*Unit for course plan first federalism and cooperative their jurisdiction will be different.

different. This means that each

federalism level of
*Principle of subsidiary and influence of *privatisation, government will have a specific power to form laws,
government contracts on the constitutional governance legislate and
*Distribution of power legislative administrative and execute these laws. Both of the governments will have
financial sphere clearly
*Finance commission marked jurisdiction. It will not be that one of the
 Define federalism and explain the important features government is just a
of federalism in this Is under the Constitution of India figurehead government.
3. Another important feature is that the constitution must
 Discuss the various methods available for the guarantee
settlement of interstate disputes in India this federal system of government. Which means the
 a. Discuss the scope of special provisions provided powers and
in the favour of state of Nagaland Assam and duties of both or all governments must be listed down in
Manipur the
 We discuss panchayats raj system under constitution constitution of that country hence guaranteeing a federal
of India system of
 Explain when laws made by the Parliament and state governance.
legislature are declared income solution of India 4. As stated above the federalism of a country must be
prescribed by
 Great, throughout the territory of India shall be free the constitution. But it is also important that just one level
elucidate but decided cases of
 Critically analyse the concept of cooperative government cannot make unilateral changes or
federalism in context of welfare state amendments to the
 Explain the Constitution powers and functions of important and essential provisions of the constitution.
finance commission of India Such changes
must be approved by all the levels of the government to
 Analyse the constitutional provisions governing local be carried
self government in India through.
 Elucidate the provisions of fifth and sixth schedule of 5. Now there are two levels of government with separate
Constitution of India jurisdictions
and separate duties. Yet there is still a possibility that a
conflict may
What is Federalism? arise between the two. Well in a federal state, it will fall
Federalism is compound mode of two governments. That upon the
is, in one system there courts or rather the judiciary to resolve this conflict. The
will be a mixture of two governments – state government courts must
with central have the power to interfere in such a situation and reach
government. In India, we can describe federalism as a a resolution.
distribution of authority 6. While there is power sharing between the two levels of
around local, national, and state governments. This is government,
similar to Canadian model there should also be a system in place for revenue
of political organization. sharing. Both
Federalism is at its core a system where the dual levels of government should have their own autonomous
machinery of government revenue
functions. Generally, under federalism, there are two streams. Because if one such government depends on
levels of government. One the other for
is a central authority which looks after the major affairs of funds to carry out its functions, it really is not
the country. The other autonomous in its
is more of a local government which looks after the day true nature.
to day functioning and
activities of their particular region.
Features of Federalism
1. The essential feature, which is the definition of Cooperative federalism
federalism is that
there are two levels of governance in the country at least. It is a corporate federalism
There can
even be more. But the entire power is not concentrated Cooperative Federalism in India reflects an ideology of a
with one stable relationship between the centre and other units. It
government. guides all the governing bodies to come forward and
cooperate to resolve common social, political, economic
2. All levels of governance will govern the same citizens, and civic problems.
but
Article 1 of the Constitution of India has specifically Composition:
mentioned that India is the union of states. Constitution
provides the division of powers and jurisdiction in the Prime Minister Chairman
exercise of functions between Center and states. Part XI
includes the 7th schedule and Part XII of the Constitution Chief Ministers of all States Members
precisely mentions the legislative, administrative, and
financial relations between central and state governments. Chief Ministers of Union Territories having a Legislative
Assembly and Administrators of UTs not having a
To promote coordination between the center and states Legislative Assembly and Governors of States under
various mechanisms are created by the constitution and President’s Rule (Governor’s Rule in the case of J&K)
other legislation. Members.

Since under article 245 clause one the jurisdiction of each Six Ministers of Cabinet rank in the Union Council of
state is confined to its own territory, It could possibly Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister Members
have been argued that the acts and records of one state
could not be recognised in another state. Article 261 Zonal Council
removes any such difficulty. Zonal Council :
Article 261 (1) oThe Zonal Councils are the statutory (and not the
List down the full faith and credit is to be given constitutional) bodies. They
throughout the territory of India to public acts records and are established by an Act of the Parliament, that is, States
judicial proceedings of the union and the state Reorganisation Act of 1956

Interstate Council oThe act divided the country into five zones- Northern,
Article 263 provides that the President may by order Central, Eastern, Western and Southern and provided a
appoint an interstate council if it appears to him that zonal council for each zone.
public interest would be served by its establishment. The While forming these zones, several factors have been
President may define the organisation procedure And taken into account which includes: the natural divisions of
duties of the Council. the country, the river systems and means of
One of the most important recommendations of Sarkaria communication, the cultural and linguistic affinity and the
commission watch for establishing a permanent interstate requirements of economic development, security and law
Council as an independent national forum for the and order.oNorth Eastern Council: The North Eastern
consultation with the mandate well defined in 263 of the States i.e. (i) Assam (ii) Arunachal Pradesh (iii) Manipur (iv)
Constitution of India. Tripura (v) Mizoram (vi) Meghalaya and (vii) Nagaland are
not included in the Zonal Councils and their special
problems are looked after by the North Eastern Council,
set up under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972.

