Indian Councils Act 1892

The Indian Councils Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 14) was an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that introduced various amendments to the composition and function of legislative councils in British India. Most notably, the act expanded the number of members in the central and provincial councils. For example, the number of additional members elected to the Governor-General's council was increased from twelve to sixteen members of whom – as per the Indian Councils Act 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 67) – not less than half were to be non-officials, i.e. persons not in the civil or military service of the Crown. The Governor-General was empowered to invite different bodies in India to elect, select or delegate their representatives and to make regulations for their nomination.

After being presented to the House of Lords in 1890, the act was passed in 1892 in response to nationalist movements beginning to surface across British India. This scheme would be overturned by the passage of the Indian Councils Act 1909 (9 Edw. 7. c. 4) – also called the Morley-Minto reforms – which introduced indirect elections to Indian councils along with special electoral preferences for muslim minorities and various commercial and functional interests.