BulletsIn

• The Government of India Act 1858 was enacted by the British Parliament after the Indian uprising of 1857 to restructure governance and strengthen direct imperial control.
• The legislation abolished the rule of the East India Company, transferring all administrative authority and territorial control of India to the British Crown.
• The Governor General of India was redesignated as the Viceroy, serving as the official representative of the British monarch in governing colonial India.
• Lord Canning became the first Viceroy of India, marking the beginning of direct British Crown administration following the end of company rule.
• The act abolished the Board of Control and Court of Directors, thereby ending the system of dual administration established under Pitt's India Act.
• A new position called the Secretary of State for India was created in the British Cabinet, responsible for Indian affairs and accountable to Parliament.
• A fifteen-member Council of India was established to assist the Secretary of State, functioning primarily as an advisory body on administrative and policy matters.
• The Secretary of State in Council was recognised as a corporate body capable of legal action in both India and Britain, strengthening administrative authority.