334: By a regulation in 1793, the District Collector was deprived of his judicial powers and made the collecting agent only. What was the reason for such regulation?
(a) Lord Cornwallis felt that the District Collector's efficiency of revenue collection would enormously increase without the burden of other work
(b) Lord Cornwallis felt that Judicial power should compulsorily be in the hands of Europeans while Indians can be given the job of revenue collection in the districts
(c) Lord Cornwallis was alarmed at the extent of power concentrated in the District Collector and felt that such absolute power was undesirable in one person
(d) The judicial work demanded a deep knowledge of India and a good training in law and Lord Cornwallis felt that District Collector should be only a revenue collector
Explanation:
The office of collector had undergone considerable structural and functional changes during the period of British rule, Besides revenue collection, the districts until 1792, when the judicial and magisterial powers were separated from him and transferred to the district judge.
Source : The Cambridge History of the British Empire, Volume 2 edited by John Holland Rose, Arthur Percival Newton, Ernest Alfred Benians