SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 16 September 2025, Shift 3 · General Awareness · Question 24 of 75

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

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SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which Article allows Parliament to legislate on a subject in the State List during a National Emergency?

(a)Article 250
(b)Article 256
(c)Article 254
(d)Article 352

Answer

Why

Correct — A. Article 250 provides that while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, Parliament may make laws for the whole or any part of India on any matter in the State List.

Such a law ceases to have effect six months after the Proclamation stops operating, except for things done or omitted before that period ends.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Article 256 — Article 256 is an executive duty, not a legislative power: every State must use its executive power to ensure compliance with Parliament's laws, and the Union may give directions for that purpose.
(c)
Article 254 — Article 254 settles conflicts: where a State law on a Concurrent List subject is repugnant to a Union law, the Union law prevails unless the State law has the President's assent.
(d)
Article 352 — Article 352 is the Proclamation of National Emergency itself. It is the trigger, while the power to legislate on State List matters during the Emergency comes from Article 250.

Concept

Normally Parliament cannot legislate on State List subjects. The Constitution opens that door in set cases:
Article 249: a Rajya Sabha resolution in the national interest.
Article 250: a National Emergency in operation.
Article 252: a request by two or more State legislatures.

Article 253 adds laws to implement international agreements. Under Article 251, a State law repugnant to a Union law made under Article 249 or 250 gives way to it, to the extent of the repugnancy.

Article 250 needs no Rajya Sabha resolution. The Proclamation itself opens the State List to Parliament, which is what separates it from Article 249.

Key facts

Article 250: while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, Parliament may legislate on any State List matter.
Such laws cease to have effect six months after the Proclamation stops operating.
Article 249: Parliament may legislate on a State List matter in the national interest after a Rajya Sabha resolution backed by two-thirds of members present and voting.
A Proclamation of National Emergency under Article 352 must be approved by each House of Parliament within one month.

Study next

Parliament's routes into the State List: Articles 249, 250, 252 and 253Effects of a National Emergency on Fundamental Rights: Articles 358 and 359The 44th Amendment (1978) and the safeguards added to Article 352

Common traps

Choosing Article 352 because it is the Emergency Article, when it proclaims the Emergency and Article 250 grants the legislative power.
Confusing Article 250 (Emergency) with Article 249 (Rajya Sabha resolution), which also opens the State List to Parliament.

The stem names a power and asks its Article, with neighbouring Articles as distractors.

Approval of a National Emergency is asked at 12 Sep 2025, 16:00, GA Q.15 (keyed: within one month), and Article 256 at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.15.
Article 249 is asked at 17 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.15, and Article 254 repugnancy at Tier-II Paper-I, 19 Jan 2026, 11:00, GA Q.1.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: General Policy — all 308 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.