Bengal Legislative Council


The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the legislative council of Bengal Presidency. It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms were adopted in 1937, it served as the upper house of the Bengali legislature until the partition of India.

History

The council was established under the Indian Councils Act 1861. It was dominated by Europeans and Anglo-Indians, with natives as a minority, until reforms in 1909. Under the Indian Councils Act 1892 and Indian Councils Act 1909, representatives of municipalities, district boards, city corporations, universities, ports, plantations, zamindars, Muslim electorates and chambers of commerce were inducted. Native Bengali representation gradually increased. Its voting power was limited, particularly on budgets. It was delegated "transferred subjects" of education, public health, local government, agriculture and public works; while the "reserved subjects" of finance, police, land revenue, law, justice and labour remained with the Executive Council headed by the Governor of Bengal. Between 1905 and 1912, the council's geographical coverage was divided and partly delegated to the Eastern Bengal and Assam Legislative Council. During the period of dyarchy, the council was boycotted by the Congress Party and Swaraj Party; but constitutionalists in the Bengal Provincial Muslim League continued to be active members.
Under the Government of India Act 1935, the council became the upper chamber of the legislature of Bengal.

Membership

The council grew from 12 members in 1862, to 20 in 1892, 53 in 1909, 140 in 1919 and 63–65 in 1935.

Indian Councils Act 1861

Under the Indian Councils Act 1861, the council included 12 members nominated by the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. The members included four government officials, four non-government Anglo-Indians and four Bengali gentlemen. From 1862 to 1893, 123 persons were nominated to the council, of whom only 49 were native Indian members, 35 were members of the British Indian Association and 26 were aristocrats.

Indian Councils Act 1892

Under the Indian Councils Act 1892, the Lieutenant Governor could nominate seven members on the recommendation of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce, municipalities, district councils, the University of Calcutta and the Corporation of Calcutta.
Total members 20
and

Indian Councils Act 1909

Under the Indian Councils Act 1909, the council had the following composition.
  • Ex-officio members
  • *Lieutenant Governor
  • *Executive Councillors- 2
  • Nominated members
  • *Officials- 17 maximum
  • *Indian commerce- 1
  • *Planters- 1
  • *Experts- 2
  • *Others- 3 minimum
  • Elected members
  • *Corporation of Calcutta- 1
  • *University of Calcutta- 1
  • *Municipalities- 6
  • *District boards- 6
  • *Landholders- 5
  • *Muhammadans- 4
  • *Bengal Chamber of Commerce- 2
  • *Calcutta Traders Association- 1

Government of India Act 1919

Under the Government of India Act 1919, the council had 140 members. There were 92 seats assigned to general constituencies, divided into Muslim, non-Muslim, European, and Anglo-Indian sections. Another 22 seats were assigned to special electorates, namely landholders, the two universities, and commercial interests. The remaining 26 seats were filled by government nomination.

Government of India Act 1935

As the upper chamber under the Government of India Act 1935, the council had the following composition.

Tenure

The legislative council was initially given a three-year tenure. It became a permanent body under the Government of India Act 1935, which required one third of its members to retire.

Head of the council

The Lieutenant Governor was the ex-officio president of the council until 1909, when the council was given the right to elect its president and deputy president.

Member list of the Bengal Legislative Council in https://archive.org/details/westbengallegislature.council.476.2_476__1921__vol_IV/page/n7/mode/2up?q=pahlowan 1921

The principal officers of the Bengal Legislative Council.
President.
The Hon’ble Nawab Sir Syed Shams-ul-Huda, K.C.I.E.
Deputy President
Babu Surendra Nath Ray.
Secretary to the Council—C. Tindall, C.I.E., I.C.S.. A. M. Hutchison.
Assistant Secretary to the Council—K. N. Mazumdar.
Registrar to the Council—J. W. McKay.

C

Carey, Mr. W. L.
Cathcart, Mr. M.
Chakrabarti, Babu Banku Chandra.
Chaudhuri, Babu Kishori Mohan.
Chaudhuri, Babu Tankanath.
Chaudhuri, Khan Bahadur Maulvi Hafiz Rahman.
Chaudhuri, Maulvi Shah Muhammad.
Chaudhuri, Sir Abdurrahman.
Chaudhuri, Sir Ashutosh.
Chaudhuri, the Hon’ble Nawab Syed Wazir Ali Khan Bahadur.
Cochran, Mr. A.
Cohen, Mr. D. J.
Currie, Mr. W. C.

