'Mesopotamia Commission. Report of the Commission Appointed by Act of Parliament to Enquire into the Operations of War in Mesopotamia, together with a Special Report by Commander J Wedgwood, DSO, MP, and Appendices. London: HMSO, 1917.' [‎109r] (217/248)

Memorandum on the Business Procedure of the
Governor-General’s Executive Council.
Sections 39 and 40 of the Government of India Act, 191 o, relate to the
holdings of meetings of the Governor-General’s Executive Council, and to
the making by the Governor-General of rules and orders for the more
convenient transaction of business in his Executive Council.
“39_(Lj The Governor-General's Executive Council shall assemble at
such places in India as the Governor-General in Council appoints.
“ (2) At any meeting of the Council the Governor-General or other person
presiding and one ordinary member of the Council may exercise all the
functions of the Governor-General in Council.
“ 40. (1) All orders and other proceedings of the Governor-General in
Council shall be expressed to be made by the Governor-General in Council,
and shall be signed by a secretary to the Government of India, or otherwise,
as the Governor-General in Council may direct.
“ (2) The Governor-General may make rules and orders for the more
convenient transaction of business in his Executive Council, and every order
made, or act done, in accordance with such rules and orders, shall^ be tieated
as being the order or the act of the Governor-General in Council.”
Sub-section (2) of Section 39 reproduces a provision of the Government of
India Act of 1833. It fixes a quorum for the transaction of business at a
meeting of the Executive Council but does not dispense with the require-
ment (a requirement which is not expressed in the Act but may be assumed
from provisions of subsequent sections laying down the pioceduie to be
observed at meetings of the Councd) that a Council must be foima y
summoned and notice given to all the members present in the place
appointed for the meeting. It is perhaps worth noticing that when the Act
of 1833 was passed the Council consisted ol only three ordinalv members.
When the Governor-General was not with his Council in C alcutta, as often
was the case during the greater part of the year, one of the three became
President of the Council and took the place of the Governor-General. A full
Council then would consist of the President anu two ordinaly members, and
if one was ill, or temporarily absent, the quorum of one was at once leached.
Sub-section (2) of Section 40 reproduces Section 8 of the Indian Councils
x\ct, 1861. } . r
The origin of this sub-section is found in the following extract from
Despatch No. 3 A, dated 26th January 1861, from Lord Canning to the
Secretary of State : —
“ 1. In my despatch of the 15th instant I considered the question of a
change in the Legislative Council of India. I now pioceed^ to oher m\
recontmendations in regard to a change in the Executive Council ol the
Governor General.
“ 2. The fault of the present constitution of that Council is the waste of
labour and the delays that it entails. This has been mitigated of late, but
not so much as it might be. It has arisen chiefly from the fact that the
wording of the law and long usage appear to prescribe that every Act of the
Governor-General in Council beyond those ol mere routine (and not always
excepting these) must be done with the actual consideration and concurrence
of all the Members of the Council. This tradition was not long ago broken
through; but not without misgivings on the part of some Members of the
Government as to whether they were not unduly divesting themselves of a
responsibility fixed upon them. A division of departments has, however, to
some extent taken place, and the result has been good.
“3. I would recognise this division by law, and I would carry it out more
distinctly.
QT 515