Which among the following is not correct?
- (a)Legislation on criminal law, barring exceptions, is a subject under the Concurrent List.
- (b)Bankruptcy and Insolvency are subjects under the Concurrent List.
- (c)Inter-State trade and commerce is a subject under the State List.
- (d)Banking is exclusively under the Union List.
Correct — C, the claim that inter-State trade and commerce is a subject under the State List. It is not. Trade and commerce with foreign countries and among the States sits in the Union List, and it has to, because a subject that by definition crosses State boundaries cannot be left to any one State. What the State List carries is the domestic counterpart — trade and commerce within the State, together with markets and fairs. The question asks which statement is not correct, so this is the answer. The other three statements are accurate entries of the Seventh Schedule.
- (a)Legislation on criminal law, barring exceptions, is a subject under the Concurrent List. — Accurate. Criminal law and criminal procedure are Concurrent List subjects, with the qualification the statement itself makes — offences against laws on Union List or State List matters go with those lists.
- (b)Bankruptcy and Insolvency are subjects under the Concurrent List. — Accurate. Bankruptcy and insolvency is a Concurrent List entry, which is why the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was enacted by Parliament and applies across the country.
- (d)Banking is exclusively under the Union List. — Accurate. Banking is a Union List entry, and that is the constitutional basis for central legislation such as the Banking Regulation Act and for the Reserve Bank's role.
The Seventh Schedule divides legislative power into three lists. The Union List carries subjects needing a single national policy — defence, foreign affairs, currency, banking, inter-State trade. The State List carries subjects of local administration — police, public health, agriculture, local government, intra-State trade. The Concurrent List carries subjects on which both may legislate, with Union law prevailing under Article 254 in case of repugnancy. Residuary power rests with Parliament under Article 248.
The 'inside or across the border' test settles this item without any list-learning. Anything that stops at a State boundary is a State subject; anything that by its nature crosses one is a Union subject. Trade within a State is State List; trade among States and with foreign countries is Union List. The same test explains why State police is a State subject while the Central Armed Police Forces are a Union subject, and why intra-State river disputes are handled differently from inter-State ones. Note also that the Constitution devotes a whole part, Articles 301 to 307, to freedom of trade and commerce throughout the territory of India, which would be incoherent if inter-State trade were a State subject.
- Trade and commerce with foreign countries and among the States is a Union List subject; trade and commerce within a State, and markets and fairs, are State List subjects.
- Banking is a Union List subject; so are currency, coinage, insurance and stock exchanges.
- Criminal law, criminal procedure, bankruptcy and insolvency, forests, education and economic and social planning are Concurrent List subjects.
- Article 254 gives Union law primacy over a repugnant State law on a Concurrent List subject, subject to the President's assent exception.
- Articles 301 to 307 guarantee freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India.
A subject that crosses a State boundary by definition cannot belong to any single State.
- Assuming that anything to do with trade must be a State subject because markets are local.
- Forgetting that some entries were moved between lists by amendment — forests, education, and weights and measures among them.
- Reading a 'which is not correct' stem as though it asked which is correct.
As four flat assertions about the Seventh Schedule with a negative stem, testing whether the candidate can place a subject rather than recall an entry number.
With reference to the Constitution of India, which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
- (a) Forests : Concurrent List
- (b) Stock Exchanges : Concurrent List
- (c) Post Office Savings Bank : Union List
- (d) Public Health : State List
Answer(b) Stock Exchanges : Concurrent List
The identical exercise in pair form, and it fails on the same kind of error — a financial-market subject placed in the wrong list. Stock exchanges and futures markets belong to the Union List, for the same reason inter-State trade does.
Which one of the following is not correct?
- (a) Taxes on agricultural income is a subject under the State List.
- (b) Price control is a subject under the Concurrent List.
- (c) Insurance does not come under the Union List.
- (d) 'Forests' is a subject under the Concurrent List.
Answer(c) Insurance does not come under the Union List.
The same question type, the same negative stem, and again the false option misplaces a financial subject. Insurance is a Union List entry, exactly as banking is.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which one of the following is a Union List subject?
- (a)Public health and sanitation
- (b)Agriculture
- (c)Trade and commerce among the States
- (d)Markets and fairs
Answer(c) Trade and commerce among the States — the other three are State List subjects.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the event of a conflict between a Union law and a State law on a Concurrent List subject, the position is governed by
- (a)Article 246
- (b)Article 248
- (c)Article 254
- (d)Article 262
Answer(c) Article 254 — the Union law prevails, subject to the exception where the State law has received the President's assent.