Laxmikanth Ch 14: Centre-State Relations (CAPF Digest)

The idea in one line

Centre-State relations run on three tracks, legislative, administrative and financial (Articles 245 to 293), and on every track the Constitution gives the Centre the upper hand while leaving the States a working sphere.

Legislative relations (Articles 245 to 255)

• Territorial extent: Parliament makes laws for the whole or any part of India; a State legislature for its own State.
• Distribution of subjects (Seventh Schedule):
  • Union List: subjects of national importance (defence, armed forces, foreign affairs, atomic energy, currency, railways). Originally 97 entries.
  • State List: subjects of local importance (public order, police, public health, agriculture, prisons). Originally 66 entries.
  • Concurrent List: subjects of common interest (criminal law, criminal procedure, marriage, bankruptcy, education after the 42nd Amendment). Originally 47 entries.
• Residuary powers: vested in the Centre (Article 248).
• Centre's overriding power: in case of a conflict on a Concurrent subject, Central law prevails (Article 254).
• Parliament can legislate on a State subject in five exceptional situations: when the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution under Article 249, during a National Emergency, when two or more States request it, to implement international agreements, and during President's Rule.

Administrative relations (Articles 256 to 263)

• States must exercise their executive power so as to comply with Central laws (Article 256), and not to impede the Union's executive power (Article 257).
• The Centre can give directions to the States; failure to comply can invite President's Rule under Article 365.
• All-India Services (IAS, IPS, Indian Forest Service): officers serve both levels but are controlled by the Centre, a strong centralising device.
• Inter-State Council (Article 263): a forum for coordination; the Sarkaria Commission recommended its establishment and it was set up in 1990.
• The Centre can deploy its armed forces and Central Armed Police Forces in a State to deal with grave situations.

Financial relations (Articles 268 to 293)

• The Constitution divides taxing powers; some taxes are levied by the Centre but collected and appropriated by the States, some are shared, and so on.
• The Finance Commission (Article 280), a constitutional body appointed every five years, recommends the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the Centre and the States and the principles of grants-in-aid.
• The Goods and Services Tax (101st Amendment 2016) created a shared field of indirect taxation administered through the GST Council, a major change in fiscal federalism.

Commissions and committees

• Administrative Reforms Commission (1960s), Rajamannar Committee (Tamil Nadu, 1969), Anandpur Sahib Resolution, and most importantly the Sarkaria Commission (1983, report 1988) and the Punchhi Commission (2007) examined Centre-State relations and recommended a more cooperative balance.

CAPF angle: this is the most security-relevant polity chapter. "Police" and "public order" are State subjects (State List), yet internal-security crises are routinely handled by Central Armed Police Forces deployed at the Centre's initiative or on State request, and "deployment of any armed force of the Union in any State in aid of the civil power" is itself a Union List subject. This Centre-State seam is exactly where federal-force deployment, AFSPA in disturbed areas, and Centre-State friction over law and order sit. Examiners ask which list "police" and "public order" fall in (State List), where residuary power lies (Centre), and which body distributes taxes (Finance Commission). See human rights and internal security.