East India Company Repeals Consultation
We have identified a number of Acts relating to the former East India Company, spanning the period 1796 to 1832, which have become obsolete. Many of these Acts had either local or very restricted application.
The East India Company traded with the East Indies, under Royal Charter, between 1600 and 1874. Its trading activities enabled the company to acquire considerable political and administrative power in large swathes of land in the East Indies, which area today includes India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The Acts fell into two main categories:
- to allow the company to acquire land in the City of London for warehousing and for their headquarters at East India House, on Leadenhall Street; and
- to authorise the company to take on and discharge (from local taxes) the private debts of certain Indian local rulers in the province of Madras: the Nawabs of Arcot, the Rajah of Tanjore and the Zemindar of Nozeed and Mustaphanagur.
All the Acts pre-date the governance of India passing to the British Crown absolutely in 1858, and the dissolution of the East India Company in 1874. India gained independence from Britain in 1947.
We hope that interested parties will read and respond to our consultation paper, in particular to identify whether any of the Acts we propose to repeal hold any remaining value.
Consultation paper with proposals. The consultation closes on 13 October 2006. Please email us with your views.
A background note on repealing obsolete laws is available.