190

INDIAN CONSTITUTIONAL DOCUMENTS

Procedure
of Execu-
tive Council
in absence
of

Governor-
General

Analogy
between

and
Cabinet

of the Council, except that of assenting to or with-
holding assent to laws; and the Governor-General^
when so absent, may himself exercise all or any of the
powers which he might exercise as Governor-General
in Council, except the power of making laws. The-*
Council may assemble at any place in India which the^
Governor-General in Council appoints.

The Governor-General's Council, as described
above, is commonly designated the 4 Executive Council,'
to distinguish it from the 'Legislative Council.' It is
in -effect a cabinet of ministers who, with tho
Governor-General at their head, conduct the executive
administration of the country. The Legislative
Council of the Governor-General is an expansion of
this Council... .

How work
is done by
Governor
General
in Council

Governor-
Generars
power to
over-rule
the
majority

We may now speak of the manner in which the
executive business of the Governor-General in Council
is transacted. Although after the Act of 1793X the
power of the Governor-General to overrule his Council
was not open to question, the fundamental idea, op ^
which previous legislation had been based, still
remained, that the government was to be carried on
by the Governor-General in concert with the whole
Council, All public business of every kind, however
trivial, was supposed to come before all the members
of the Council. Questions were ordinarily decided by
the majority, the Governor-General having a casting
vote if the votes were equal. If the Governor-General
determined to overrule the majority, it was provided
that he and the members of Council should " mutually
exchange with and communicate in writing to eac*
other the grounds and reasons of their respective
opinions." They were then to meet a second time,
and if both parties retained their first opinions, their
minutes were to be entered on the consultations, and

1The power- of the Governor-General to overrule his
Council was recognised by the Act of 1786 (26 Geo. Ill, c. 16).