Q170. Which law ended dual Company administration and transferred governance to the Crown?
[DSSSB PRT (16 February 2026, Shift 3)]
(A) Pitt’s India Act, 1784
(B) Government of India Act, 1858
(C) Charter Act, 1833
(D) Regulating Act, 1773
Answer: (B) Government of India Act, 1858
Explanation: The Government of India Act of 1858 replaced Company government with direct Crown administration. It dissolved the Board of Control and Court of Directors and created the office of Secretary of State for India, assisted by an advisory council.
Q169. Which Act empowered colonial authorities to detain political suspects without trial for up to two years?
[SSC MTS 2025 Official Paper (10 February 2026, Shift 1)]
(A) Indian Councils Act, 1861
(B) Indian Councils Act, 1892
(C) Morley–Minto Reforms, 1909
(D) Rowlatt Act, 1919
Answer: (D) Rowlatt Act, 1919
Explanation: The Rowlatt Act of 1919 extended exceptional wartime-style powers into peacetime, including detention without ordinary trial safeguards. Indian leaders opposed these measures as repressive, and Gandhi organized a nationwide satyagraha against the legislation during 1919.
Q168. Why is the Government of India Act, 1935, a constitutional milestone?
[Delhi Police Head Constable Ministerial (12 January 2026, Shift 1; 2025 exam cycle)]
(A) It provided universal adult franchise
(B) It introduced provincial dyarchy
(C) It proposed an all-India federation and provincial autonomy
(D) It guaranteed fundamental rights to everyone
Answer: (C) It proposed an all-India federation and provincial autonomy
Explanation: The Act proposed a federation of provinces and princely states and introduced provincial autonomy in place of provincial dyarchy. However, full responsible government and universal adult voting rights remained absent, while governors and the Viceroy retained substantial authority.
Q167. Who introduced the Permanent Settlement of Bengal in 1793, fixing land revenue through landlords?
[Delhi Police Head Constable Ministerial 2025 Paper (9 January 2026, Shift 3)]
(A) Lord Hastings
(B) Lord Wellesley
(C) Lord Cornwallis
(D) Lord Curzon
Answer: (C) Lord Cornwallis
Explanation: Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in 1793, fixing the Company’s land-revenue demand from zamindars. The arrangement strengthened landlord property rights but often exposed cultivators to insecurity and helped consolidate a hierarchical colonial revenue administration.
Q166. Which Act provided for a Federal Railway Authority?
[UGC NET Political Science (6 January 2026, Shift 1)]
(A) Charter Act of 1813
(B) Indian Councils Act of 1909
(C) Indian Councils Act of 1892
(D) Government of India Act of 1935
Answer: (D) Government of India Act of 1935
Explanation: The Government of India Act of 1935 contemplated a Federal Railway Authority for the administration of the railway system. It reflected the proposed federal framework in which certain technical and strategic services required centralized management.
Q165. In which year did the Viceroy issue the resolution that strengthened democratic forms of municipal self-government in British India?
[UGC NET Political Science (6 January 2026, Shift 1)]
(A) 1882
(B) 1879
(C) 1877
(D) 1885
Answer: (A) 1882
Explanation: Lord Ripon’s Resolution on Local Self-Government was issued in 1882. It supported district and municipal boards and encouraged non-official participation in local administration. Though operating within colonial constraints, the initiative became influential in the development of Indian local government.
Q164. Which Act first provided for a Federal Court in India?
[Delhi Police Constable Executive (5 January 2026, Shift 2)]
(A) Cabinet Mission Plan
(B) Government of India Act, 1935
(C) Morley–Minto Reforms
(D) Government of India Act, 1919
Answer: (B) Government of India Act, 1935
Explanation: The Government of India Act of 1935 authorized a Federal Court to interpret the Act and adjudicate federal disputes. The court started functioning in 1937, with Sir Maurice Gwyer as its first Chief Justice, before being superseded in 1950.
Q163. What issue triggered the Ilbert Bill controversy?
[Delhi Police Constable Executive (5 January 2026, Shift 2)]
(A) Vernacular education
(B) Indian Civil Service recruitment
(C) Criminal jurisdiction of Indian judges over Europeans
(D) Freedom of the press
Answer: (C) Criminal jurisdiction of Indian judges over Europeans
Explanation: Introduced in 1883 during Lord Ripon’s viceroyalty, the Ilbert Bill proposed allowing qualified Indian judges to try European British defendants. Fierce European opposition forced a compromise, revealing racial inequality within British India’s legal institutions.
Q162. Who became the first Governor-General of Bengal under the Regulating Act?
[Delhi Police Constable Executive (5 January 2026, Shift 1)]
(A) Robert Clive
(B) Warren Hastings
(C) Lord Cornwallis
(D) Lord Wellesley
Answer: (B) Warren Hastings
Explanation: The Regulating Act of 1773 established the office of Governor-General of Bengal, first held by Warren Hastings. He was assisted by a four-member council and supervised the Bombay and Madras presidencies in important matters of war and diplomacy.
Q161. Local self-government was strengthened by the Resolution of 1882. Which Viceroy was associated with it?
[UGC NET History (5 January 2026, Shift 2)]
(A) Lord Canning
(B) Lord Ripon
(C) Lord Curzon
(D) Lord Dufferin
Answer: (B) Lord Ripon
Explanation: Lord Ripon championed the 1882 Resolution as a measure for administrative decentralization and local participation. His proposals promoted local boards, non-official membership and greater practical involvement in civic affairs, earning him recognition as a pioneer of local self-government.
