Ordinary lative qualification for membership of the governor-general's council is somewhat different (s. 39). (d) This proviso, which is taken from the Act of 1793, is practically inoperative. 52.-(1) The councils of the governors of Madras and Bomand legis- bay hold ordinary meetings, that is to say, meetings for meetings executive purposes; and legislative meetings, that is to say, meetings for the purpose of making laws. of Madras and Bombay Councils. Procedure difference (2) The ordinary members of those councils are entitled to be present at all meetings thereof (a). (a) This section does not reproduce any specific enactment, but represents the existing law. 53. The foregoing provisions of this Digest with respect to in cases of the procedure in case of a difference of opinion between the of opinion. governor-general and his council, and in case of the governor133 Geo. III, c. 52, general being obliged to absent himself from his council by ss. 47, 48, indisposition or other cause, apply, with the necessary modifications, in the case of a difference of opinion between the Governor of Madras or Bombay and his council, and in the case of either of those governors being obliged to absent himself from his council (a). 49.] Business (a) See ss. 44 and 46. Section 44 reproduces 33 Geo. III, c. 52, ss. 47-49, as modified by 33 & 34 Vict. c. 3, s. 5. The last enactment applies only to the governor-general's council, but, as will be seen from the note to s. 44, does not substantially modify the Act of Geo. III. 54.—(1) All orders and other proceedings of the Governor of of Gover- Madras in Council and of the Governor of Bombay in Council must be expressed to be made by the Governor in Council, and nor in Council. [33 Geo. III, c. 52, must be signed by a secretary to the Government of the province, or otherwise as the Governor in Council may direct (a). s. 39. III, c. 155, 8. 79. 24 & 25 Vict. c. 67, s. 28.] respective councils, other than the business at legislative meetings, and every order made or act done in accordance (2) The governors of Madras and Bombay respectively may make rules and orders for the conduct of business in their with such rules and orders is deemed to be the order or the act of the Governor in Council. (a) See note on s. 43. Lieutenant-Governorships and other Provinces. vernors. 55.-(1) The provinces known as Bengal (a), the United LieutenProvinces of Agra and Oudh (b), the Punjab (c), Burma (c) ant-goand Eastern Bengal and Assam (a) are administered by [5 & 6 lieutenant-governors. (2) Every lieutenant-governor of a province in India is appointed by the governor-general, subject to the approval of His Majesty (d). (3) A lieutenant-governor must have been, at the time of his appointment, at least ten years in the service of the Crown in India (e). (4) The Governor-General in Council may, with the approval of the Secretary of State in Council, declare and limit the extent of the authority of any lieutenant-governor (f). (a) By s. 16 of the Government of India Act, 1853, the Court of Directors were authorized to declare that the Governor-General of India should not be Governor of the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal, but that a separate governor should be appointed for that presidency, and in that case a governor was to be appointed in like manner as the governors of Madras and Bombay, and the governorgeneral's power of appointing a deputy-governor of Bengal was to cease. But unless and until a separate governor of the presidency was so constituted, the Governor-General in Council might appoint any servant of the Company who had been ten years in its service in India to be lieutenant-governor of such part of the territories under the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal as, for the time being, might not be under the Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces. The project of constituting a new governorship was abandoned, and under the alternative power a lieutenant-governor of the Lower Provinces of Bengal (now commonly known as Bengal) was appointed in 1854. In October, 1905, a new province was formed by detaching the eastern part of Bengal from the rest of the province and uniting it with Assam under a lieutenant-governor. See Act VII of 1905. (b) The lieutenant-governorship of the North-Western Provinces was of earlier date than the lieutenant-governorship of Bengal, and was constituted under an Act of 1835 (5 & 6 Will. IV, c. 52). The Act of 1833 had directed the division of the Presidency of Bengal into two distinct presidencies, one to be styled the Presidency of Fort William, the other the Presidency of Agra. The Act of 1835 authorized the Court of Directors to suspend these provisions, and directed that during the period of suspension the Governor-General in Council might appoint any servant of the Company who had been ten years in its Will. IV, s. 16. 77, S. 4. 21 & 22 Vict. c. 106, s. 29.] service in India to the office of Lieutenant-Governor of the NorthWestern Provinces now under the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal,' a designation then appropriate, but since made inappropriate by the annexation of the Punjab. Power was also given to declare and limit the extent of the territories so placed under a lieutenantgovernor, and of the authority to be exercised by him. The arrangements thus temporarily made by the Act of 1835 were continued by the Act of 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. 95, s. 15). A lieutenant-governor of the North-Western Provinces was first appointed by notification, dated February 29, 1836 (Calcutta Gazette for March 2, 1836, second supplement). This notification merely gave the lieutenant-governor the powers of the Governor of Agra, and those powers, as defined by 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 85, did not include any of the powers of the GovernorGeneral in Council under the Bengal Regulations. The power given by the Act of 1835 to define the authority of the lieutenant-governor is probably superseded by the powers under 17 & 18 Vict. c. 77, s. 4. The Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces used to be also Chief Commissioner of Oudh. In 1901, when the North-West Frontier Province was constituted, the old North-Western Provinces were united with Oudh under a lieutenant-governor, and the two provinces were designated the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. The union was confirmed by Act VII of 1902. (c) Section 17 of the Act of 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. c. 95) enacts that :'It shall be lawful for the Court of Directors of the said Company, under such direction and control, if and when they think fit, to constitute one new presidency within the territories subject for the time being to the government of the said Company, and to declare and appoint what part of such territories shall be subject to the government of such new presidency; and unless and until such new presidency be constituted as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the