About: 3) All India ServicesAll India Services caters for a unified

 The inter-state council is a recommendatory body judicial system to establish the Centre and state laws.
that has been empowered Article 312 of the Indian constitution manifests this
 to investigate and discuss subjects of common provision that works on integration under cooperative
interest between the Union and state(s), or among federalism in India.
states.
 It also makes recommendations for better 4) Full Faith and Credit ClauseArticle 261 emphasises full
coordination of policy and action on these faith and credit to all records, public acts and judicial
 subjects, and deliberations on matters of general proceedings of the Union and states throughout the
interest to the states, which may be referred to it by Indian territory. This step encourages faith and
its chairman. cooperation between the Centre and states.
 It also deliberates on other matters of general
interest to the states as may be referred by the 5) GSTPassing of GST (Art. 246-A) is a shining example of
chairman to the council cooperative federalism where States and Centre have
ceded their power to tax and come up with a single tax
To create a strong institutional framework to promote system to realize the dream of one Economic India with
and support cooperative federalism in the country and ‘One Nation, One Market’.101st Amendment Act of Indian
activate the council and zonal councils by organising Constitution passed unified taxation called GST.
regular meetings. Facilitates consideration of all pending
and emerging issues of Centre-state and inter-state 6) NITI AayogThe Planning Commission was replaced
relations by the zonal councils and inter-state with NITI Aayog to attain more cooperative federalism.
council. Develops a sound system to monitor the This organisation advises the Centre and states to look
implementation of recommendations put forward by after the discussion and coordination between these 2
them. The Council may meet at least thrice in a powers.
year. There is also a Standing Committee of the
Council. Challenges to cooperative federalism
Several issues such as trust deficit and shrinkage of check the power to decide unilaterally whether the
divisible pools plague Centre-State relations. Together, tribunal had jurisdiction to pass the interim order or not or
they make total cooperation difficult. whether to order binding on it or not. As the act in
question sought to interfere directly with the tribunal order
Inter-State water disputes like the Mahadayi issue it was ultravirus the Constitution.
between Goa and Karnataka, Mahanadi water disputes
(Odisha and Chhattisgarh) requires cooperation from all What is an agreement between the states of Punjab and
quarters (centre and riparian states). Haryana to share the water of river Sutlej. The Punjab
government was to construct the Sutlej Yamuna Link
River Water Disputes Canal to carry this water to the state of Haryana but it
India has many inter-state rivers and tributaries. defaulted in doing so the state of Haryana filed a suit
Parliament has the power to resolve disputes related to against the state of Punjab under article 131 of the
these rivers. Constitution to pass a decree directing the Punjab
No state can claim exclusive rights over a river. government to construct the Canal the Punjab
Central government mediates and resolves water government objected to the suit pleading that it was
disputes among states. barred by this interstate water disputes act. The Supreme
Ensures fair allocation and utilization of water resources. Court Negative the contention arguing that there was no
Particularly Article 262 of the Constitution of India water disputes between the states as they had already
conferred ultimate power to the Parliament to adjudicate agreed to share the water. The question was regarding
the disputes arising among states. Article 262 runs as obligation of the Punjab government to construct the
follows- canal as part of the agreement between the two states.
The court directed the Punjab government to fulfil its
Adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State obligation by completing the Canal within an year.
rivers or river valleys:
Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any Other statutory bodies
dispute or complaint concerning the use, distribution, or
control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river University grants commission : According to the
valley. Constitution, university education is a concurrent subject,
but coordination and maintenance of standards in this
Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament area is a central charge, and it is to fulfil this function that
may by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor the Parliament has created the commission under the
any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any University grants commission act, 1956.
such dispute or complaint as is referred to in clause (1).
The funds of the commission come entirely from the state.
the Parliament has enacted the Rivers Boards Act, 1956. A distinction is drawn for the purposes of grants between
This Act provides for the establishment of River Boards the Centre and the State University for the farmer the
for the regulation of inter-State rivers and river valleys. commission grants funds both for maintenance and
The powers and function of this board are to advise the development, but for the later it can do so only for
disputing governments regarding the specified river or development maintenance being charged on the
river valleys to have an amicable settlement of the matter. concerned state government. The commission is an
The main object of this board is to promote inter-State autonomous body and ensures maintenance of minimum
coordination. standards by each university.
Element has enacted Indian medical Council act to set up
In the matter of Cauvery water disputes Tribunal medical Council of India which seeks to maintain the
constitute an important judicial pronouncement in the standards in the area of medical education if The Council
area of Indian federalism the matter came before grants permission to set up a technical institution No
Supreme Court for an advisory opinion by way of state government can then refuse permission for setting
reference by the President. up the institution.

