Provisions of the Indian Council Act of 1861.
Answers
For the executive functions of the Council, a fifth member was added. Now there were five members for home, military, law, revenue and finance. (A sixth member for public works was added in 1874.)
Lord Canning, who was the Governor-General and Viceroy at the time, introduced the portfolio system. In this system, each member was assigned a portfolio of a particular department.
For legislative purposes, the Governor-General’s Council was enlarged. Now, there were to be between 6 and 12 additional members (nominated by the Governor-General).
There were appointed for a period of 2 years. Out of these, at least half of the additional members were to be non-official (British or Indian).
Their functions were confined to legislative measures.
Lord Canning nominated three Indians to the Council in 1862 namely, the Raja of Benares, the Maharaja of Patiala and Sir Dinkar Rao.
Any bill related to public revenue or debt, military, religion or foreign affairs could not be passed without the Governor-General’s assent.
The Viceroy had the power to overrule the council if necessary.
The Governor-General also had the power to promulgate ordinances without the council’s concurrence during emergencies.
The Secretary of State for India in Britain could also dissolve any act passed by the Governor-General’s Council.