said Court of Directors, under such direction and control as aforesaid, if and when they think fit, to authorize (in addition to such appointments as are herein before authorized to be continued and made for the territories now and heretofore under the said Presidency of Fort William) the appointment by the said Governor-General in Council of a lieutenantgovernor for any part of the territories for the time being subject to the government of the said Company, and to declare for what part of the said territories such lieutenant-governor shall be appointed, and the extent of his authority, and from time to time to revoke or alter any such declaration.' The power of constituting a new presidency was not exercised, but that of appointing a new lieutenant-governor was exercised in 1859 by the appointment of Sir John Lawrence as Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. The rule of construction applied to recent Acts of Parliament by s. 32 of the Interpretation Act, 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 63), does not apply to the Act of 1853, and, apart from this, the power of appointing fresh lieutenant-governors under the Act of 1853 was probably exhausted by the constitution of a lieutenant-governor ship of the Punjab. Further powers of constituting lieutenantgovernorships are given by s. 46 of the Indian Councils Act, 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 67), but apparently are exercisable only when a new legislative council is established. See the note on s. 74 below. It was under these further powers that in 1897 Burma, and in 1905 Eastern Bengal and Assam, were constituted lieutenant-governorships. (d) See 21 & 22 Vict. c. 106, s. 29. (e) This provision applies in terms only to the lieutenant-governors of Bengal and the North-Western Provinces (now united with Oudh), but its operation has been perhaps extended by the final words of 21 & 22 Vict. c. 106, s. 29. (f) This sub-section reproduces s. 4 of the Act of 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 77), which, however, applies in terms only to the two older lieutenantgovernorships, the language being: 'It shall be lawful for the said Governor-General of India in Council, with the like sanction and approbation [i. e. of the Court of Directors and the Board of Control], from time to time to declare and limit the extent of the authority of the Governor in Council, Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal, or of Agra, or the North-Western Provinces, who is now, or may be hereafter, appointed.' But a power to alter the limits of provinces is given by other enactments. See s. 57 below. place 56. The Governor-General in Council may, with the ap- Power to proval of the Secretary of State, and by notification in the territory Gazette of India, take any part of British India under the under authority immediate authority and management of the Governor- of GoverGeneral in Council, and thereupon give all necessary orders and General in directions respecting the administration of that part, or other- Council. wise provide for the administration thereof. There is reason to believe that the enactment reproduced by this section was passed in consequence of a minute of Sir Barnes Peacock, forming an enclosure to a dispatch from the Government of India, dated July 16, 1852, and that it was mainly designed to give the Governor-General in Council the power which, according to Sir Barnes Peacock, he had not, of taking under his immediate executive control territory which formed part of some one of the presidencies. The section has been thus applied in various cases. Thus Arakan, which was originally annexed to Lower Bengal, was under this section taken into the hands of the Governor-General in Council and annexed to British Burma (Foreign Department Notification, No. 30 (Political), dated January 16, 1862). The province of Assam (now united with Eastern Bengal) was constituted by removing it under this section from the lieutenant-governorship of Bengal, taking it under the Governor-General in Council, and constituting it a chief commissionership, the regulation district of Sylhet being subsequently added to it in the same manner (Home Department Proclamation, No. 379, nor [17 & 18 Vict. c. 77, s. 3.1 Power to alter limits of February 6, 1874; and Notification No. 380, of same date; also On the other hand, when the chief commissionerships of Oudh, the Central Provinces, and British (now Lower) Burma were constituted out of territories vested in the Governor-General in Council, the procedure was merely the issue of a resolution reciting the reasons for establishing the chief commissionership, defining the territories included in it, and specifying the staff appointed, no reference being made to any statute (Foreign Department letter to Chief Commissioner of Oudh, No. 12, dated February 4, 1856, and Foreign Department Resolution, No. 9, dated November 2, 1861, and No. 212, dated January 31, 1862). In the same way repeated changes have been made by executive orders in the government of the Andaman Islands. The view taken by the Government of India is that the section does not apply to territories already included in a chief commissionership, this description of territory being, according to the practice of the Indian Legislature, always treated as already under the immediate authority and management of the Governor-General in Council, and therefore not capable of being placed under his authority and management by proclamation. A chief commissioner merely administers territory on behalf of the Governor-General in Council, and the GovernorGeneral in Council does not divest himself of any of his powers in making over the local administration to a chief commissioner. Although, however, the territory comprised in a chief commissionership may be technically under the immediate authority and management of the Governor-General in Council, yet the chief commissioner would ordinarily be the local Government within the meaning of Act X of 1897, s. 3 (29), and he is defined as a local Government by this Digest. The result appears to be (1) The section must be used when it is desired to transfer the administration of territory from a governor in council or a lieutenant-governor to a chief commissioner; (2) The section need not be used, and is not ordinarily used, when the administration of territory already under the administration of the Governor-General in Council is transferred from one local agency to another. The transfer of territory under this section does not change the law in force in the territory (see below, s. 58). Consequently supplemental legislation will usually be necessary. 57. The Governor-General in Council may, by notification in the Gazette of India, declare, appoint, or alter the bounprovinces. daries of any of the provinces into which British India is [3 & 4 Will. IV, for the time being divided, and distribute the territories of c. 85, s. 38. British India among the several provinces thereof in such |