List-I (the Union List), List-II (the State List), and List-III (the Concurrent List) in the Seventh Schedule are the three lists that the Constitution specifies as the distribution of legislative subjects between the Center and the States.
(i) The Parliament has the only authority to enact laws pertaining to any of the items included in the Union List. Currently, 98 topics (out of the initial 971 topics) are on this list, including topics like banking, international affairs, currency, atomic energy, insurance, communication, inter-state trade and commerce, census, audit, and others.
(ii) The state legislature “in normal circumstances” has the only authority to enact laws pertaining to any of the issues listed in the State List. Currently, this covers 59 topics (it initially included 662), including public order, police, public health and sanitation, agriculture, prisons, local administration, fishing, markets, theaters, gaming, and other topics.
(iii) Any of the topics included in the Concurrent List may be the subject of laws passed by both the Parliament and state legislatures.
Originally consisting of 473 themes, this list currently has 52 topics, including criminal law and procedure, civil procedure, marriage and divorce, population control and family planning, electricity, labor welfare, economic and social planning, drugs, newspapers, books, and the printing press, among others. Five topics, including
(a) education,
(b) forests,
(c) weights and measures,
(d) protection of wild animals and birds, and
(e) administration of justice;
constitution and organization of all courts, with the exception of the Supreme Court and the high courts, were transferred from the State List to the Concurrent List under the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976.
(iv) Even if an issue is listed in the State List, Parliament has the authority to enact laws pertaining to it for any area of India’s territory that is not part of a state.
The Union Territories or (if any) Acquired Territories are mentioned in this clause.
(v) The goods and services tax has been specifically addressed in the 101st Amendment Act of 2016. Therefore, regulations pertaining to the goods and services tax imposed by the Union or by the State may be passed by the Parliament or the state legislature. Additionally, the parliament has the only authority to enact laws pertaining to the goods and services tax in cases where the provision of products or services, or both, occurs during interstate trade or commerce.
(vi) The Parliament has the authority to enact legislation with regard to residual subjects, or those that are not included in any of the three lists. The ability to charge residuary taxes is a part of this legislative power.
The foregoing methodology makes it apparent that the Union List includes matters of national significance and those that call for national legal consistency. The State List specifies the issues of regional and local significance as well as the issues that allow for a range of interests. The concurrent list includes the topics where having uniform laws across the nation is desired but not necessary. As a result, it allows for both uniformity and variation.
More Info about Distribution of Legislative Subjects
- In the US, the Constitution only lists the federal government’s authorities; the states are given control over any remaining powers. The Australian Constitution incorporated a single list of powers, similar to the American model. In Canada, however, there are two enumerations—Federal and Provincial—and the Center is given the remaining competences.
- Federal, provincial, and concurrent enumerations were allowed by the Government of India Act of 1935. The structure of the current Constitution is similar to that of this act, but with one key distinction: under this act, the governorgeneral of India received residual powers instead of the federal or provincial legislatures. India follows the Canadian example in this regard.
- The Union List’s dominance over the State List, the Concurrent List’s dominance over the State List, and both is specifically guaranteed by the Constitution. As a result, the Union List should take precedence over the State List in cases where they overlap. The Union List should once again take precedence over the Concurrent List in the event of a conflict. The Concurrent List should take precedence over the State List whenever there is a dispute.
- If there is a disagreement between federal law and a state law on a topic listed in the Concurrent List, federal law will take precedence. There is, however, one exception. If the state law has been submitted to the president for review and received his approval, it takes precedence in that state. However, the Parliament would still have the authority to amend that law by passing another one on the same subject later.