Madras Legislative Council

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Tamil Nadu Legislative

Council

Type

Term

limits

6 years

History

Established

1861

Disbanded

1986

Seats

Elections

and

Nominations

Meeting place

Tamil Nadu Legislative Council

was the

of the former

of the

state of

. It began its existence as

Madras Legislative Council

, the first provincial legislature for

. It was initially created as an advisory body in 1861, by the

. It was established by the

(

c. 67), enacted in the British parliament in the

aftermath of the

. Its role and strength were later

expanded by the

(

c. 14). Limited

election was introduced in 1909. The council became a

legislative

body in 1921 and eventually the upper chamber of a

legislature in

1937. After India became

in 1947, it continued to be the upper

chamber of the legislature of

, one of the successor states to the

Madras Presidency. It was renamed as the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council when

the state was renamed as

in 1969. The council was abolished by the

administration on 1 November 1986. In 1989, 1996 and 2010,

the DMK regime headed by

tried to revive the council. The

former AIADMK regime (2016–2021) expressed its intention not to revive the

council and passed a resolution in the

in this

regard.

History and evolution

[

]

Origin

[

]

See also:

and

The first

set up the Madras Legislative Council as an

advisory body through which the colonial administration obtained advice and

assistance. The act empowered the provincial governor to nominate four non-

English Indian members to the council for the first time. Under the act, the

nominated members were allowed to move their own bills and vote on bills

introduced in the council. However, they were not allowed to question the executive, move resolutions or examine the

budget. Also they could not interfere with the laws passed by the Central Legislature. The governor was also the

president of the council and he had complete authority over when, where and how long to convene the council and what

to discuss. Two members of his Executive Council and the Advocate-General of Madras were also allowed to participate

and vote in the council. The Indians nominated under this act were mostly

and

landowners, who often

benefited from their association with the colonial government. Supportive members were often re-nominated for several

terms.

was nominated eight times,

was a member for 23 years,

and

were members for six years each. Other prominent members during the period included

and

. The council met infrequently and in some years (1874 and 1892) was

not convened even once. The maximum of number of times it met in a year was eighteen. The governor preferred to

convene the council at his summer retreat

, much to the displeasure of the Indian members. The few times

when the council met, it was for only a few hours with bills and resolutions being rushed through.

Expansion

[

]

See also:

Council meetings

during 1891-1909

Years

No of Days

1906

1897,1901

1894,1907

1896,1898,1909

1899, 1902, 1903, 1904

1900

1895,1905

1893

In 1892, the role of the Council was expanded by the

The act increased the number of additional members of the council to a maximum

of 20, of whom not more than nine had to be officials. The act introduced the

method of election for the council, but did not mention word "election"

explicitly. The elected members were officially called as "nominated" members

and their method of election was described as "recommendation". Such

"recommendations" were made by district boards, universities, municipalities

and other associations. The term of the members was fixed at two years. The

council could also discuss the annual financial statement and ask questions

subject to certain limitations.

Thirty eight Indian members were "nominated"

in the eight elections during 1893-1909 when this Act was in effect.

and

representing southern group of district boards,

of the northern group of municipalities,

and

from the Corporation of Madras and

and

from the University of Madras were some of the active members.

However, over

a period of time, representation by Indian members dwindled, for example, the position of Bashyam Iyengar and Sankaran

Nayar in 1902 was occupied by Acworth and Sir George Moore.

The council did not meet more than nine days in a year

during the time the act was in effect.

Further expansion

[

]

Constituencies that elected members (1909–

19)

Constituency

No of Members

District boards and Municipalities

University of Madras

South India Chamber of Commerce

Madras Traders Association

Zamindars

Large landholders

Muslims

Planters

The

(popularly called as "Minto-Morley

Reforms"), officially introduced the method of electing members

to the Council. But it did not provide for direct election of the

members. It abolished automatic official (executive) majorities

in the Council and gave its members the power to move

resolutions upon matters of general public interest and the

budget and also to ask supplementary questions.

There were a

total of 21 elected members and 21 nominated members. The Act

allowed up to 16 nominated members to be official and the

remaining five were required to be non-officials. The Governor

was also authorised to nominate two experts whenever necessary.

As before, the Governor, his two executive council members and

the Advocate-General were also members of the Council.

and

were among the active members.

