11Part XI (A:245-263): Relations between the Union and the States
· Article 245 :
Extent of laws made by Parliament and by the Legislatures of States
245. (1)
Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, Parliament may make laws for
the whole or any part of the territory of India, and the Legislature of a State
may make laws for the whole or any part of the State.
(2) No law made by Parliament shall be deemed to be invalid on the ground that
it would have extra-territorial operation.
· Article 246 :
Subject-matter of laws made by Parliament and by the Legislatures of States
246. (1)
Notwithstanding anything in clauses (2) and (3), Parliament has exclusive power
to make laws with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List I in the
Seventh Schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the "Union
List").
(2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (3), Parliament, and, subject to clause
(1), the Legislature of any State * also, have power to make laws with respect
to any of the matters enumerated in List III in the Seventh Schedule (in this
Constitution referred to as the "Concurrent List").
(3) Subject to clauses (1) and (2), the Legislature of any State * has
exclusive power to make laws for such State or any part thereof with respect to
any of the matters enumerated in List II in the Seventh Schedule (in this
Constitution referred to as the "State List").
(4) Parliament has power to make laws with respect to any matter for any part
of the territory of India not included [in a State]** notwithstanding that such
matter is a matter enumerated in the State List.
--------------------
* The words and letters "specified in Part A or Part B of the First
Schedule" omitted by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s.29
and Sch.
** Subs. by s. 29 and Sch., ibid., for " in Part A or Part B of the First
Schedule"
· Article 247 :
Power of Parliament to provide for the establishment of certain additional
courts
247.
Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, Parliament may by law provide for the
establishment of any additional courts for the better administration of laws
made by Parliament or of any existing laws with respect to a matter enumerated
in the Union List.
· Article 248 :
Residuary powers of legislation
248. (1)
Parliament has exclusive power to make any law with respect to any matter not
enumerated in the Concurrent List or State List.
(2) Such power shall include the power of making any law imposing a tax not
mentioned in either of those Lists.
· Article 249 :
Power of Parliament to legislate with respect to a matter in the State List in
the national interest
249. (1)
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Chapter, if the
Council of States has declared by resolution supported by not less than
two-thirds of the members present and voting that it is necessary or expedient
in the national interest that Parliament should make laws with respect to any
matter enumerated in the State List specified in the resolution, it shall be
lawful for Parliament to make laws for the whole or any part of the territory
of India with respect to that matter while the resolution remains in force.
(2) A resolution passed under clause (1) shall remain in force for such period
not exceeding one year as may be specified therein:
Provided that, if and so often as a resolution approving the continuance in
force of any such resolution is passed in the manner provided in clause (1),
such resolution shall continue in force for a further period of one year from
the date on which under this clause it would otherwise have ceased to be in
force.
(3) A law made by Parliament which Parliament would not but for the passing of
a resolution under clause (1) have been competent to make shall, to the extent
of the incompetency, cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of six
months after the resolution has ceased to be in force, except as respects
things done or omitted to be done before the expiration of the said period.
· Article 250 :
Power of Parliament to legislate with respect to any matter in the State List
if a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation
250. (1)
Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter, Parliament shall, while a
Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, have power to make laws for the
whole or any part of the territory of India with respect to any of the matters
enumerated in the State List.
(2) A law made by Parliament which Parliament would not but for the issue of a
Proclamation of Emergency have been competent to make shall, to the extent of
the incompetency, cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of six
months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate, except as respects things
done or omitted to be done before the expiration of the said period.
· Article 251 :
Inconsistency between laws made by Parliament under articles 249 and 250 and
laws made by the Legislatures of States
251. Nothing in
articles 249 and 250 shall restrict the power of the Legislature of a State to
make any law which under this Constitution it has power to make, but if any
provision of a law made by the Legislature of a State is repugnant to any
provision of a law made by Parliament which Parliament has under either of the
said articles power to make, the law made by Parliament, whether passed before
or after the law made by the Legislature of the State, shall prevail, and the
law made by the Legislature of the State shall to the extent of the repugnancy,
but so long only as the law made by Parliament continues to have effect, be
inoperative.
