Q140. Which of these laws provided for provincial autonomy in British India?
[SSC GD Constable 2026, Shift 1 (2026)]
A. Government of India Act, 1935
B. Government of India Act, 1919
C. Indian Councils Act, 1909
D. Indian Councils Act, 1861
Answer: A. Government of India Act, 1935
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. Elected provincial ministries gained a wider sphere of responsibility under the new arrangements, although governors retained special powers.
Q139. Under which legislation were discussions of the budget first permitted in legislative councils?
[SSC GD Constable 2026, Shift 3 (2026)]
A. Indian Councils Act, 1892
B. Indian Councils Act, 1861
C. Indian Councils Act, 1909
D. Government of India Act, 1919
Answer: A. Indian Councils Act, 1892
Explanation: The Indian Councils Act, 1892, increased legislative participation and permitted restricted budget discussions, questions and indirect modes of selecting some members. Members could debate financial proposals and ask restricted questions, but they could not vote to approve or reject the budget.
Q138. Which law formally ended the East India Company’s rule over India?
[SSC GD Constable 2026, Shift 1 (2026)]
A. Regulating Act, 1773
B. Government of India Act, 1858
C. Indian Councils Act, 1861
D. Charter Act, 1833
Answer: B. Government of India Act, 1858
Explanation: The Government of India Act, 1858, transferred governance from the East India Company to the British Crown, introducing a Secretary of State for India. The uprising of 1857 preceded Parliament’s decision to transfer governance from the Company to the British Crown.
Q137. Which British-era law is often described as a blueprint for the Indian Constitution?
[SSC GD Constable 2026, Shift 3 ]
A. Morley-Minto Reforms, 1909
B. Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, 1919
C. Government of India Act, 1935
D. Indian Independence Act, 1947
Answer: C. Government of India Act, 1935
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. Its institutional arrangements concerning federalism, provincial administration and the judiciary influenced the subsequent constitutional design, even though India’s Constitution established sovereign democracy.
Q136. The Charter Act of 1813 ended the Company’s monopoly over which trade?
[SSC GD Constable 2026, Shift 1]
A. Opium alone
B. Trade with China
C. Trade with Europe alone
D. Trade with India, except tea and China commerce
Answer: D. Trade with India, except tea and China commerce
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. Private British traders received broader access to Indian commerce, while the Company’s privileged tea and China businesses continued temporarily.
Q135. Which law introduced the principle of open competition in recruitment to the civil services?
[SSC GD Constable 2026, Shift 2]
A. Charter Act, 1813
B. Charter Act, 1833
C. Charter Act, 1853
D. Indian Councils Act, 1861
Answer: C. Charter Act, 1853
Explanation: The Charter Act of 1853 separated legislative and executive functions within the Governor-General’s council and enabled competitive civil-service recruitment. Competitive examinations replaced the old patronage principle; arrangements for open competitive recruitment followed, with examinations initially held in London.
Q134. What did the Government of India Act, 1935, provide for?
[RRB NTPC Undergraduate CBT-I, Shift 2]
A. Provincial autonomy and a federal scheme
B. Separate electorates for every group
C. Electorates confined to Hindus
D. Introduction of dyarchy in provinces
Answer: A. Provincial autonomy and a federal scheme
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. The Act removed provincial dyarchy and envisaged federation, although the central federal provisions were never fully implemented.
Q133. Why was the Charter Act of 1813 significant for Indian trade?
[OSSSC Forester/Forest Guard/Excise Constable, Shift 2]
A. It created the first Indian council
B. It reinforced monopoly over all trade
C. It ended the Company’s China monopoly
D. It ended the Company’s Indian trade monopoly, subject to exceptions
Answer: D. It ended the Company’s Indian trade monopoly, subject to exceptions
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. India trade was opened to private British merchants, but the tea monopoly and China trade privileges survived until later legislation.
Q132. Which Act introduced bicameralism in the central legislature?
[OSSSC Forester/Forest Guard/Excise Constable, Shift 1]
A. Charter Act, 1833
B. Indian Councils Act, 1861
C. Government of India Act, 1919
D. Pitt’s India Act, 1784
Answer: C. Government of India Act, 1919
Explanation: The Government of India Act, 1919, known as Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms, introduced provincial dyarchy and a two-chamber central legislature. The new central legislature consisted of the Council of State and Legislative Assembly, replacing the previous single legislative chamber.
Q131. What was the principal purpose of the Regulating Act, 1773?
[OSSSC Forester/Forest Guard/Excise Constable, Shift 1]
A. To abolish slavery
B. To bring East India Company administration under parliamentary regulation
C. To promote unrestricted commerce only
D. To build railways
Answer: B. To bring East India Company administration under parliamentary regulation
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. Parliament intervened in the Company’s affairs and reorganised Bengal’s executive authority, marking an early stage of government oversight.
