Police under the Seventh Schedule

The Constitution places ordinary policing primarily under the states. Under Article 246 read with the Seventh Schedule, legislative subjects are divided among the Union, State and Concurrent Lists, while related executive responsibility broadly follows legislative competence.

Core allocation to the states

State List Entry 2 covers police, including railway and village police, subject to Union List Entry 2A. State List Entry 1 separately covers public order, making maintenance of public order and routine policing primarily state responsibilities.

• Under Article 162, a state's executive power generally extends to matters on which its legislature may make laws.
• State governments therefore organize, supervise and operate their police forces within the applicable constitutional and statutory framework.

Union role and constitutional qualifications

Union List Entry 2A covers deployment of Union armed forces or other Union-controlled forces in a state in aid of civil power, along with their powers and liabilities during deployment. This qualification does not ordinarily transfer control of state police to the Union.

• Article 355 imposes a duty on the Union to protect states against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure constitutional government.
• Under Article 246(4), Parliament may legislate for Union territories even on State List matters.
• Parliament may legislate on State List subjects through exceptional constitutional routes, including Articles 249, 250 and 252.

Interaction with criminal law and cybercrime

Policing must be distinguished from the legal rules that police enforce. Concurrent List Entries 1 and 2 cover criminal law and criminal procedure, allowing both Parliament and state legislatures to legislate, subject to constitutional rules governing inconsistency.

• States ordinarily register and investigate offences through their police machinery, including cybercrime cases.
• Cybercrime often crosses state boundaries, making inter-state coordination and lawful Union support important without altering the basic federal allocation of police.