Diarchy (1920–37)

[

]

See also:

and

Based on the recommendations of the

report, the

was enacted. The act

enlarged the provincial legislative councils and increased the strength of elected members to be greater than that of

nominated and official members. It introduced a system of

in the Provinces. Although this act brought about

representative government in India, the Governor was empowered with overriding powers. It classified the subjects as

belonging to either the Centre or the Provinces. The

could override any law passed by the Provincial

councils. It brought about the concept of "Partial Responsible Government" in the provinces. Provincial subjects were

divided into two categories - reserved and transferred. Education, Sanitation, Local self-government, Agriculture and

Industries were listed as the transferred subjects. Law, Finance, Revenue and Home affairs were the reserved subjects.

The provincial council could decide the budget in so far it related to the transferred subjects. Executive machinery

dealing with those subjects was placed under the direct control of provincial legislature. However, the provincial

legislature and the ministers did not have any control over the reserved subjects, which came under the governor and

his executive council.

Councils under dyarchy

Council

Term

First

17 December 1920 – 11 September 1923

Second

26 November 1923 – 7 November 1926

Third

November 1926 - October 1930

Fourth

October 1930 - November 1934

Fifth

November 1934 - January 1937

The council had a total of 127 members in addition to the

of the Governor's Executive Council. Out of the 127, 98 were

elected from 61 constituencies of the presidency. The constituencies

comprised three arbitrary divisions:

communal constituencies such as non-Muhammadan urban, non-

Muhammadan rural, non-Brahman urban,

urban,

Mohamaddan rural, Indian Christian, European and Anglo-Indian

special constituencies such as landholders, Universities,

planters and trade associations (South India Chamber of

Commerce & Nattukottai Nagarathar Association) and

territorial constituencies.

28 of the constituencies were reserved for non-

. 29 members were nominated, out of whom a maximum of 19 would

be government officials, 5 would represent the

, Thottiyar,

Cheruman and

communities and 1 would represent the "backward tracts". Including the Executive Council members,

the total strength of the legislature was 134.

The

for the Madras Legislative Council, under this act was held in November 1920. The first sitting of

the council was inaugurated by the

on 12 January 1921. In total, five such councils were constituted

(in 1920,

and

). The term of the councils was three years (except for the fourth council which was

extended for a year in expectation of abolition of dyarchy ). While the first, second and fourth councils were

controlled by

majorities, the third Council was characterised by a fractured verdict and an

. The fifth council also saw a fractured verdict and a minority Justice government.

Provincial autonomy (1937–50)

[

]

Breakdown of seats

Group

Seats

General

Mohammadans (

)

Indian Christians

Europeans

Nominated by Governor

8-10

Total

54-56

The

abolished dyarchy and ensured provincial autonomy.

It created a

legislature in the Madras province. The Legislature consisted

of the Governor and two Legislative bodies - a

and a Legislative

Council. The Assembly consisted of 215 members, who were further classified into

general members and reserved members representing special communities and

interests.

The Council consisted of a minimum of 54 and a maximum of 56 members.

It was a permanent body not subject to dissolution by the Governor and one-third of

its members retired every three years. 46 of its members were elected directly by the

electorate while the Governor could nominate 8 to 10 members. Similar to the council,

the electable members were further classified into general and reserved members.

Specific number of seats were reserved (allocated) to various religious and ethnic

groups. The Act provided for a limited adult franchise based on property

qualifications.

Seven million people, roughly 15% of the Madras people holding land or paying urban taxes were

qualified to be the electorate.

Under this Act, two councils were constituted - the first in

and the second in

. Both Councils were controlled by

majorities.

In Republic of India (1950–86)

[

]

See also:

After India became

in 1947 and the

was adopted in 1950, the Legislative Council

continued to be the upper chamber of the legislature of the

- the successor to Madras Presidency. It

continued to be called as the "Madras Legislative Council". The Council was a permanent body and was not subject to

dissolution. The length of a member's term was six years and one-third of the members retired every two years. The

strength of the Council was not less than 40 or more than one-third of the strength of the Assembly. The following

table illustrates how the members of Council were selected:

Proportion

Method of Selection

One-sixth

(1/6th)

Nominated by the Governor on the advice of the cabinet. They were supposed to have excelled in fields

like arts, science, literature, cooperative movement or social service

One-third

(1/3rd)

Elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly by

using the

One-third

(1/3rd)

Elected by the members of local self governmental bodies like

and district

boards.

One-twelfth

(1/12th)

Elected by an electorate consisting of electors who have held Graduate degrees for a minimum of three

years

One-twelfth

(1/12th)

Elected by an electorate consisting of teachers of secondary schools, colleges and universities with a

minimum experience of three years

The actual strength of the council varied from time to time. During 1952–53, it had a strength of 72. After the

formation of

state on 1 October 1953, its strength came down to 51. In 1956 it decreased to 50 and the next

year increased again to 63 - where it remained till the council's abolition. Of those 63, local bodies and the

assembly elected 21 each, the teachers and graduates elected 6 each and the remaining 9 were nominated.