D

Das, Babu Bishwanath.
Das, Mr. S. R.
Das, Rai Bahadur Ananda Nath.
Das Gupta, Babu Nibaran Chandra.
De, Babu Faqirchand.
Dey, Mr. G. G.
Doss, Mr. G. T.
Doss, Rai Bahadur Pyari Lal.
Dutt, Mr. Ajay Chandra.
Dutt, Mr. Sachindra Prasad.
Dutta, Babu Ananda Charan.
Dutta, Babu Indu Bhushan.

F

Fazooq, Mr. K. G. M.
Forrester, Mr. J. Campbell.
French, Mr. F. C.

G

Ghatak, Rai Sahib Nilmani.
Ghose, Mr. D. C.
Ghose, Rai Bahadur Jogendra Chunder.
Gordon, Mr. A. D.
Gupta, Mr. N. B.

H

Haq, Maulvi A. K. Fazl-ul.
Haq, Shah Syed Emdadul.
Hopkins, Mr. W. S.
Huq, Maulvi Ekramul.
Hussain, Maulvi Md. Madassur.

J

James, Mr. R. H. I. Langford.
Janah, Babu Sarat Chandra.

K

Karim, Maulvi Abdul.
Karim, Maulvi Fazlal.
Kerr, the Hon’ble Mr. J. H.
Khan, Babu Debendra Lal.
Khan, Maulvi Hamid-ud-din.
Khan, Maulvi Md. Rafique Uddin.
Khan, Mr. Razaur Rahman.
Khan Chaudhuri, Khan Bahadur Maulvi Md. Ershad Ali.

L

Lang, Mr. J.
Larmour, Mr. F. A.
Law, Raja Reshee Case.

M

Maharajadhiraja Bahadur of Burdwan, the Hon’ble.
Makramali, Munshi.
Marr, Mr. A.
McKenzie, Mr. D. P.
M
Mitra, Rai Bahadur Mahendra Chandra.
Mitter, the Hon'ble Mr. Provash Chunder.
Moitra, Dr. Jatindra Nath.
Morgan, Mr. G.
Mukharji, Babu Satish Chandra
Mukherjee, Babu Nitya Dhon.
Mukherji, Professor S. C.
Mukhopadhaya, Babu Sarat Chandra.
Mullick, Babu Nirode Behary.
Mullick, Babu Surendra Nath.
N
Nukey, Mirza Muhammad Ali.
Nasker, Babu Hem Chandra.
P
Pahlowan, Maulvi Md. Abdul Jubbar.
Pal, Rai Bahadur Radha Charan.
Payne, Mr. C. F.
Poddar, Babu Keshoram.
Pugh, Colonel A. J.
R
Rae, Mr. W. R.
Raheem, Mr. Abdur.
Rahim, the Hon'ble Sir Abdur.
Raikat, Mr. Prasanna Deb.
Rauf, Maulvi Shah Abdur.
Ray, Babu Bhabendra Chandra.
Ray, Babu Surendra Nath.
Ray, Kumar Shib Shekhareswar.
Ray, Rai Bahadur Upendra Lal.
Ray Chaudhuri, Babu Brojendra Kishor.
Ray Chaudhuri, Mr. Krishna Chandra.
Ray Choudhury, Raja Manmatha Nath.
Roy, Babu Bijoy Prasad Singh.
Roy, Babu Jogendra Krishna.
Roy, Babu Jogendra Nath.
Roy, Babu Nalini Nath.
Roy, Maharaja Bahadur Kshaunish Chandra.
Roy, Mr. J. E.
Roy, Mr. Tarit Bhusan.
Roy, Rai Bahadur Lalit Mohan Singh.
Roy, Raja Maniloll Singh.
Roy Chaudhuri, Babu Sailaja Nath.
S
Salam, Khan Bahadur Abdus.
Sarkar, Babu Jogesh Chandra.
Sarkar, Babu Rishindra Nath.
Sinha, Babu Surendra Narayan.
Stark, Mr. H. A.
Suhrawardy, Dr. A.
Suhrawardy, Dr. Hassan.
Suhrawardy, Mr. H. S.
Swan, Mr. J. A. L.
T
Travers, Mr. W. L.
W
Watson-Smyth, Mr. R. M.
Wheeler, the Hon'ble Sir Henry.
Wordsworth, Mr. W. C.