Explained | State powers to challenge central laws

When can a State invoke Article 131? Can a State government challenge laws passed by the Centre?

When Dr. B.R. Ambedkar introduced the draft Constitution in the Constituent Assembly in 1948, he underlined the deliberate attempt of its makers to describe India as a Union of States and not a federation. “The federation is a Union because it is indestructible,” Dr. Ambedkar said.

He that the Constitution was empowered to change its form and shape into unitary or federal as needed: “…the draft Constitution can be both unitary as well as federal according to the requirements of time and circumstances. In normal times, it is framed to work as a federal system. But in times of war, it is so designed as to make it work as though it was a unitary system,” he reasoned. 

The final version provided demarcation of powers between the Centre and States in terms of legislative, administrative and financial functions, while the Seventh Schedule further divided the legislative functions into Union, State and Concurrent lists.

The framers of the Constitution envisioned differences between the Centre and States owing to this quasi-federal structure and dual polity. And so they added the original and exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for the resolution of such issues. Article 131 entrusts exclusive jurisdiction to the SC to hear and determine a dispute originating between States, or between States and the Union. Most recently, the Kerala government filed a suit in the SC to challenge the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 under Article 131.

The final form of the provision was not subjected to extensive debate in the Constituent Assembly. The majority of members assented to the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in settling Centre-State disputes— with the sole exception of Brajeshwar Prasad, who favoured the unitary system of government. He argued that “provincial governments are subordinate governments”, and that the decision of the Government of India should be final in case of a conflict between two States, or the Government of India and a State. The Constituent Assembly, however, did not accept his contention, and the draft was adopted in its final form. 

The Indian Supreme Court is regarded as powerful due to its wide powers of judicial review. It has three kinds of jurisdictions — original, appellate and advisory. While the President has the power to seek an opinion from the top court under advisory jurisdiction, the court can hear appeals from lower courts under appellate jurisdiction. Original jurisdiction, meanwhile, is the power of a court to hear and adjudicate disputes from the beginning. 

A citizen can approach the High Court or the Supreme Court under Article 226 and Article 32, respectively, in case there is a violation of fundamental rights. A State can, meanwhile, invoke Article 131 to approach the Supreme Court in case it feels that its legal rights are under threat or have been violated by another State or the Central government.