· Article 252 :
Power of Parliament to legislate for two or more States by consent and adoption
of such legislation by any other State
252. (1) If it
appears to the Legislatures of two or more States to be desirable that any of
the matters with respect to which Parliament has no power to make laws for the States
except as provided in articles 249 and 250 should be regulated in such States
by Parliament by law, and if resolutions to that effect are passed by all the
Houses of the Legislatures of those States, it shall be lawful for Parliament
to pass an Act for regulating that matter accordingly, and any Act so passed
shall apply to such States and to any other State by which it is adopted
afterwards by resolution passed in that behalf by the House or, where there are
two Houses, by each of the Houses of the Legislature of that State.
(2) Any Act so passed by Parliament may be amended or repealed by an Act of
Parliament passed or adopted in like manner but shall not, as respects any
State to which it applies, be amended or repealed by an Act of the Legislature
of that State.
· Article 253 :
Legislation for giving effect to international agreements
253.
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Chapter,
Parliament has power to make any law for the whole or any part of the territory
of India for implementing any treaty, agreement or convention with any other
country or countries or any decision made at any international conference,
association or other body.
· Article 254 :
Inconsistency between laws made by Parliament and laws made by the Legislatures
of States
254. (1) If any
provision of a law made by the Legislature of a State is repugnant to any
provision of a law made by Parliament which Parliament is competent to enact,
or to any provision of an existing law with respect to one of the matters
enumerated in the Concurrent List, then, subject to the provisions of clause
(2), the law made by Parliament, whether passed before or after the law made by
the Legislature of such State, or, as the case may be, the existing law, shall
prevail and the law made by the Legislature of the State shall, to the extent
of the repugnancy, be void.
(2) Where a law made by the Legislature of a State * with respect to one of the
matters enumerated in the Concurrent List contains any provision repugnant to
the provisions of an earlier law made by Parliament or an existing law with
respect to that matter, then, the law so made by the Legislature of such State
shall, if it has been reserved for the consideration of the President and has
received his assent, prevail in that State:
Provided that nothing in this clause shall prevent Parliament from enacting at
any time any law with respect to the same matter including a law adding to,
amending, varying or repealing the law so made by the Legislature of the State.
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* The words and letters "specified in Part A or Part B of the First
Schedule" omitted by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29
and Sch
· Article 255 :
Requirements as to recommendations and previous sanctions to be regarded as
matters of procedure only
255. No Act of
Parliament or of the Legislature of a State *, and no provision in any such
Act, shall be invalid by reason only that some recommendation or previous
sanction required by this Constitution was not given, if assent to that Act was
given-
(a) where the recommendation required was that of the Governor, either by the
Governor or by the President;
(b) where the recommendation required was that of the Rajpramukh, either by the
Rajpramukh or by the President;
(c) where the recommendation or previous sanction required was that of the
President, by the President.
--------------------
* The words and letters "specified in Part A or Part B of the First
Schedule" omitted by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29
and Sch.
· Article 256 :
Obligation of States and the Union
256. The
executive power of every State shall be so exercised as to ensure compliance
with the laws made by Parliament and any existing laws which apply in that
State, and the executive power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such
directions to a State as may appear to the Government of India to be necessary
for that purpose.
· Article 257 :
Control of the Union over States in certain cases
257. (1) The
executive power of every State shall be so exercised as not to impede or
prejudice the exercise of the executive power of the Union, and the executive
power of the Union shall extend to the giving of such directions to a State as
may appear to the Government of India to be necessary for that purpose.