The

Council could not pass legislation on its own - it had to approve or disapprove the laws passed by the Assembly. In

case of conflict between the Council and the Assembly, the will of the later would prevail.

When Madras state

was renamed as

in 1968,

the name of the council also changed to "Tamil Nadu Legislative Council".

Abolition

[

]

The legislative council was abolished in 1986 by the

(AIADMK) government of

(MGR). MGR had nominated a

actress,

(aka A. B. Shanthi) to the

Council. Her swearing in ceremony was scheduled for 23 April 1986. Nirmala had earlier declared insolvency and

according to Article 102-(1)(c) of the Indian Constitution, an insolvent person can not serve as a member of

parliament or state legislature. On 21 April, a lawyer named S. K. Sundaram, filed a public interest writ petition in

the

challenging Nirmala's nomination to the Council. MGR loaned Nirmala a sum of Rupees 4,65,000

from ADMK's party funds to pay off her creditors,

so that her insolvency declaration could be annulled. The

same day, Nirmala's lawyer Subramaniam Pichai, was able to persuade judge Ramalingam to set aside her insolvency. He

used a provision in the Section 31 of The Presidency Towns Insolvency Act of 1909, which allowed a judge to annul an

insolvency retrospectively if all debts had been paid in full. This annulment made Nirmala's nomination valid and the

writ petition against it was dismissed. However, Nirmala withdrew her nomination to the council. The Governor of Tamil

Nadu,

asked MGR to explain how Nirmala's nomination was proposed without proper vetting. This

incident caused an embarrassment to MGR. Then a rumor arose that President of the main opposition party and former

Chief minister

, who was not an MLA at that time, planned to enter the legislative council, and trouble

the Chief minister from both Houses in the Legislature, as the Chief Minister was a member of the Lower House.

Following such unwanted events and miffed with rumors, MGR decided to abolish the council once for

all.

On 14 May, a resolution seeking to abolish the council was moved successfully in the legislative assembly. The Tamil

Nadu Legislative Council (Abolition) Bill, 1986 was passed by both houses of the Parliament and received the assent of

the president on 30 August 1986. The Act came into force on 1 November 1986 and the council was abolished.

Revival attempt

[

]

See also:

The

(DMK) has so far made three unsuccessful attempts to revive the council.

Revival of the

Legislative Council was one of the promises included in the election manifesto of

(DMK) in

the

. The DMK won the 2006 assembly election and

became Chief minister. In his

inaugural address to the 13th Legislative Assembly delivered on 24 May 2006, Governor

said steps

will be taken to move the necessary constitutional amendments for reviving the council.

On 12 April 2010, the

Legislative Assembly passed a resolution seeking to revive the Council.

The DMK's earlier attempts to revive the

council, when it was in power during

and

were not successful, as it did not possess both the two-

thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly and a friendly

necessary for it to be done.

On both

occasions, the ADMK governments that followed the DMK governments passed counter resolutions to rescind them (in

October 1991 and July 2001 respectively).

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Bill, 2010 was approved by the Indian

cabinet on 4 May 2010

and was passed by both the houses of the Indian Parliament on 5th and 6th of May, 2010.

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, 2010 received the assent of President on 18 May 2010 and published on the same

day. Accordingly, Constituencies for the new house were identified in September 2010.

Work on preparation of

electoral rolls for them began in October 2010 and was completed by January 2011.

However, in February 2011, the

stayed the elections to the new council, till the petitions challenging its revival could be

heard.

In the 2011 Assembly elections, the AIADMK came out with a sweeping majority. The AIADMK government headed by

J.Jayalalithaa expressed its intention not to revive the council. The government once again passed a counter

resolution to withdraw the attempt to revive the council.

As on now, despite the fact that there is a specific provision of a Legislative Council in Tamil Nadu in Article 168

of Constitution of India, there is no Legislative Council in Tamil Nadu for want of a resolution by the Tamil Nadu

Legislative Assembly by majority as provided in Article 169 of Constitution of India.

