Centre-State Relations — Set 2

Correct Answer: D. Union Finance Minister

• **GST Council Chair — Union Finance Minister** = the Union Finance Minister heads the GST Council, which was established as a constitutional body under Article 279A (inserted by 101st Amendment, 2016). • **Article 279A** — GST Council includes Union MoS Finance and Finance Ministers of all States/UTs with legislatures as members. • 💡 Option A (Prime Minister) chairs the Inter-State Council, not the GST Council; Option B (President) constitutes the Finance Commission; Option C (RBI Governor) heads the Reserve Bank of India and has no role in the GST Council.

Correct Answer: A. Article 262

• **Article 262 — Inter-State Water Disputes** = provides for Parliamentary adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-state rivers or river valleys. • **Bar on Supreme Court jurisdiction** — Parliament can by law exclude the Supreme Court from hearing inter-state water disputes, which it did via the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956. • 💡 Option B (Article 263) deals with Inter-State Council for coordination, not water disputes; Option C (Article 260) relates to jurisdiction over Indian states not part of India at commencement; Option D (Article 261) grants full faith and credit to public acts and judicial proceedings.

Correct Answer: D. Statutory Act

• **Zonal Councils — Statutory Act** = established under the States Reorganisation Act of 1956, making them statutory (not constitutional) advisory bodies for inter-state cooperation. • **Not constitutional** — unlike the Inter-State Council (Article 263), Zonal Councils have no constitutional basis; they exist purely by an Act of Parliament. • 💡 Option A (Cabinet Resolution) cannot create bodies with statutory recognition; Option B (Constitutional Article) is wrong as no article establishes Zonal Councils; Option C (Presidential Order) has executive authority but Zonal Councils were created by a specific Parliamentary statute.

Correct Answer: D. 1971

• **North-Eastern Council Act, 1971** = the year and the legislation that created the North-Eastern Council as a special regional advisory body for northeastern states. • **Sikkim added in 2002** — originally covering 7 northeastern states, Sikkim was added to the North-Eastern Council in 2002, making it 8 states total. • 💡 Option A (1983) was the year Sarkaria Commission was appointed, not when North-Eastern Council was created; Option B (1956) was the year Zonal Councils were created under States Reorganisation Act; Option C (2002) was only when Sikkim was added to the council, not when it was created.

Correct Answer: B. Public acts, records and judicial proceedings

• **Article 261 — Full Faith and Credit** = mandates that all public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the Union and every State shall be recognised throughout India. • **Judicial and administrative unity** — this provision prevents any state from refusing to recognise legal documents, court decrees, or official records of another state. • 💡 Option A (Cabinet Decisions) are internal executive actions with no such constitutional protection; Option C (Parliamentary Debates) enjoy parliamentary privilege under Article 105, not Article 261; Option D (Foreign Treaties) are governed by Article 253 and international law, not Article 261.

Correct Answer: A. Means of communication of national importance

• **Article 257 — National Communication** = empowers the Centre to give directions to States regarding construction and maintenance of means of communication of national or military importance. • **Railway protection** — Article 257 also allows the Centre to direct States to take measures for protection of railways within their territory. • 💡 Option B (State Highways) are a State subject and not covered under Article 257 directions; Option C (Power Plants) are not mentioned under Article 257 scope; Option D (Universities) are a Concurrent List subject and not part of Article 257 directions.

Correct Answer: B. Article 365

• **Article 365 — Non-compliance trigger** = states that failure by a State to follow Centre's lawful directions is grounds for the President to declare that the State government cannot be carried on constitutionally. • **Article 356 link** — Article 365 directly enables President's Rule (Article 356); it acts as a legal bridge between non-compliance and imposition of emergency. • 💡 Option A (Article 352) declares National Emergency on grounds of war or external aggression; Option C (Article 358) suspends certain Fundamental Rights during National Emergency; Option D (Article 360) relates to Financial Emergency, not non-compliance by states.

Correct Answer: A. All government employees including Judges

• **Financial Emergency (Article 360)** = during a Financial Emergency, the President can issue directions to reduce salaries and allowances of all government servants including Judges of Supreme Court and High Courts. • **Judges included** — uniquely, even Supreme Court and High Court judges are not exempt from salary cuts during a Financial Emergency, making this a constitutionally significant provision. • 💡 Option B (Only State Government clerks) is wrong because salary cuts apply to ALL persons serving Union or State, not just clerks; Option C (Private Sector Employees) is wrong as Financial Emergency powers apply only to government servants; Option D (Only Union Ministers) is too narrow — the provision covers all government servants including judges.

Correct Answer: B. Article 293

• **Article 293 — State Borrowing** = governs the borrowing power of State Governments, restricting it to within India's territory only (no external borrowing by states). • **Centre's consent required** — if a State has an outstanding loan from the Centre, it must obtain the Centre's prior consent before borrowing further, ensuring fiscal discipline. • 💡 Option A (Article 268) deals with duties levied by Union but collected by States; Option C (Article 280) establishes the Finance Commission; Option D (Article 292) governs borrowing by the Centre, not by State Governments.

Correct Answer: D. Central Government

• **Income Tax (non-agricultural) — Central Government** = taxes on income other than agricultural income are levied and collected exclusively by the Central Government. • **Distribution to States** — after collection, net proceeds of income tax are shared between Union and States as per Finance Commission recommendations. • 💡 Option A (Local Bodies) have no authority to levy income tax; Option B (Both Centre and State) is wrong — only Centre levies it, though proceeds are shared; Option C (State Governments) can only tax agricultural income, not general income.