This Regulating Act of 1773 was the first step taken by the British Government to control and regulate the East India Company in India. The foundation of the central administration was laid for the first time in India by the Regulating Act of 1773.
Features of Regulating Act 1773:
It designated the Governor of Bengal as the ‘Governor-General of Bengal’, and a four-member Executive Council was formed to assist the Governor-General of Bengal.
- Lord Warren Hastings was appointed the first Governor-General of Bengal and it was also the last governor of Bengal.
The Regulating Act of 1773 made the governor of Bombay and Madras subordinate to the Governor-General of Bengal. Before the Regulating act 1773, these presidencies are independent of each other.
By this act, a Supreme Court was established in Kolkata (1774) comprising one Chief Justice and 3 other judges.
- Sir Elijah Impey was appointed the first chief justice of the Supreme Court at Fort William in Kolkata (Bengal).
It prohibited the employers of the company to engage in any private trade or taking presents or bribes’ from the natives.
