Secretary of State in respect of such acts. (b) The Secretary of State could only be sued in respect of those matters for which the East India Company could have been sued, i. e. matters for which private individuals and trading corporation could be sued and those matters for which there is express statutary provision. No suit would lie against the East India Company in respect of acts of state, and so no suit lies against the Secretary of State for such matters. (c) The plaintiff was a public officer,. whose employment was one which could only be given to him by the sovereign or the agents of the sovereign. Such public servants hold their office at the pleasure of the sovereign, being liable to dismissal at his will and pleasure, if that power is not limited by statutary provision, as for instance in the case of the members of the Council of India. The power of dismissal includes all others powers of censure or reprimand.

We may, at the cost of some repetition, but for the sake of clearness, sum up once again the position of the Secretary of State in respect of contracts as follows:

For the purpose making contracts the Secretary of State is a body corporate-or in the same position as a body corporate, though he is not such for holding property. Such property, as would have formerly vested in the East India Company, now vests in the Crown. [Kinlock vs. the Secretary of States in Council 1880, L. S. 15 Ch. D.] The debts due to the Secretary of State in India rank in priority of all other debts. There is a statutary remedy provided against the Secretary of State, and that remedy is not confined to those cases for which a petition of right would lie in England. But, apart from special statutary provisions, the only suits which could have been brought against the East India Company, and which can now be brought against the Secretary of State in Council, are suits in respect of acts done in the conduct of undertakings which might be carried on by private individuals. Hence if an act complained of was an act done by Secretary of State in the exercise of the sovereign power of the Crown, and on behalf of the Crown, no

court of justice would have jurisdiction to try that case. In suits or actions against the Secretary of State for breach of contracts of service, regard must also be had to the principles regulating the tenure of servants under the Crown. And the liability of the Secretary of State in Council to be sued does not deprive the Crown of its privileges by virtue of its prerogatives.

Before commencing an action against the Secretary of State notice of 2 months must be given according to S. 80 of the Civil Procedure Code of 1908.

CHAPTER III.

The Governor-General in Council.

33. Subject to the provisions of this Act and rules made thereunder, the superintendence, direction and control of the civil and military government of India is vested in the Governor-General in Council, who is required to pay due obedience to all such orders as he may receive from the Secretary of State.

The Governor-General.

34. The Governor-General of India is appointed by His Majesty by warrant under the Royal Sign Manual.

35. Omitted.

The Governor-General's Executive Council.

36. (1) The members of the Governor-General's Executive Council shall be appointed by His Majesty by warrant under the Royal Sign Manual.

(2) The number of the members of the Council shall be such as His Majesty thinks fit to appoint.

(3) Three at least of them must be persons who have been for at least ten years in the service of the Crown in India, and one must be a barrister of England or Ireland, or a member of the Faculty of Advocates of Scotland, or a pleader of a High Court of not less than ten years' standing.

(4) If any member of the Council, other than the Commander-in-chief for the time being of His Majesty's forces in India, is at the time of his appointment in the military service of the Crown, he shall not, during his continuance in office as such member, hold any military command or be employed in actual military duties.

(5) Provision may be made by rules under this Act as to the qualifications to be required in respect of the members of the Governor-General's Executive Council in any case where, such provision is not made by the foregoing provisions of this section.

37. If the Commander-in-chief for the time being of His Majesty's forces in India is a member of the Governor-General's Executive Council, he shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, have rank and precedence in the council next after the Governor-General.

38. The Governor-General shall appoint a member of his Executive Council to be Vice-president thereof.

39. (1) The Governor-General's Executive Council shall assemble at such places in India as the Governor-General in Council appoints.

(2) At any meeting of the council the Governor-General or other person presiding and one member of the council other than the Commander-in-chief may exercise all the functions of the Governor-General in Council.

40. (1) All orders and other proceedings of the Governor-General in Council shall be expressed to be made by the Governor-General in Cuuncil, and shall be signed by a secretary to the Government of India, or otherwise as the Governor-General in Council may direct and when so signed shall not be called into question in any legal proceeding on the ground that they were not duly made by the Governor-General in council.

(2) The Governor-General may make rules and orders for the more convenient transaction of business in his executive council, and every order made, or act done, in accordance with such rules and orders, shall be treated as being the order or the act of the Governor-General in Council.

41. (1) If any difference of opinion arises on any question brought before a meeting of the Governor-General's Executive Council, the GovernorGeneral in Council shall be bound by the opinion and decision of the majority of those present, and, if they are equally divided, the Governor-General or other person presiding shall have a second or casting vote.

(2) Provided that whenever any measure is proposed before the Governor-General in Council whereby the safety, tranquillity or interests of British India, or any part thereof, are or may be, in the judgement of the GovernorGeneral, essentially affected, and he is of opinion either that the measure proposed ought to be adopted and carried into execution, or that it ought to be suspended or rejected, and the majority present at a meeting of the council dissent from that opinion, the Governor-General may on his own authority and responsibility, adopt, suspend or reject the measure, in whole or in part.

(3) In every such case any two members of the dissentient majority may require that the adoption, suspension or rejection of the measure; and the fact of their dissent, be reported to the Secretary of State, and the report shall be accompanied by copies of any minutes which the members of the council have recorded on the subject.

(4) Nothing in this section shall empower the Governor-General to do anything which he could not have lawfully done with the concurrence of his council.

42. If the Governor-General is obliged to absent himself from any meeting of the council, by indisposition or any other cause, the vice-president,

or, if he is absent, the senior member other than the Commander-in-Chief present at the meeting, shall preside thereat, with the like powers as the Governor-General would have had if present:

Provided that if the Governor-General is at the time resident at the place where the meeting is assembled, and is not prevented by indisposition from signing any act of council made at the meeting, the act shall require his signature; but if he declines or refuses to sign it, the like provisions shall have effect as in cases where the Governor-General, when present, dissents from the majority at a meeting of the council.

43. (1) Whenever the Governor-General in Council declares that it is expedient that the Governor-General should visit any part of India. unaccompanied by his executive council, the Governor-General in Council may, by order, authorize the Governor-General alone to exercise, in his discretion, all or any of the powers which might be exercised by the Governor-General in Council at meetings of the council.

(2) The Governor General during absence from his Executive Council may, if he thinks it necessary, issue, on his own authority and responsibility. any order, which might have been issued by the Governor-General in Council to any local Government, or to any officers or servants of the Crown acting under the authority of any local Government without previously communicating the order to the local Government; and any such order shall have the same force as if made by the Governor-General in Council; but a copy of the order shall be sent forthwith to the Secretary of State and to the Local Government, with the reasons for making the order.

(3) The Secretary of State in Council may, by order, suspend until further order all or any of the powers of the Governor-General under the last foregoing subsection; and those powers shall accordingly be suspended as from the time of the receipt by the Governor-General of the order of the Secretary of State in Council.

43 (A) The Governor-General may, at his dicsretion, appoint from among the members of the Legislative Assembly, Council Secretaries, who shall hold office during his pleasure and discharge such duties in assisting the members of his executive Council as he may assign to them.

(3) There shall be paid to Council secretaries so appointed such salary as may be provided by the Indian legislature.

(3) A council secretary shall cease to hold office if he ceases for more than six months to be a memberof the Legislative Assembly.