Location

[

]

Main article:

where the Tamil

Nadu Legislature functioned for 60

years

Senate House, Madras

University

has historically been the seat of the

since colonial times. During 1921–37, the Madras Legislative Council met at the

council chambers within the fort. Between 14 July 1937 – 21 December 1938, the

assembly met at the

of the

and between 27 January

1938 - 26 October 1939 in the Banqueting Hall (later renamed as

) in the

Government Estate complex at

During 1946–52, it moved back to the Fort

St. George. In 1952, the strength of the assembly rose to 375, after the constitution

of the first legislative assembly, and it was briefly moved into temporary premises at

the government estate complex. This move was made in March 1952, as the existing

assembly building only had a seating capacity of 260. Then on 3 May 1952, it moved into

the newly constructed assembly building in the same complex. The legislature functioned from the new building (later

renamed as

during 1952–56. However, with the reorganisation of states and formation of Andhra, the

strength came down to 190 and the legislature moved back to Fort St. George in 1956. From December 1956 till January

2010, the Fort remained the home to the legislature .

In 2004, during the 12th assembly, the AIADMK

Government under

made unsuccessful attempts to shift the assembly (the council had been abolished by

then), first to the location of Queen Mary's College and later to the

campus,

. Both attempts

were withdrawn after public opposition.

During the 13th Assembly, the DMK government led by

proposed

a new plan to shift the assembly and the government secretariat to the a

in the Omandurar Government

Estate. In 2007, the German architectural firm GMP International won the design competition to design and construct

the new assembly complex. Construction began in 2008 and was completed in 2010. The assembly functioned in the new

assembly building during March 2010 - May 2011. In May 2011, the Tamil Nadu legislature was moved back to Fort St.

George.

List of historical locations where the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council has been housed:

Duration

Location

1921–1937

Council chambers,

14 July 1937 – 21 December 1938

27 January 1938 – 26 October 1939

Banqueting Hall (

), Government Estate (Omandurar Estate),

24 May 1946 – 27 March 1952

Council chambers, Fort St. George

3 May 1952 – 27 December 1956

Kalaivanar Arangam, Government Estate (Omandurar Estate)

29 April 1957 – 30 March 1959

Assembly Hall, Fort St. George

20–30 April 1959

Aranmore Palace,

(Ooty)

31 August 1959 - 1 November 1986

Assembly Hall, Fort St. George

Chief Ministers from the Council

[

]

During its existence as the upper chamber of Tamil Nadu Legislature, the Council has been used twice to appoint non-

members of the Legislature as Chief Minister.

(Rajaji) was nominated by Governor

to the Council so that Rajaji could become chief minister.

The third time was in

when

became the chief minister first and then got himself elected to the Council.

Presiding Officers

[

]

This article is part of a series on the

(

)

Vacant

(

)

Deputy Speaker

(

)

(

)

(

)

Deputy Leader of the Opposition

(

)

Disbanded

Coalitions

During 1861–1937, the presiding officer of the Madras Legislative Council

was known as the "President of the Council". From its establishment in 1861

till dyarchy was introduced in 1921, the

was also the

President of the Council. After dyarchy introduced, the first and second

council presidents,

and

, were appointed by the Governor himself. The presidents who came

after them were chosen by the Council itself. During 1937–86, the presiding

officer was called as the "Chairman of the Council".

The following table

lists the presiding officers of the Council.

Chairman of Tamil Nadu

Legislative Council

Last in office

1976 – 1 November 1986

Status

Abolished

Appointer

Six years

Inaugural holder

Formation

18 February 1861

Final holder

Abolished

1 November 1986

Website

www.tn.gov.in

Name

Took

office

Left

office

Political

party

Governors of Madras (1861–1920)

February

1861

November

1863

Edward Maltby (acting)

November

1863

18 January

1864

18 January

1864

27 March

1866

27 March

1866

February

1872

(acting)

February

1872

15 May

1872

15 May

1872

29 April

1875

William Rose Robinson (acting)

29 April

1875

November

1875

November

1875

December

1880

William Huddleston (acting)

24 May

1881

November

1881

November

1881

December

1886

December

1886

December

1890

John Henry Garstin

December

1890

23 January

1891

23 January

1891

18 March

1896

18 March

1896

December

1900

December

1900

30 April

1904

James Thompson (acting)

30 April

1904

December

1904

December

1904

February

1906

Gabriel Stoles (acting)

February

1906

28 March

1906

28 March

1906

3 November

1911

3 November

1911

30 March

1912

Sir Murray Hammick (acting)

30 March

1912

30 October

1912

30 October

1912

29 March

1919

29 March

1919

10 April

1919

10 April

1919

12 April

1924

During dyarchy (1920–1937)

1920

1923

Non-Partisan

1923

September

1925

September

1925

1926

1930

1937

Justice Party

During Provincial Autonomy (1937–1946)

1937

1945

In Republic of India (1950–1986)

1946

1952

Indian National

Congress

1952

20 April

1964

Indian National

Congress

1964

1970

Indian National

Congress

1970

1976

1986