India's Constitution divides law-making power between the Union and the States primarily through Article 246 and the Seventh Schedule, which sets out the Union List, State List, and Concurrent List. Where a Union law and a State law on a Concurrent List subject conflict, the Union law generally prevails under Article 254, subject to specific exceptions.
The three lists -- who legislates on what
The Seventh Schedule divides subjects into the Union List (defence, foreign affairs, banking, and
similar -- Parliament's exclusive domain), the State List (police, public health, agriculture, and similar
-- State legislatures' domain), and the Concurrent List (criminal law, marriage, education, and similar --
both Parliament and State legislatures can legislate). Article 246 assigns legislative competence based on
this division, and where a dispute arises over which List a particular subject falls under, courts apply
the “pith and substance” doctrine -- looking at the true nature and substance of the legislation rather
than its incidental effects on a different List, to determine which legislature validly enacted it. Residuary
powers -- subjects not mentioned in any of the three Lists -- vest exclusively in Parliament under Article
248, a feature that itself signals the Constitution's tilt toward the Union in cases of genuine ambiguity.
Resolving conflicts -- Article 254
Where a State law on a Concurrent List subject conflicts with a Union law on the same subject, Article 254
generally makes the Union law prevail and the State law void to the extent of the inconsistency -- with an
important exception: if the State law received the President's assent (referred and reserved for that
purpose under Article 254(2)), it can prevail in that State, though Parliament can still override it later
with fresh legislation on the same point. This mechanism has been invoked in practice where States have
sought to legislate more stringently than a corresponding Union law on a Concurrent List subject, such as in
certain state-level amendments to central land-acquisition or agricultural-marketing legislation.
Administrative and financial relations
Beyond legislative division, the Constitution also structures administrative relations (Articles 256-263,
including the Union's power to give directions to States and mechanisms like the Inter-State Council) and
financial relations (Articles 268-293, covering tax-sharing, grants-in-aid, and the Finance Commission's
role in recommending the Centre-State revenue split, typically constituted every five years under Article
280). These structures collectively define India's federal balance, often described as “quasi-federal” or
having a unitary bias, particularly evident during a President's Rule situation under Article 356, when the
Union effectively assumes a State's executive and legislative functions -- a power the Supreme Court has held,
in S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994), is subject to judicial review and cannot be exercised
arbitrarily.
