Establishment of Inter-State Council

The Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations (1983-88) made a strong case for the establishment of a permanent Inter-State Council under Article 263 of the Constitution. It recommended that in order to differentiate the Inter-State Council from other bodies established under the same Article 263, it must be called as the Inter-Governmental Council. The Commission recommended that

the Council should be charged with the duties laid down in clauses

(b) and (c) of Article 263 (see above).

In pursuance of the above recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission, the Janata Dal Government headed by V. P. Singh established the Inter-State Council in 1990.5 It consists of the following members:

(i) Prime minister as the Chairman

(ii) Chief ministers of all the states

(iii) Chief ministers of union territories having legislative assemblies

(iv) Administrators of union territories not having legislative assemblies

(v) Governors of States under President’s rule

(vi) Six Central cabinet ministers, including the home minister, to be nominated by the Prime Minister.

Five Ministers of Cabinet rank / Minister of State (independent charge) nominated by the Chairman of the Council (i.e., Prime Minister) are permanent invitees to the Council.

The council is a recommendatory body on issues relating to inter- state, Centre-state and Centre-union territories relations. It aims at promoting coordination between them by examining, discussing and deliberating on such issues. Its duties, in detail, are as follows:

• investigating and discussing such subjects in which the states or the centre have a common interest;

• making recommendations upon any such subject for the better coordination of policy and action on it; and

• deliberating upon such other matters of general interest to the states as may be referred to it by the chairman.

The Council may meet at least thrice in a year. Its meetings are held in camera and all questions are decided by consensus.

There is also a Standing Committee of the Council. It was set up in 1996 for continuous consultation and processing of matters for the consideration of the Council. It consists of the following members:

(i) Union Home Minister as the Chairman

(ii) Five Union Cabinet Ministers

(iii) Nine Chief Ministers

The Council is assisted by a secretariat called the Inter-State Council Secretariat. This secretariat was set-up in 1991 and is headed by a secretary to the Government of India. Since 2011, it is also functioning as the secretariat of the Zonal Councils.

PUBLIC ACTS, RECORDS AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS‌

Under the Constitution, the jurisdiction of each state is confined to its own territory. Hence, it is possible that the acts and records of one state may not be recognised in another state. To remove any such difficulty, the Constitution contains the "Full Faith and Credit” clause which lays down the following:

(i) Full faith and credit is to be given throughout the territory of India to public acts, records and judicial proceedings of the Centre and every state. The expression 'public acts’ includes both legislative and executive acts of the government. The expression 'public record’ includes any official book, register or record made by a public servant in the discharge of his official duties.

(ii) The manner in which and the conditions under which such acts, records and proceedings are to be proved and their effect determined would be as provided by the laws of Parliament. This means that the general rule mentioned above is subject to the power of Parliament to lay down the mode of proof as well as the effect of such acts, records and proceedings of one state in another state.

(iii) Final judgements and orders of civil courts in any part of India are capable of execution anywhere within India (without the necessity of a fresh suit upon the judgement). The rule applies only to civil judgements and not to criminal judgements. In other words, it does not require the courts of a state to enforce the penal laws of another state.

Articles 301 to 307 in Part XIII of the Constitution deal with the trade, commerce and intercourse within the territory of India.

Article 301 declares that trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory of India shall be free. The object of this provision is to break down the border barriers between the states and to create one unit with a view to encourage the free flow of trade, commerce and intercourse in the country. The freedom under this provision is not confined to interstate trade, commerce and intercourse but also extends to intra-state trade, commerce and intercourse. Thus, Article 301 will be violated whether restrictions are imposed at the frontier of any state or at any prior or subsequent stage.

The freedom guaranteed by Article 301 is a freedom from all restrictions, except those which are provided for in the other provisions (Articles 302 to 305) of Part XIII of the Constitution itself. These are explained below:

(i) Parliament can impose restrictions on the freedom of tra commerce and intercourse between the states or within a st in public interest.6 But, the Parliament cannot give preference one state over another or discriminate between the stat except in the case of scarcity of goods in any part of India.

