act, 1784
Answer: D. Pitt’s India Act, 1784
Explanation: Pitt’s India Act of 1784 strengthened British political oversight through a Board of Control, while the East India Company’s directors retained important corporate functions. The Board’s members supervised political and administrative matters, while Company directors continued their commercial responsibilities.
Q24. Which Act first ended the Company’s monopoly of trade with India, apart from specified exceptions?
[Odisha Police Sub-Inspector (2022)]
A. Pitt’s India Act, 1784
B. Regulating Act, 1773
C. None of the above
D. Charter Act, 1813
Answer: D. Charter Act, 1813
Explanation: The Charter Act of 1813 reduced the Company’s commercial monopoly and made an annual educational allocation, while preserving specified tea and China trading privileges. The 1813 Act opened most Indian trade to private British merchants but continued exclusive rights in tea and China trade.
Q23. The Government of India Act, 1935, is chiefly linked to which constitutional principle?
[Odisha Police Sub-Inspector (2022)]
A. Hereditary succession
B. Federal and parliamentary institutions
C. An independent Constituent Assembly
D. Immediate complete independence
Answer: B. Federal and parliamentary institutions
Explanation: The Government of India Act, 1935, replaced provincial dyarchy with provincial autonomy, envisaged an all-India federation and established the framework for a Federal Court. It proposed an Indian federation and granted provincial autonomy, without creating an independent sovereign Constituent Assembly.
Q22. The 1919 constitutional reforms were named after Viceroy Chelmsford and which Secretary of State?
[RRB NTPC CBT-II Level 3 (2022)]
A. Lord Elgin
B. Edwin Montagu
C. Charles I
D. Lord Linlithgow
Answer: B. Edwin Montagu
Explanation: The Government of India Act, 1919, known as Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, introduced provincial dyarchy and a two-chamber central legislature. Montagu and Chelmsford sponsored the reforms that produced the Government of India Act, 1919, including provincial dyarchy.
Q21. Which reform introduced separate electorates for Muslims in British India?
[UPSC CDS I, General Knowledge (2022)]
A. Morley-Minto Reforms, 1909
B. Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, 1919
C. Communal Award, 1932
D. Government of India Act, 1935
Answer: A. Morley-Minto Reforms, 1909
Explanation: The Indian Councils Act, 1909, also called the Morley-Minto Reforms, enlarged legislative councils and introduced separate Muslim electorates. The electorates permitted Muslim voters to select specified Muslim representatives and established a lasting communal feature of legislative elections.
