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    Settlement Act of 1781

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    Aditya Jha
    The Act of Settlement of 1781 amended the Regulating Act of 1773 to address defects in the administration of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. It removed the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over revenue matters and shifted appellate powers to the Governor-General in Council. It also aimed to protect the personal laws of local communities and assert the separation of the executive and judiciary. However, it did not fully address all issues with the previous Regulating Act.

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    Settlement Act of 1781

    Uploaded by

    Aditya Jha
    381 views10 pages
    The Act of Settlement of 1781 amended the Regulating Act of 1773 to address defects in the administration of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. It removed the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over revenue matters and shifted appellate powers to the Governor-General in Council. It also aimed to protect the personal laws of local communities and assert the separation of the executive and judiciary. However, it did not fully address all issues with the previous Regulating Act.

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    The Act of Settlement of 1781 amended the Regulating Act of 1773 to address defects in the administration of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. It removed the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over revenue matters and shifted appellate powers to the Governor-General in Council. It also aimed to protect the personal laws of local communities and assert the separation of the executive and judiciary. However, it did not fully address all issues with the previous Regulating Act.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    381 views10 pages

    Settlement Act of 1781

    Uploaded by

    Aditya Jha
    The Act of Settlement of 1781 amended the Regulating Act of 1773 to address defects in the administration of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha. It removed the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over revenue matters and shifted appellate powers to the Governor-General in Council. It also aimed to protect the personal laws of local communities and assert the separation of the executive and judiciary. However, it did not fully address all issues with the previous Regulating Act.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
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    The Act of Settlement 1781

    Declaratory Act, 1781.


    The Act of Settlement was an Amending Act of 1781,
    which was passed by British Parliament on 5th July
    1781 to remove the defects of the Regulating Act 1773.
    It is also known as Declaratory Act, 1781.
    Circumstances that led to the passing of Act
    of Settlement
    Though the Regulating Act of 1773, brought a great level of change both in
    the regulation of affairs and judiciary, there were some significant
    loopholes which this act failed to resolve. Basically, to remove the defects
    of the Regulating act of 1773, the Act of Settlement 1781 was enacted.
    1) some serious issues with the administration of the Warren Hastings
    were there. The relevant examples of such issues are Patna case,
    Kasijora Case and particularly the Nand Kumar case where (Nand Kumar
    was hanged). These all issues let to a lot of criticisms of administration
    of Warren Hastings.
    2) There was interference in the personal laws of the communities which
    had agitated the people.
    3) In the year 1777, a complaint was made by the directors of the
    company against the Supreme Court as for them it was difficult to run
    the administration. To address this complaint, the House of Commons,
    appointed a committee known as Touchet Committee to a do an inquiry
    about the administration of Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha.

    The report of this committee led to the enactment of the Act of


    Settlement of 1781.
    The Aim of the Act
    The main objectives of the enactment of this Act were :

    1)To remove ambiguity regarding the few provisions of the Regulating


    Act and the Charter which had created the division between the court
    and the government.
    2)To support the lawful government of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa, so
    that revenue could be collected smoothly.
    3)To maintain and protect the laws and customs of the native people.
    Key Provisions (features) of the Act
    The Act had the following features :

    Change in the powers of the Supreme Court


    The servants of the company which earlier came within the jurisdiction
    of the Supreme Court were now exempted from the jurisdiction of the
    Supreme Court.

    By the enactment of this Act, the court’s geographical jurisdiction


    became limited to only Calcutta.
    Non-interference in Revenue matters
    The court now had no jurisdiction in the revenue matters concerning
    revenue, or any act was done in the collection thereof, the government
    now became independent of the control of the court in the matter of
    revenue.

    The Shift of Appellate Jurisdiction from Court to the Governor-General


    and Council
    The Appellate jurisdiction shifted in the hands of the Governor-General
    and Council. Now, the appeals went from Provincial Courts to the
    Governor-General in council.
    The Assertion on the application of the personal laws
    This act asserted that Mohammedan law should be
    applied on the Mohammedan cases and similarly, the
    Hindu law must be applied to Hindu cases.
    Impacts of the Act of the Settlement
    The major impacts of this act were :

    1)The act gave superior authority to the council over the court and favored
    the council.
    2)This act made the position of the council very strong so that it could
    continue to have a good control over the Indian empire.
    3)It was the first attempt to separate the executive from the judiciary by
    defining the respective areas of jurisdiction.
    Still, the Act failed to give a vibrant impact and to remove all the flaws of
    the Regulating Act of 1773.
    CONCLUSION

    These to enactment brought many great changes to the system of


    administration and justice.it can also be concluded that the Regulating
    Act of 1773 laid the foundation of the Central Administration and
    Parliamentary Control. But, there were also some drawbacks to both
    the acts which can’t be ignored.

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