The Inter-State Council in India was constituted under which Article of the Constitution?

The correct answer is D, Criminal Procedure Code. Criminal procedure is an entry of the Concurrent List, List III of the Seventh Schedule, along with criminal law and the law of evidence, which is why the code of criminal procedure has always been a central law that States may amend with the President's assent. Option A is wrong because police is a classic State subject in List II, and so policing remains a responsibility of the State government. Option B is wrong because public order, usually written in question papers as law and order, is also an entry of the State List. Option C is wrong because prisons, reformatories and borstal institutions are listed in List II as well. Remember the pair that examiners exploit: the crime and its trial are Concurrent, but the force that investigates and the jail that holds the convict are State subjects.

The correct answer is B, Article 248. Article 248 gives Parliament the exclusive power to make a law on any matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or the State List, and the power to impose a tax not mentioned in either of those lists; entry 97 of the Union List says the same thing from the other side. Option A is wrong because Article 246 only distributes subjects among the three lists and settles their order of priority. Option C is wrong because Article 249 is the route by which Parliament legislates on a State subject after a Rajya Sabha resolution, which is a different power altogether. Option D is wrong because Article 254 deals with repugnancy between a central and a State law on a Concurrent subject. India placed residuary powers with the Centre, following Canada, unlike the United States and Australia, where they stay with the units.

The correct answer is C. Article 254(1) lays down that where a State law is repugnant to a law made by Parliament on a Concurrent subject, the parliamentary law prevails and the State law is void to the extent of the inconsistency. Option A is wrong as a general statement, though there is a narrow exception in Article 254(2): a State law reserved for the President and given assent prevails in that State, and even then Parliament may override it later by a fresh law. Option B is wrong because the central law is untouched; only the repugnant part of the State law falls. Option D is wrong because the rule of supremacy is written into the Constitution and does not depend on a judicial choice in each case, although courts do apply the doctrine of pith and substance to test whether a real conflict exists.

The correct answer is B, Justice R. S. Sarkaria. The Union government appointed a three-member Commission on Centre-State Relations in 1983 under Justice Rajinder Singh Sarkaria, a retired judge of the Supreme Court; it submitted its report in 1988 and recommended a permanent Inter-State Council, sparing use of Article 356, and consultation with States before legislating on Concurrent subjects. Option A is wrong because Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi, a former Chief Justice of India, headed the later commission appointed in 2007, which reported in 2010. Option C is wrong because Dr P. V. Rajamannar chaired the committee set up in 1969 by the Tamil Nadu government, not by the Union. Option D is wrong because K. Santhanam is associated with the committee on the prevention of corruption of 1962, a different subject entirely.

The correct answer is B. Article 249 provides that if the Rajya Sabha declares by a resolution supported by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting that it is necessary or expedient in the national interest, Parliament may make a law on a matter in the State List; such a law stays in force for one year and may be extended for one year at a time by a fresh resolution. Option A is wrong because a simple majority is not enough for this special power. Option C is wrong because the requirement is of members present and voting, not of the total membership, a distinction examiners test often. Option D is wrong because a three-fourths majority belongs to the GST Council under Article 279A. Note also that only the Rajya Sabha, as the House of the States, can pass this resolution.