The Centre government constituted a tribunal known as

Cauvery water disputes Tribunal and referred the
interstate water disputes to it for adjudication the tribunal Strengthening Federalism
made an interim award as regards distribution of Cauvery
waters between the concerned states. Strengthening of Inter-State Council (Art.262) : Over the
Karnataka issued an ordinance charging the state year multiple committees have recommended
government with the duty to obstruct every year such strengthening of Interstate Council where the concurrent
quantity of water as it may deem requisites from Cauvery list subjects can be debated and discussed, balancing
not listed standing anything contained in any order or Centre state powers. There is far less institutional space
decision of the tribunal the purpose of the act was to to settle inter-state frictions therefore a constitutional
override the decision of the tribunal and its institution like ISC can be a way forward.a
implementation.
The court held the Karnataka act as unconstitutional as it autonomy to states : Centre should form model laws
affects the jurisdiction of the tribunal appointed by the with enough space for states to manoeuvre. Centre
Central act by an acting is the said act Karnataka located should give enough budgetary support to states so as to
avoid budgetary burden. There should be least in relation to such territory (Art. 240).
interference in the state subjects. (b) The application of Acts of Parliament to any scheduled
area may be barred or modified by notifications made by
Democratic Decentralization of administration and the Governor
strengthening governments at all levels intrue spirit.
Power should be decentralized based on the principle of (Para 5 of the V Schedule (3) of the Indian Constitution).
subsidiarity. (The principle of subsidiarity stipulates that (c)Para 12 (1) (6) of the VI Schedule says that the
the functions of administration shall be carried at the Governor of Assam may, by public notification, direct that
smallest unit of governance possible and delegated any other act of
upwards only when the local unit cannot perform the task.
Parliament shall not apply to an autonomous district or an
autonomous region in the state of Assam or shall apply to
such district or region or part thereof subject to such
exceptions or modifications as he may specify in the
Legislative Relations notification.
Chapter I of Part XI (Article 245-254) of the Indian
It is obvious that the foregoing special provisions have
Constitution specified two-fold division of Legislative been inserted in view of the backwardness of the
powers between the Union and the States. specified areas to which the indiscriminate application of
the general laws might cause hardship or other injurious
(1) with respect of territory consequences

(2) with respect of subject matter (1) Territorial Jurisdiction A.H. Wadia v. Income-tax Commissioner:1

As regards territory, Article 245 (1) provides that subject “In the case of sovereign legislature, questions of extra-
to the provisions of this constitution, a State Legislature territoriality of any enactment can never be raised in the
may make laws for the whole or any part of the state to municipal Courts as a ground for challenging its
which it belongs. It is not possible for a State Legislature
to enlarge its territorial jurisdiction under any validity. The legislation may offend the rules of
circumstances except when the boundaries of the state international law, may not be recognised by foreign
itself are widened by an act of Parliament. Courts or there may be practical difficulties in enforcing
them but these are questions of policy with which the
Parliament has, on the other hand, the power to legislate domestic tribunals are not concerned.”
for ‘the whole or any part of the territory of India, which
includes not only the states but also the union territory of (A State law is not valid if it purports to affect men and
India [Art. 246 (1). It also possess the power of ‘extra- property outside the State. A State law may apply to
territorial legislation [Art. 245 (2), which no state persons within its territory, to property—moveable and
legislature possesses. This means that laws made by immovable—situated within the State, or to acts and
parliament will govern not only persons and property events which occur within its borders. To decide whether
within the territory of India but also Indian subjects or not a State law has an extra-territorial operation, the
resident and this property situated anywhere in the doctrine of territorial nexus is invoked.
world.3
The doctrine of territorial nexus is applied to find out
whether a particular State law has extra-territorial
operation. It signifies that the object to which the law
applies need not be physically located within the territorial
boundaries of the State, but what is necessary is that it
should have a sufficient territorial connection with the
State. If there is a territorial nexus between the subject-
matter of the Act and the State making the law, then the
statute in question is not regarded as having extra-
Limitations to the territorial jurisdiction of Parliament territorial operation.)