(ii) The legislature of a state can impose reasonable restrictions the freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse with that st or within that state in public interest. But, a bill for this purpo can be introduced in the legislature only with the previo sanction of the president. Further, the state legislature cann give preference to one state over another or discrimina between the states.

(iii) The legislature of a state can impose on goods imported fr other states or the union territories any tax to which simi goods manufactured in that state are subject. This provisi prohibits the imposition of discriminatory taxes by the state.

(iv) The freedom (under Article 301) is subject to the nationalisati laws (i.e., laws providing for monopolies in favour of the Cen or the states). Thus, the Parliament or the state legislature c make laws for the carrying on by the respective government

any trade, business, industry or service, whether to t exclusion, complete or partial, of citizens or otherwise.

The Parliament can appoint an appropriate authority for carrying out the purposes of the above provisions relating to the freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse and restrictions on it. The Parliament can also confer on that authority the necessary powers and duties. But, no such authority has been appointed so far.7

The Zonal Councils are the statutory (and not the constitutional) bodies. They are established by an Act of the Parliament, that is, States Reorganisation Act of 1956. The act divided the country into five zones (Northern, Central, Eastern, Western and Southern) and provided a zonal council for each zone.

While forming these zones, several factors have been taken into account which include: the natural divisions of the country, the river systems and means of communication, the cultural and linguistic affinity and the requirements of economic development, security and law and order.

Each zonal council consists of the following members: (a) home minister of Central government. (b) chief ministers of all the States in the zone. (c) Two other ministers from each state in the zone. (d) Administrator of each union territory in the zone.

Besides, the following persons can be associated with the zonal council as advisors (i.e., without the right to vote in the meetings):

(i) a person nominated by the Planning Commission; (ii) chief secretary of the government of each state in the zone; and (iii) development commissioner of each state in the zone.

The home minister of Central government is the common chairman of the five zonal councils. Each chief minister acts as a vice-chairman of the council by rotation, holding office for a period of one year at a time.

The zonal councils aim at promoting cooperation and coordination between states, union territories and the Centre. They discuss and make recommendations regarding matters like economic and social planning, linguistic minorities, border disputes, interstate transport, and so on. They are only deliberative and advisory bodies.

The objectives (or the functions) of the zonal councils, in detail, are as follows:

• To achieve an emotional integration of the country.

• To help in arresting the growth of acute state-consciousness, regionalism, lingu-ism and particularistic trends.

• To help in removing the after-effects of separation in some cases so that the process of reorganisation, integration and economic advancement may synchronise.

• To enable the Centre and states to cooperate with each other in social and economic matters and exchange ideas and experience in order to evolve uniform policies.

• To cooperate with each other in the successful and speedy execution of major development projects.

• To secure some kind of political equilibrium between different regions of the country.

North-Eastern Council In addition to the above Zonal Councils, a North-Eastern Council was created by a separate Act of Parliament- the North-Eastern Council Act of 1971.8 Its members include Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunchal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim.9 Its functions are similar to those of the zonal councils, but with few additions. It has to formulate a unified and coordinated regional plan covering matters of common importance. It has to review from time to time the measures taken by the member states for the maintenance of security and public order in the region.‌

Table 15.2 Zonal Councils at a Glance

Table 15.3 Articles Related to Inter-State Relations at a Glance

Article No. Subject Matter

NOTES AND REFERENCES‌

1. Report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee. Select Committee of the House of Lords appointed to join with a Committee of the House of Commons to consider the future Government of India.

2. M.P. Jain: Indian Constitutional Law, Wadhwa, Fourth Edition, P. 382.

3. It was originally known as the Central Council of Local Self-Government (1954).

4. The Central Council of Indian Medicine and the Central Council of Homoeopathy were set up under the Acts of Parliament.

5. The Inter-State Council Order dated May 28, 1990.

6. For example, the Parliament has made the Essential Commodities Act (1955). This Act enables the Central government to control the production, supply and distribution of certain essential commodities like petroleum, coal, iron and steel and so on.

7. In USA such authority is known as the Inter-State Commerce Commission.

8. It came into existence on August 8, 1972.

9. In 2002, Sikkim was added as the eighth member of the North-Eastern Council.