“The Government of India Act 1935 was an endeavor to give India a written constitution even though Indians were not involved in its creation ”

provisions in the Government of India Act 1935-

◻ Provision for the establishment of an All- India Federation consisting of provinces and princely states.

◻ Division in terms of powers between the center and units in terms of Federal list, Provincial list and the concurrent list.

◻ Abolition of dyarchy and introduction of provincial autonomy.

◻ Introduction of bicameralism in provincial legislatures in six out of eleven provinces (legislative council and legislative assembly).

◻ Extension of the electoral franchise but still limited to ten percent of the population.

◻ Establishment of public service commission at federal, provincial and joint for two or more provinces.

◻ provision for forming a federal court setup in 1937.

 It is true that the act stood as an inspiration as it bought many new provisions for practically governing this country. In fact the critics of the constitution even called it a carbon copy of the 1935 act but the chairman of the drafting committee clarified that only the provisions relating to the administration were taken as inspiration and not just a blind imitation. These can be seen as true from the following;

1. The provision for an All-India federation consisting of both the provinces and princely states was indeed what was put into practice while forming the union and they had the liberty of joining either of the new states.

2. The provision for dividing subjects in to union, state and concurrent is heavily borrowed from the above act.

3. The Local Self Governments gained its prominence in administration and governance as the act emphasized it.

4. The bicameral structure of the legislatures at both centre and state levels as inspired from the British system helped to form a robust legislating procedure which ensured both the participation of the peoples representatives as well as that of experienced individuals in different fields of the society.   

5. The practice of Universal Adult Franchise for elections was a huge leap forward in case of a newly formed democratic state. As the act only permitted a limited franchise the inevitable need for inclusion of the whole country was recognized and implemented.

6. Public Service Commissions were formed at the union, state and joint level for recruitment into government services.

7. The Reserve Bank of India which controls the currency and credit of the country was formed based on the provisions of the 1935 act.

8. The Federal Court established on the lines of the act paved way for the establishment of the Supreme Court whose jurisdiction was greater than that of its predecessor as it has replaced the British Privy Council as the highest court of appeal.

As Dr. Ambedkar reiterated ” there is nothing wrong in borrowing , it involves no plagiarism and only the provisions regarding to the details of administration was taken”. It can be concluded from the above that the constitution was not a mere imitation the 1935 Act , but a careful adoption catering to the needs of the nation.