The plenary territorial jurisdiction of Parliament is,

however, subject to some special provisions of the In State of Bombay v. RMDC,4 the respondent, the
constitution. They are, organiser of a prize compe
(a) As regards some of the Union Territories, such as the tition, was outside the State of Bombay. The paper
Andaman and Lakshadweep group of Islands, regulations through which the prize com
may be made by the President to have the same force as petition was conducted was printed and published
Acts of Parliament and such regulations may repeal or outside the State of Bombay
amend a law made by Parliament but it had a wide circulation within the State of Bombay. A
tax
levied by the State of Bombay on lotteries and prize under three lists. They are as follows: (i) The Union list (ii)
competitions was extended The State List and (iii) The Concurrent List.
to the newspapers published outside the State “in a lump
sum having regard to The Union List
the circulation or distribution of the newspaper” in the (i) Article 246(1) confers on Parliament an ‘exclusive
State. power’ to make laws
with respect to any of the matters in the Union List (List I
A State is entitled to levy a tax on the carriage of goods in the Seventh Sched
through its territory ule). The entries in this List are such as need a uniform
although the goods belong to, and the tax is payable by, law for the whole coun
the people outside the try.
State.5 Reference may also be made in this connection to
the discussion under At present the Union List consists of 99 Subjects over
sales tax.6 which
There is no general formula defining what territorial
connection or nexus is the Union shall have exclusive power of legislation. The
sufficient or necessary for application of the law to a Subjects mentioned in the Union List are of national
particular object. Suffi importance, for example, defence and foreign affairs etc..
ciency of the territorial connection involves consideration
of two elements,
The State List
viz.:
(ii) Article 246(3) confers an exclusive power on the States
(a) the connection must be real and not illusory; and
to make laws with
(b) the liability sought to be imposed under the Act must
respect to the matters enumerated in the State List (List II
be pertinent or
in the Seventh Sched
relevant to that connection.7
ule).
Whether in a given case there is sufficient territorial nexus
or not is a question
The State List comprises of 61 Subjects over which the
of fact, and it is for the Courts to decide in each case
whether “the territorial
nexus” being put forward as the basis of the application states have exclusive power to make laws. The Subjects
of the law is “sufficient” mentioned in the State List are of local or regional
or not. importance, such as public order, police and public health
TISCOLTD V. STATE OF BIHAR etc..
In this case a constellation of Bench of the Supreme
Court decided that a state can impose sales tax on those Concurrent List
sales transactions which relate to goods that had been Art. 246(2) confers a con
manufactured in the state or which were lying in the state current power of legislation on both the Centre and the
at the time of the sale even though the property in the States with respect to the
goods might have been passed to the purchaser outside matters enumerated in the Concurrent List (List III in the
the state territory. Seventh Schedule).
Wallace Bro & co ltd v. CIT
The assessee company was the English company which The Concurrent List includes 52 subjects and both the
was registered in England and had its registered office union
there. It was partner in A FIRM Which had carried on
business in India and earned profits from the business. and the states can make laws on this list but in case of
The assessee company got it share from those profits. It conflict between the Central Law and the State Law, the
was held by the privy Council that it is it provided enough Central Law will prevail over the State law. The purpose of
nexus to justify the Indian legislature to levy income tax adding the List to the constitution was to secure
on the assessee company and not only in respect of its uniformity in the main principles of law throughout the
share from the profits received but on its entire income. country. The details of Subjects in the three lists are given
in the Table 3.1 below.
State of Bihar versus. Charusila dasi
COMPOSITE LEGISLATION
It was held that the Bihar legislature could legislate in a legislature may enact composite legislation which may
respect of The situated in West Bengal if that was owned be
by a trust registered in Bihar. based on more than one legislative entry
The Supreme Court has observed in Ujagar Prints v.
Union of India: 31 “In de
Distribution of Legislative Powers (subject matter) ciding the validity of a law questioned on the ground of
legislature incompetence
As regards the subjects of legislation, the constitution the State can always show that the law was supportable
adopts from the Government of India Act, 1935 and under any other entry
divides the powers between the Union and the States within the competence of the Legislature. Indeed in
supporting a legislation sus
tenace could be drawn and had from a number of entries. State Legislature could, therefore, prohibit the posses
The legislation could be sion, use and sale of intoxicating liquors.
composite legislation drawing upon several entries.”
PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION OF THE LISTS I. T.C. Ltd. v. Agricultural Produce Market Committee,

