Previous Year Question

The scheme of distribution of legislative powers between the Centre and the States under the Indian Constitution is principally based on the federal arrangement provided by the Government of India Act, 1935. Therefore, option (c) is correct.

The Government of India Act, 1935 divided legislative subjects into three lists:

• Federal Legislative List: Subjects of federal or all-India importance.

• Provincial Legislative List: Subjects primarily concerning Provincial administration.

• Concurrent Legislative List: Subjects on which both Federal and Provincial Legislatures could enact laws.

The Act placed 59 subjects in the Federal List, 54 in the Provincial List and 36 in the Concurrent List. In the event of a conflict between Federal and Provincial laws on a concurrent subject, the Federal law generally prevailed.

The Act abolished dyarchy in the Provinces and introduced Provincial Autonomy. In contrast, it proposed dyarchy at the Centre. However, the proposed All India Federation never came into existence because the Princely States did not join it.

The present Constitution adopted a more developed form of the same three-list arrangement. Article 246 and the Seventh Schedule distribute legislative subjects through:

• List I—the Union List;

• List II—the State List;

• List III—the Concurrent List.

Under Article 246(1), Parliament has exclusive legislative power over subjects in the Union List. Article 246(3) ordinarily grants the States exclusive power over subjects in the State List. Both Parliament and State Legislatures may legislate on subjects in the Concurrent List.

A significant difference between the 1935 Act and the present Constitution concerns residuary powers. Under the 1935 Act, the allocation of an unenumerated subject depended on the discretion of the Governor-General. Under Article 248 and Entry 97 of the Union List in the present Constitution, residuary legislative powers are vested in Parliament.

Option (a) is incorrect. The Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909 mainly concerned the expansion of Legislative Councils and separate electorates; they did not establish the three-list distribution of powers.

Option (b) is incorrect. The 1919 reforms introduced dyarchy in the Provinces and divided Provincial subjects into reserved and transferred categories, but the direct basis of the present three-list arrangement was the 1935 Act.

Option (d) is incorrect. The Indian Independence Act, 1947 created the independent Dominions of India and Pakistan and terminated British rule; it did not provide the present scheme of Centre-State legislative distribution.