( 36

The latter was still composed of the Company's
servants entirely, but the Supreme Court consisted
of Judges appointed by the Crown, and it was made
a King’s Court, and not a Company's Court; the
Court held jurisdiction over all British subjects, in
the provinces of Bengal, Behar, and Orissa ; it consisted
 of a Chief Justice and (at first) three Jndges;
and was constituted by charter framed under the
authority of the Regulating Act. The King in
Council further retained the right to disallow or
alter any rule or regulation framed by the Government
 in India; and in civil cases an appeal lay to
the Privy Council.
The intention was to secure to the Crown the
supremacy in the whole administration of justice,
and to place an effective check upon the affairs of
the East India Company. The arrangement, however,
 was soon found to be impracticable. The
Act established in India two independent and rival
powers, namely, the Supreme Government, comprising
 the Governor-General and his Council, and
the Supreme Court ; the boundaries between them
were altogether undefined, one deriving its authority
from the Crown, and the other from the Company.
The wording of the statute and charter in regard to
the Supreme Court was extremely loose and unsatisfactory;
 and the immediate result was a conflict
of authority which raged for seven years, and which
had the effect of paralysing the executive government
 and of undermining the whole administration.