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B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Constitutional Law II 2021 Oct Question Paper with Solutions - KSLU

KSLU Solved Question Papers

Constitutional Law II

Previous Year Question Paper with Solution

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 4

2021 Oct Examination

munotes.in

Mumbai

First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.

Published by munotes.in, Mumbai.

Model answers written and edited by the munotes.in editorial desk.

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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2021 Oct examination.

The Paper as Set

The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2021 Oct examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.

Duration 3 hours · Total marks 80 · 20 questions answered

How to use this volume

Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.

Read the original question paper

Q1

(a)Explain the administrative relation existing between the centre and the state.[10]

Answer

For full marks, cover: why administrative relations matter in a federation; the basic rule that executive power follows legislative power (articles 73 and 162); the duty of the States and the Union's power of direction (articles 256 and 257); the sanction in articles 365 and 356; entrustment of functions both ways (articles 258 and 258A); full faith and credit, water disputes and the Inter-State Council (articles 261 to 263); all-India services (article 312); control in an emergency (article 353); decided cases; a conclusion.

Meaning and purpose

Part XI of the Constitution deals with relations between the Union and the States. Chapter I covers legislative relations. Chapter II, articles 256 to 263, covers administrative relations.

Legislative relations decide who may make a law. Administrative relations decide who carries the law out, and how the two governments work together. India has no separate Union machinery in every district. Most Central Acts are enforced by State officers. So the Constitution must make sure that the States administer Union laws properly, without making them mere agents of the Union.

The basic rule: executive power follows legislative power

Article 73 says the executive power of the Union extends to the matters on which Parliament may make laws. Article 162 says the executive power of a State extends to the matters on which the State Legislature may make laws.

On a Concurrent List subject both may act. The proviso to article 73 keeps the Union's executive power out of such a matter in a State. The exception is where the Constitution or a law of Parliament expressly provides for it. So on concurrent subjects the State normally administers.

In Rai Sahib Ram Jawaya Kapur v. State of Punjab, AIR 1955 SC 549, the Punjab Government took over the printing and sale of school textbooks by executive order, without any statute. Private publishers challenged it. The Supreme Court held that a State's executive power is not confined to executing laws already passed. It extends to every matter within the State's legislative competence. The petition was dismissed. The case shows that each government's administrative field is as wide as its legislative field.

Duty of the States and the Union's power of direction

Article 256. The executive power of every State "shall be so exercised as to ensure compliance with the laws made by Parliament". The Union may give the State the directions it thinks necessary for that purpose. This is a positive duty, not just a duty to keep out of the way.

Article 257(1). A State's executive power must not "impede or prejudice" the Union's executive power. The Union may give directions for this too.

Article 257(2) and (3). The Union may direct a State to build and maintain means of communication declared to be of national or military importance. It may also direct measures to protect the railways in the State. Under article 257(4), the Union pays any extra cost, as agreed or as fixed by an arbitrator appointed by the Chief Justice of India.

Other directions. Article 339(2) lets the Union direct schemes for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes. Article 350A lets the President direct facilities for primary teaching in the mother tongue for children of linguistic minorities.

The sanction: articles 365 and 356

A direction would mean little without a sanction. Article 365 provides it. Where a State fails to comply with a Union direction, "it shall be lawful for the President to hold" that the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution. The President may then issue a Proclamation under article 356.

The words are permissive. Non-compliance opens the door to President's rule but does not force it.

In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India, (1994) 3 SCC 1, nine judges examined Proclamations dismissing the governments of Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. The Court held that a Proclamation is open to judicial review. The President's satisfaction must rest on relevant material, which the Union can be made to produce. The Court also held that federalism is a basic feature and that the States are supreme within their own sphere. So the chain from a direction to President's rule is subject to review by the courts.

Entrusting functions both ways

Article 258(1). The President may, with the consent of a State Government, entrust Union functions to that Government or its officers, with or without conditions.
Article 258(2). A law of Parliament may confer powers and impose duties on a State or its officers, even on a matter outside the State's legislative field. No consent is needed. This is how most Central Acts are administered.

Article 258(3). The Union pays the State its extra cost of administration. The sum is agreed, or else fixed by an arbitrator appointed by the Chief Justice of India.
Article 258A. The Governor may, with the Union's consent, entrust State functions to the Union or its officers. It was added by the Seventh Amendment in 1956.

Co-ordination provisions

Full faith and credit, article 261. Full faith and credit must be given throughout India to the public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Union and of every State. A final civil judgment can be executed anywhere in India.

Water disputes, article 262. Parliament may provide for the adjudication of disputes over inter-State rivers, and may exclude the jurisdiction of every court. The Inter-State River Water Disputes Act 1956 does both. In In re Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, AIR 1992 SC 522, Karnataka issued an Ordinance to override the Tribunal's interim order of 25 June 1991. On a Presidential reference under article 143, the Supreme Court advised that the Ordinance was beyond the State's competence. A State cannot nullify the decision of a Tribunal set up under a law made under article 262.

Inter-State Council, article 263. The President may set up a Council to inquire into disputes between States and to recommend better co-ordination of policy. It was set up on the Sarkaria Commission's recommendation and is chaired by the Prime Minister. Its role is advisory only.

All-India services and emergency control

All-India services, article 312. The Rajya Sabha may resolve, by two-thirds of the members present and voting, that this is in the national interest. Parliament may then create all-India services common to the Union and the States. The Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service are deemed to be such services. Their officers are recruited by the Union but serve the States, which gives the Union a steady link with State administration.

Emergency, article 353(a). While a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, the Union may direct any State "as to the manner in which the executive power thereof is to be exercised". In normal times the Union may direct only for the limited purposes of articles 256 and 257.

Device	Article	Consent needed?
Direction to ensure compliance with Union laws	256	No
Direction not to impede Union executive power	257(1)	No
Entrusting Union functions to a State	258(1)	Yes, the State's
Duties imposed by a law of Parliament	258(2)	No
Entrusting State functions to the Union	258A	Yes, the Union's
Directions on any matter in an emergency	353(a)	No

Assessment

The scheme leans towards the Union. The power of direction, backed by article 365, can be misused against an opposition State. In State of Rajasthan v. Union of India, AIR 1977 SC 1361, the Union Home Minister wrote to nine Chief Ministers after the 1977 Lok Sabha election. He urged them to seek dissolution of their Assemblies, and six States challenged the letter. The suits under article 131 were dismissed, partly because article 356(5), as it then stood, made the President's satisfaction final. After Bommai that immunity is gone, and the Proclamation is reviewable on relevant material.

Conclusion. Administrative relations rest on one rule: each government administers what it may legislate on. The Constitution then adds devices that let the two co-operate. The States must enforce Union laws and must not obstruct the Union, and the Union may direct them for those purposes. Functions may be passed either way, and the extra cost is borne by the Union. Disputes go to water tribunals or to the Inter-State Council, and the all-India services link the two administrations. The ultimate sanction, article 365 read with article 356, is now subject to judicial review after S.R. Bommai. So the Union's control is real, but it is limited.

B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 4 Constitutional Law II 2021 Oct Question Paper with Solutions

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