Which one of the following is not a feature of Indian federalism?

Correct — D, Indian federalism is based on the principle of Separation of Powers. Federalism is a vertical division: it splits power between a Union government and State governments, each drawing authority from the same Constitution. Separation of powers is a horizontal idea about keeping the legislature, executive and judiciary apart, and India's parliamentary system deliberately does the opposite of that — the executive sits inside the legislature and survives only while it holds a majority there. So the principle named in this option is not what makes the Indian polity federal.

• (a)Courts can interpret the Constitution and powers of different levels of the Government. — A genuine feature. An independent judiciary that can settle Union-State disputes is what keeps the division of powers enforceable rather than merely written down.
• (b)Sources of revenue for the Union Government and the State Governments are specified. — A genuine feature. The Constitution assigns taxing powers to each level and provides for a Finance Commission to share the proceeds.
• (c)Powers of the Union and the States are specified in the Constitution. — A genuine feature, and the core one — the Seventh Schedule lists Union, State and Concurrent subjects under Article 246.

A federal constitution needs four things: two or more levels of government, a written division of subjects between them, revenue sources for each, and an independent court to police the boundary. India has all four, which is why three of these options are simply descriptions of the system.

It is worth being honest about the tension in the key. India does distribute functions among the three organs of state, and the Supreme Court has read a broad separation into the Constitution's scheme — but Indian practice is fusion, not separation, and none of that is a marker of federalism in the first place. The option fails because it names the wrong axis of division, and that is the reasoning the answer rests on. Note also that Indian federalism carries strong unitary features: single citizenship, an integrated judiciary, residuary powers with the Union, and Parliament's power to legislate on a State subject under Articles 249 and 250.

• Article 246 with the Seventh Schedule divides subjects into the Union, State and Concurrent Lists.
• Residuary powers rest with the Union under Article 248, unlike the American arrangement.
• Articles 268 to 293 deal with financial relations, and the Finance Commission recommends the sharing of tax proceeds.
• India has a single integrated judiciary and single citizenship, which is why the Constitution is often called quasi-federal.
• Article 1 describes India as a Union of States, and the states did not join by agreement.

• Treating separation of powers and division of powers as the same idea.
• Assuming a feature that is true of the Constitution must be a feature of its federalism.

One odd statement among four, or a comparison item against the American federal model.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Residuary powers of legislation under the Constitution of India rest with

  • (a)the States
  • (b)the Union
  • (c)the States and the Union jointly
  • (d)the Finance Commission

  Answer(b) the Union — Article 248 gives Parliament the power to legislate on anything not listed, unlike the American model.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which one of the following is a unitary feature of the Indian Constitution?

  • (a)A written Constitution
  • (b)Single citizenship
  • (c)A bicameral Parliament
  • (d)An independent judiciary

  Answer(b) Single citizenship — a federal system such as the American one gives citizens both federal and state citizenship.