The Government of India Act, 1935 is a foundational constitutional concept in Modern Indian History, passed by the British Parliament in August 1935. It was the longest Act passed by the British Parliament until 1999, comprising 321 Sections and 10 Schedules. The Act was created following the failure of the Round Table Conferences and the recommendations of the Simon Commission to address the growing demand for constitutional reform and greater Indian participation in governance. It aimed to solve the problem of limited self-rule by introducing a new constitutional framework.
The Act's key mechanism involved establishing an All-India Federation of British Indian Provinces and Princely States, though this federation never materialized because the Princely States refused to join. It abolished the system of Dyarchy (double government) at the provincial level, replacing it with Provincial Autonomy, which allowed elected Indian ministers to control most provincial departments. However, it introduced Dyarchy at the Centre, dividing federal subjects into "Reserved" (like defense and foreign affairs, controlled by the Governor-General) and "Transferred" categories. The Act also established a Federal Court in 1937 to settle disputes and interpret the Act. Legislative powers were divided into three lists: the Federal List (59 items), the Provincial List (54 items), and the Concurrent List (36 items).
This Act connects directly to the Constitution of India, 1950, as a significant portion of its administrative details and structural provisions were adopted. Features like the Federal Structure, the Division of Powers into three lists (Union, State, and Concurrent), the Office of the Governor, the Judiciary (Federal Court evolving into the Supreme Court), and the provisions for Emergency powers (like Article 352 and Article 356) are directly derived from the 1935 Act. The Act was replaced by the Constitution of India in 1950, but its core administrative and federal framework stayed the same, leading some to call the Constitution an "amended version" of the 1935 Act.