(i) EACH ENTRY TO BE INTERPRETED BROADLY pre manufacture activities does not come under the
industries. The states power to collect tax from these
An important principle to interpret the entries is that none activities was valid.
of them should be
read in a narrow, pedantic sense; that the ‘widest In arriving at this decision the court serves 3 objectives:
possible’ and ‘most liberal’
construction be put on each entry, and that each general 1) the powers of the state ought not be whittled down;
word in an entry should 2) )the concept of federalism should be preserved;
be held to extend to all ancillary or subsidiary matters 3) Central supremacy should also be upheld.
which can fairly and rea
sonably be said to be comprehended in it Tika Ramji case,
Jilubhai Nanbhai Khachar v. State of Gujarat
the position appears to be as follows. Ordinarily, the
States have a comprehensive the regulatory power
 Entries or not powers rather fields of the legislation covering all aspects of any industry falling within the State
 The power lies and article 246 of the Constitution the sphere. The States can regulate raw materials for such
language of entry must be given the widest import. industries under entry 27,
 Each general entry must be read to have written it the
axillary and subsidiary matter.
List II, as ‘goods’, and also the finished products of the
 When the virus of the act is important that is
same. As regards the Centrally-controlled industries, the
challenged the constitutionality will be presumed and
process of manufacture falls within the Cen tral domain
if there is difficulty in ascertaining the legislative
under entry 52, List I; control over finished products of
power favour must be drawn towards the
these indus tries falls under the Central as well as State
constitutionality
jurisdiction under entry 33 in List III.
 the act is always presumed to be prospective.
Accordingly, molasses being the product of the sugar
Before applying them not with standing clause we apply
industry, which is a con trolled industry, falls under entry
harmonious construction: Both clause ready in such a
33(a) of List III and the State has power to en act a law to
manner that they coexist together.
regulate the same
Harakchand Ratanchand Banthia v. Union of India,
. Gujarat University v. Sri Krishna,
“It is well established that the widest amplitude should be
an expansive interpretation has been given to the Central
given to the lan guage of the entries. But some of the
entry so as to contain the linguistic chauvinism of the
entries in the different lists or in the same list may overlap
States, Medium of instruction has been held to have an
or may appear to be in direct conflict with each other. It is
important bearing on the effectiveness of instruction and
then the duty of this Court to reconcile the entries and
resultant standards achieved thereby.
bring about a harmonious construction.
It has been held again in D.A.V. College v. State of
(ii) INTER-RELATION OF ENTRIES
Punjab5
. Entry Is ready in such a manner that there is harmonious
that no State has the legislative competence to prescribe
construction.
any particular medium of instruction in respect of higher
education or research and scientific or technical
In State of Bombay v. Balsara, instructions if it interferes with Parliament’s power under
entry 66, List I, to coordinate and de termine the
a conflict was sought to be made out between entry 41, standards in such institutions and also to maintain high
List I and entry 8, List II. standards in university education throughout the country.

To reconcile the two entries, the Supreme Court gave a Naga People’s Movement of Human Rights v. Union of
limited meaning to the word ‘import’ in the Central entry India,
in order to give effect to the State entry. The Court held
that ‘import’ standing by itself, could not include sale or The Supreme Court has rejected the contention that in
possession o the article imported into the country by a the event of deployment of armed forces of the Union in
person residing in the territory in which it was imported. aid of civil power in a State, the supervision and control
The State entry has no reference to import and export but over the armed forces has to be with the State civil
merely deals with production, manufacture, possession, authorities. According to the Court, “The said forces shall
transport, purchase and sale o intoxicating liquors. The operate in the State concerned in cooperation with the
civil administration so that the situation which has ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS
necessitated the de ployment of the Armed Forces is
In the Federal System of India, the head of the
effectively dealt with and normalcy is re stored.”33
Executive Union is the President of the country. The real
political as well as social power, however, resides in the
The Court has ruled that the impugned Act is not ultra hands of the Prime Minister, who in turn heads the
vires the legislative power of Parliament conferred on it by Council of Ministers. According to the Federal System of
entry 2A, List I India, it is clearly stated in the Article 74(1) of the Indian
Constitution, that the Prime Minister and his Council of
Doctrine of pith and substance-notes Ministers will advise and help the President. The Council
of Members is answerable to the Lok Sabha or the House
doctrine of colourable legislation- notes/ of People, as per the Federal System prevailing in India.