(2) The executive power of the Union shall also extend to the giving of
directions to a State as to the construction and maintenance of means of
communication declared in the direction to be of national or military
importance:
Provided that nothing in this clause shall be taken as restricting the power of
Parliament to declare highways or waterways to be national highways or national
waterways or the power of the Union with respect to the highways or waterways
so declared or the power of the Union to construct and maintain means of
communication as part of its functions with respect to naval, military and air
force works.
(3) The executive power of the Union shall also extend to the giving of
directions to a State as to the measures to be taken for the protection of the
railways within the State.
(4) Where in carrying out any direction given to a State under clause (2) as to
the construction or maintenance of any means of communication or under clause
(3) as to the measures to be taken for the protection of any railway, costs
have been incurred in excess of those which would have been incurred in the
discharge of the normal duties of the State if such direction had not been
given, there shall be paid by the Government of India to the State such sum as
may be agreed, or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by an
arbitrator appointed by the Chief Justice of India, in respect of the extra
costs so incurred by the State.
· Article 257A :
[Repealed.]
257A.
[Assistance to States by deployment of armed forces or other forces of the
Union.]* Rep. by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, s. 33
(w.e.f. 20-6-1979)
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* Ins. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, s. 43 (w.e.f.
3-1-1977)
· Article 258 :
Power of the Union to confer powers, etc., on States in certain cases
258. (1)
Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the President may, with the
consent of the Government of a State, entrust either conditionally or
unconditionally to that Government or to its officers functions in relation to
any matter to which the executive power of the Union extends.
(2) A law made by Parliament which applies in any State may, notwithstanding
that it relates to a matter with respect to which the Legislature of the State
has no power to make laws, confer powers and impose duties, or authorise the
conferring of powers and the imposition of duties, upon the State or officers
and authorities thereof.
(3) Where by virtue of this article powers and duties have been conferred or
imposed upon a State or officers or authorities thereof, there shall be paid by
the Government of India to the State such sum as may be agreed, or, in default
of agreement, as may be determined by an arbitrator appointed by the Chief
Justice of India, in respect of any extra costs of administration incurred by
the State in connection with the exercise of those powers and duties.
· Article 258A :
Power of the States to entrust functions to the Union
[258A.
Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, the Governor of a State may,
with the consent of the Government of India, entrust either conditionally or
unconditionally to that Government or to its officers functions in relation to
any matter to which the executive power of the State extends.]*
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* Ins. by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 18
· Article 259 :
[Repealed.]
259. [Armed
Forces in States in Part B of the First Schedule.] Rep. by the Constitution
(Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch.
· Article 260 :
Jurisdiction of the Union in relation to territories outside India
260. The
Government of India may by agreement with the Government of any territory not
being part of the territory of India undertake any executive, legislative or
judicial functions vested in the Government of such territory, but every such
agreement shall be subject to, and governed by, any law relating to the
exercise of foreign jurisdiction for the time being in force.
· Article 261 :
Public acts, records and judicial proceedings
261. (1) Full
faith and credit shall be given throughout the territory of India to public
acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State.
(2) The manner in which and the conditions under which the acts, records and
proceedings referred to in clause (1) shall be proved and the effect thereof
determined shall be as provided by law made by Parliament.
(3) Final judgments or orders delivered or passed by civil courts in any part
of the territory of India shall be capable of execution anywhere within that
territory according to law.
· Article 262 :
Adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers or river
valleys
262. (1)
Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint
with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any
inter-State river or river valley.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may by law
provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise
jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint as is referred to in
clause (1).
· Article 263 :
Provisions with respect to an inter-State Council
263. If at any
time it appears to the President that the public interests would be served by
the establishment of a Council charged with the duty of-
(a) inquiring into and advising upon disputes which may have arisen between
States;
(b) investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States,
or the Union and one or more of the States, have a common interest; or
(c) making recommendations upon any such subject and, in particular,
recommendations for the better co-ordination of policy and action with respect
to that subject, it shall be lawful for the President by order to establish
such a Council, and to define the nature of the duties to be performed by it
and its organisation and procedure.