Which of the following Acts converted Unicameral Legislature of Bihar into Bicameral : Bihar Legislative Assembly and Bihar Legislative Council ?
Government of India Act 1919
The Commission’s final key for Set J records option 1, the Government of India Act 1919. It should be said plainly that on the standard account the second chamber in Bihar dates from the Government of India Act 1935, under which the bicameral legislature began functioning in 1937; the answer given here follows the official key, and both positions are set out below so that the reader can see exactly what each Act did.
| Act | What it did for the provinces |
|---|---|
| Indian Councils Act, 1909 (Morley-Minto) | Enlarged the legislative councils and introduced separate electorates for Muslims; the councils remained advisory and unicameral |
| Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford) | Introduced dyarchy in the provinces, splitting subjects into reserved and transferred; enlarged the provincial legislative councils and widened the franchise. Bicameralism was introduced at the Centre — the Council of State and the Legislative Assembly |
| Government of India Act, 1935 | Abolished dyarchy in the provinces and gave provincial autonomy; provided bicameral legislatures in six of the eleven provinces — Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Bihar, Assam and the United Provinces |
The background in Bihar. The province of Bihar and Orissa was created on 1 April 1912, following the Durbar announcement of December 1911, and was given a Legislative Council of its own from the beginning. Orissa was separated in 1936, leaving Bihar as a province in its own right, and it is from the following year that the Assembly and the Council sat as two chambers.
The Council today. Bihar is one of only a handful of states that still has a Legislative Council — with Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It has 75 members, elected by MLAs, by local authorities, by graduates and by teachers, with a share nominated by the Governor, and one-third retire every two years, so that the House is never dissolved. Under Article 169, a Council may be created or abolished by Parliament on a resolution of the state Assembly passed by a special majority.
Hence, per the official key, the answer recorded is the Government of India Act 1919.
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