repugnancy_Repugnancy arises when the provisions of the The administrative relations between the Centre and the
States have been stated from Article 256 to Article 263 of
two laws are fully inconsistent and are absolutely the Constitution. As a rule, the Central Government
irreconcilable, and that it is impossible to obey one without exercises administrative authority over all the matters on
which the Parliament has the power to make laws,
disobeying the other, e.g. when one statute says ‘do’ while whereas the State Governments exercise authority over
the other says ‘don’t’ in the same set of facts. the matters included in the State List.[1]

The Supreme Court held in Tika Ramji v. State of Article 256 of the Constitution states that the
Uttar Pradesh18 that this provision did not repeal the executive power of the states shall be so exercised as
earlier State law, as there was no repugnancy be tween to ensure compliance with the laws of Parliament.
the two laws, and both could co-exist, although they both Also the union executive power extends to the giving
related to entry 33(b) in List III. of such directions to the states as may appear to the
Government of India to be necessary for the purpose.
The proviso to Art. 254(2) confers on Parliament the It is further stipulated under Article 246 of the Constitution
power to repeal a State law only when— (1) there was that if the state government fails to endorse the laws
already a Central law on a matter in the Concurrent List; passed by the Parliament within its jurisdiction, the union
government can issue directions to the states to ensure
their compliance. This article lays down that it shall be the
(2) a State then made a law on the same matter
duty of the states to exercise its executive power so as to
inconsistent with the Central law; and
ensure that due effect is given within the state to
(3) (3) this State law received the Presidential assent
everyactof Parliamentand to every existing law which
under Art. 254(2).
apply in that state. This is a statement of constitutional
duty of every state. The government of India is entitled to
Such a situation arose in ITC21 where the Supreme Court give directions to the state government regarding the duty
found direct collision which is imposed upon it, by this article.

between an Act enacted by Parliament and a State Act. The The scheme of allocating the administrative
Court ruled that the responsibilities is drawn for the purpose of:-

“question of allowing both of them to operate would not (i) The administration of law
arise.” In such a situation, the Central legislation would
(ii) Achieving coordination between the centre and states
prevail over the State Law.
(iii) The settlement of disputes between centre and states
Residuary power: inter se; and (iv) For the purposes of Article 355[1]

Entry 97, List I, runs as : “Any other matter not enumerated DIVISION OF ADMINISRATIVE POWERS
in List II or List
Article 73 provides that subject to the provisions of the
III including any tax not mentioned in either of those Lists.” Constitution, the executive power of the union shall
Article 248(1) says : “Parliament has exclusive power to extend –
(a) To the matters with respect to which parliament has
make any law with power to make laws; and
respect to any matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List
(b) To the exercise of such rights, authority and
or State List.” jurisdiction as are exercisable by the government of India
Residuary powers have been vested in the Centre so as to by virtue of any treaty or agreement.
make the centre strong.
Article 162 provides that subject to provisions of the
Constitution, the executive power of a state shall extend
to matters with respect to which the legislature of the
state has power to make laws
In case of concurrent list –

(a) The Union shall exercise executive power only if the

Constitution so expressly provides or any law made by
the parliament so confers the powers expressly on the
centre.

(b) The States shall have the executive powers only if the
Constitution or a Parliamentary law has not conferred
such power expressly on the Union.

1. Article 355 - Duty of the union to protect states against

external aggression and internal disturbance

Deployment of Military and Para-military Forces:

These can be deployed in a state by the union, if situation

warrants, even against the wishes of the state
government.
Judicial System:
A distinctive feature of our federal system is the presence
of integrated judicial system. Though we have federal
form of government with two sets of government and dual
powers, there is no dual system of administration of
justice. This is clear by the presence of single integrated
chain of courts to administer both union and state laws
with the Supreme Court at the apex of hierarchy of
courts.[1]

CENTRE - STATES CO-ORDINATION

the Constitution of India has adopted the following

techniques of co-ordination between the Centre and the
States -

(i) Inter – governmental delegation of administrative

powers;
(ii) Centre’s directions to the states;
(iii) All-India Services; and
(iv) Inter-State Council.