Pitt's India Act, 1784

Background and evolution

The Regulating Act of 1773 had left many problems unsolved. The Governor-General Warren Hastings was frequently outvoted by his council, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court clashed with the executive, and the British government still had little effective control over the Company's policies. Meanwhile, wars with the Marathas and Mysore in the late 1770s and early 1780s strained the Company's finances.

In 1783 Charles James Fox proposed a bill that would have transferred control of Indian affairs to commissioners appointed by Parliament. It was defeated in the House of Lords after royal intervention, and the Fox–North coalition fell. William Pitt the Younger, the new Prime Minister, then passed his own India Act in 1784, which kept the Company in place but put its political affairs under a government board.

Key features and provisions

• Dual control: the Company's Court of Directors handled commerce and appointments, while the Board of Control supervised civil, military and revenue matters.
• Board of Control: its president became in effect the minister for India; it could issue orders to the Directors.
• Secret Committee: urgent political orders could be sent through a secret committee of three directors.
• Indian administration: the Governor-General's council was reduced to three; Bombay and Madras were clearly subordinated to Bengal.
• Policy on conquest: the Act declared that schemes of conquest and extension of dominion in India were against the wish and honour of the nation.
• Accountability: Company servants had to declare their property on return to Britain, and a special court was set up to try misconduct.