Police and Public Order in the State List

The Seventh Schedule distributes legislative subjects between Parliament and State Legislatures through the Union, State and Concurrent Lists. Public order and police are primarily State subjects, but their entries expressly preserve specified Union powers, especially concerning Union armed forces.

Constitutional allocation

Under Article 246(3), State Legislatures have exclusive competence over State List matters, subject to Parliament's supremacy regarding Union List subjects under Article 246(1).

• Entry 1 of the State List covers public order, but excludes the use of Union armed forces or forces under Union control in aid of the civil power.
• Entry 2 of the State List covers police, including railway and village police, subject to Entry 2A of the Union List.
• The State's executive power ordinarily extends to these legislative subjects under Article 162.

Union qualifications and related subjects

The Constitution separates ordinary State policing from the deployment and regulation of forces controlled by the Union.

• Entry 2A of the Union List covers deployment of Union armed forces or other Union-controlled forces in a State in aid of civil power, including their powers, jurisdiction, privileges and liabilities.
• Entry 80 of the Union List permits Parliament to extend a State police force's powers beyond that State, but police of one State cannot operate in another State without the latter's consent.
• Criminal law and criminal procedure are principally placed in Entries 1 and 2 of the Concurrent List. Thus, legislating on offences or procedure is distinct from controlling the police machinery.

Exceptional parliamentary competence

State List placement is not absolute because the Constitution permits Parliament to legislate on State subjects in specified situations.

• Parliament may legislate under Articles 249, 250 and 252, respectively, in the national interest after a Rajya Sabha resolution, during a national emergency, or with the consent of two or more States.
• Under Article 246(4), Parliament may legislate on any subject for Union territories.
• For Delhi, Article 239AA excludes public order and police from the Legislative Assembly's competence.

How UPSC asks this