In case of a disagreement over a law made on the same subject from the Concurrent List, the law mad
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prevails over the law made by.
Answers
Explanation:
A study of the Indian Constitution is absolutely essential for any person attempting to study and understand the law of the country. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. It has the distinction of being the longest written constitution in the world. This is because the makers of our constitution did not want to exclude any subject which would later lead to a conflict of interest. One of the significant portions of the Constitution deals with Center-State relation. Various doctrines regarding this have been incorporated in various Articles of the Constitution.
The objective of this paper is to explore the doctrine of repugnancy within the ambit of the Indian constitution. The Doctrine of Repugnancy has been stated in Article 254 of the Indian Constitution, under Part XI.
The area of research falls within the ambit of the relations between the Center and the States , as provided for in the Constitution. The paper describes in detail, what Article 254 purports to stand for, along with the provisions and the exceptions stated in the Article. It explains the importance of the Article under the context of Indian Federalism, as well as the significance of the Article in making the Constitution lean more towards the federal side.
The paper asks the question of how far the importance of the Article has been recognized and upheld by the Courts and explores the judicial precedents set in relation to the Article. It also examines when does repugnancy arise and how it can be solved, by citing precedents.
The methodology of research adopted for this paper is mainly the doctrinal method of research.
The paper concludes by attempting to critically analyze Article 254 and its role in the Indian Constitution and whether the Article unfairly positions the states against the Center by favoring legislations passed by the Center.
Blacks’ Law Dictionary defines repugnancy as an inconsistency or contradiction between two or more parts of a legal instrument (such as a statute or a contract).
Repugnancy means the conflict between two pieces of legislation which when applied to the same facts produce different results. Repugnancy arises when the provisions of two laws are so inconsistent and irreconcilable that it is impossible to do one without disobeying the other.
In the Indian context, if such a conflict arises between a central and a state legislation, then the central law will prevail. This has been stated in Article 254 of the Indian Constitution and has also been further clarified by the Supreme Court in various cases like I.T.C Ltd. V. Agricultural Produce Market Committee[1].
In M. Karunanidhi v. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that, where the provisions of a Central Act and a State Act in the Concurrent list are fully inconsistent and absolutely irreconcilable, the Central Act will prevail and the State Act will become void in view of the repugnancy.
In most federal constitutions and democracies across the world, the doctrine of repugnancy is embedded to resolve the conflict between a law made by the center and a conflicting law made by the state. In most case, the decision is in favor of the central law. In the United States of America, if a federal law conflicts with a state law, then the federal law pre-empts the state law. In Australia, until 1986, the law for the territories was considered repugnant to the Commonwealth law, which was the supreme law.
The Constitution under Schedule VII sets out the various subjects on which the Parliament and State may legislate, under List I and List II respectively. Under List III, also known as the Concurrent List, both the Parliament and the states have the power to make laws.
It is under Article 254 that the Constitution provides that in case both the Parliament and the state make a law upon a matter in the Concurrent List and the laws are such that they are irreconcilable, then the law made by the Parliament shall prevail and the law made by the state shall be deemed to be repugnant to the extent of its repugnancy with the Central law.
DOCTRINE OF REPUGNANCY IN THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
Article 254 of the Indian Constitution talks about the doctrine of repugnancy. It involves solving questions of repugnancy between the Central and the State law.
According to Article 254(1), if any provision of a state law is repugnant to a provision in a law made by the Parliament, which the Parliament is competent to enact, or with any existing law regarding any matter in the Concurrent List, then the Parliamentary law would prevail over the State law. It will be of no importance whether the Parliamentary law was enacted before or after the State law. To the extent of repugnancy, the State law will be void.
It is due to this Article that the power of the Parliament to legislate upon matters contained in List III i.e., the Concurrent List is supreme. The Article gives an overriding effect to any statue which the Parliament is competent to enact and which has been enacted by it.