Explain legislative relations between the union and the states with reference to various Articles of the Constitution.

Question: Explain legislative relations between the union and the states with reference to various Articles of the Constitution. [UPJS 2016]

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Answer

Articles 245 to 255 in Part XI of the Constitution deal with the legislative relations between the Centre and the State.

Article 245 of the constitution provides for the extent of laws made by Parliament and by the Legislatures of States. The article states that the Parliament can make laws for the whole or any part of the territory of India. The territory of India includes the states, UTs, and any other area for the time being included in the territory of India. Whereas, the state legislature can make laws for the whole or any part of the state.

Further, the Parliament can alone make ‘extra-territorial legislation’ thus the laws of the Parliament are applicable to the Indian citizens and their property in any part of the world.

The Constitution divides legislative authority between the Union and the States, based on the subject-matter jurisdiction in three lists- the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent List.

• Union List:-This list consists of 99 Subjects and includes subjects of national importance like defense, banking, etc. The Union Parliament has exclusive authority to frame laws on subjects enumerated in the list.
• State List: – This list consists of 61 subjects on which ordinarily the States alone can make laws. The subjects under this list are of regional importance like irrigation, trade etc.
• Concurrent List: – This list comprises of 52 items which are subjects of common importance such as marriage, succession. . Both the Parliament and the State legislatures can make laws on subjects given in the Concurrent list, but the Centre has a prior and supreme claim to legislate on current subjects. In case of conflict between the law of the State and Union law on a subject in the Concurrent List, the law of the Parliament prevails.

Article 248 deals with the residuary powers of legislation:

The constitution also vests the residuary powers (subjects not enumerated in any of the three Lists) with the Union Parliament. The residuary powers have been granted to the Union contrary to the convention in other federations of the world, where the residuary powers are given to the States. However, in case of any conflict, whether a particular matter falls under the residuary power or not is to be decided by the court.

Parliament’s Power to Legislate on State List

Though under ordinary circumstances the Central Government does not possess the power to legislate on subjects enumerated in the State List, under certain special conditions the Union Parliament can make laws even on these subjects. Articles 249 to 253 empower Parliament to encroach on the fields which are meant exclusively for State legislation, though it is subject to certain conditions being satisfied.

1. When Rajya Sabha passes a resolution with the support of a special majority (members present and voting) declaring that the subject is of national interest. (Article 249)
2. During times of national Emergency, Parliament is empowered to legislate on all subjects mentioned in any list. (Article 250)
3. Power to legislate can be vested in Parliament if 2 or more state passes a resolution authorizing parliament to make law for an item in the State list. (Article 252)
4. For the implementation of treaties or decisions made in an international conference. (Article 253)
5. During the president’s rule. (Article 350)

The rationale behind such distribution of powers in India between Union and State is that a strong Centre is essential to coordinate the activities of various states in the interest of uniformity to preserve national unity and integrity.

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