it was held that under the rules, as they stood, the Returning Officer had no power to reject a vote tendered by a person not entitled to vote, so long as the would-be voter had complied with the instructions on the voting papers. (ii.) A procedure has been prescribed, in accordance with the English practice, for assisting blind and illiterate voters to record their votes. (iii.) Provision has been made that, in the case of plurality of voting or nomination papers, only the first paper received by the Attesting Officer, or the Returning Officer, as the case may be, shall be valid, and that if it is impossible to determine which was received first, then both or all shall be invalid. The absence of any provision in the rules of 1909 to meet this contingency gave rise to practical inconvenience. (b) In addition to the above, the following changes have been made in the electoral procedure relating to the individual Councils named : Bombay. (i.) Amendments have been made in the schedules relating to elections by Municipalities and District Boards with the object of enabling the Vice-Presidents, as well as the Presidents, of those bodies to perform certain electoral functions, namely (a) to perform the duties of Attesting Officer, and (b) to supply voting papers to delegates. (ii.) Rule 5 (2) of Schedule V has been amended so as to enable the Returning Officer to send nomination papers to electors through the mukhtiarkhar of the taluka, instead of by registered post. (iii.) Schedule VII, Rule 7 (4), has been amended so as to provide that the Collector of Bombay shall attest nomination papers for the Mohammedan electorate of Bombay City, separate Attesting Officers being dispensed with. (iv.) Rule 4 of this schedule has been amended so as to permit the electoral roll being posted at the office of the Collector of Bombay instead of at the Chief Presidency Magistrate's office. (v.) An amendment of a similar nature has been made in rule 3 of Schedule V so as to permit of the electoral roll of the Sind Jagirdars being posted at the taluka head-quarters, as well as the district head-quarters. These five amendments are based upon considerations of administrative convenience. (vi.) In accordance with the wishes of the Bombay Government the voting papers of all electorates in that Presidency will henceforth be printed in counterfoil. Bengal, Bihar and Orissa and Assam. (i.) In accordance with the wishes of these Governments the procedure for electing candidates through the agency of delegates, which obtained in Bengal in the case of the local bodies' and the Mohammedans' electorates, and in Eastern Bengal and Assam in the case of the Mohammedans' electorate, has been abandoned, as practical experience proved it to be unsatisfactory. Selection will now be made by means of direct voting. (ii.) Under the rules of 1909 Municipalities in Bengal and Eastern Bengal and Assam which had more than one vote were at liberty to distribute their votes as they pleased. They are now required to assign their votes to one candidate only, or to two candidates where two members are to be elected. Governor-General's Council. The only change made in the electoral procedure relating to the Imperial Council is a slight alteration of detail in the method to be followed by the non-official members of the Bengal and Bihar and Orissa Provincial Council in selecting their representatives for the Imperial Council. The change has been introduced at the instance of the two local Governments concerned, and is expected to work more conveniently than the old system. IV. Other changes which cannot be classed under any of the three foregoing categories (i.) Regulation XIII in the case of all Councils has been amended since it was held to be doubtful whether in the shape in which it was enacted in 1909 it was intra vires of the Indian Councils Act, 1909, since Section I (2) of that Act, in pursuance of which this Regulation was framed, only authorizes regulations prescribing the number of additional members necessary to form a quorum. Moreover, the Regulation, in the form in which it was enacted in 1909, appears to have overridden Section 15 of the Indian Councils Act of 1861, since it took no account of the provision made therein for the senior Ordinary Member of Council presiding in the absence of the President, and of the Vice-President appointed under Section 4 of the Indian Councils Act, 1909. (ii.) A clause has been inserted in Regulation I relating to all Provincial Councils, except those of Madras, Bombay, and Bengal, to make it clear that the sanction of the Governor-General is required to the nomination of expert no less than of ordinary members of the Council. (iii.) Throughout the schedules (Imperial and Provincial) relating to the Madras Presidency, the words Fort St. George Gazette' (the official title of the Madras Government Gazette) have been substituted for the words Local official gazette' in order to avoid possible confusion with the district gazettes which are published in the Madras Presidency. (iv.) The form of Regulation X, which specifies the term of office of an elected or nominated member, was found to preclude the election of a candidate to a seat on the Councils before the seat was actually vacant. It would have been inconvenient to postpone the completion of all elections until the outgoing member has actually completed his term of office, and to avoid this necessity the Regulation has been recast. INDEX Absence, leave of, to members of councils, 158, 252-62. Aggregate fund, the, 31. Agra, 83, 131 (and see United Aitchison, Sir Charles, 150. Local Government, 294 (and see Alam, Shah, 37. Alexander VI, Pope, 4, 8. Amboyna massacre, 15. Local Government, 294 (and see Anne, Queen, 29, 30. Administration of, 155-7; cadet- Company's forces, 60, 72; trans- Troops maintained by Native Assada Company, the, 15. Assam, Chief Commissionership, 93, Legislative Council, 114, 133, 243, Local Government, 141, 294 (and see Local Governments). Auditor of Revenue and Expendi- Barwell, 45, 50. Baxar, battle of, 2, 37. Benares,addition of, to Bengal,72,101 Bengal : Calcutta, see Calcutta. first appointed (1773), 3, 44–6, - Board of Revenue for, 161. Local Government-Governor Powers and position of Gover- Representation of tea and jute Regulations, code of, 43, 58-9,71, Benham, Paul, 71. Bentinck, Lord William, 81. Bihar, Chota Nagpur, and Orissa, Board of Revenue, 130, 161. 431 (and see Local Legisla- Bihar,Chota Nagpur,and Orissa,cont.: see Local Governments). Bills of Exchange, law regarding, Bishops, 76, 89, 157, 253, 280-2. Boards of Revenue, see Revenue. Cession of, to Crown, and grant Bengal (1772), 45-6, 64, 70; (and see Local Governments). nor in Council, 142, 154,215 n., High Courts, Chartered (1861), Bishops and Archdeacons, 157, Commander-in-Chief, abolition Marine, 81, 97, 233. Mint, 19. Booty, Charter regarding, 34-6. sionership, 141-2: Local Government, 294 (and see Classes of, 378-9. Legislation for, 416-17. Rights of, 87-8. Bryce, J., 353; quoted, 10. Budget, see Financial Statement. Burma, Lieutenant-Governorship, Legislative Council, 114, 243, 433, Local Government, 141-2, 294 Cadetships, 96, 180. Bishop and Archdeacons, 78, 157, Capital of Bengal, 128; power to English law introduced, 32-3, 353- Supreme Court, established (1773), Capitulations, the, 12, 383-91, 393. Caste, reservation as to, in criminal Central Provinces, Chief Commis- 478-9 (and see Local Legisla- Local Government, 141-2, 294 (and see Local Governments). |