Union Of India V. Hs Dhillon: A Landmark Precedent Against Federalism
- IJLLR Journal
- Feb 17
- 2 min read
Kawanpreet Kaur, Jindal Global Law School
Introduction
Federalism is the cornerstone of the Indian Constitution, forming an important part of the basic structure of the Constitution, as held in the landmark case of SR Bommai v. Union of India. Federalism represents the philosophy of decentralisation of powers enabling issues at various levels to be addressed by the most suitable authorities, accommodating vast diversity and unique challenges. It recognises the need for local solutions to local problems while also providing a strong central authority to address national priorities. The fundamental feature of federalism is separation of powers between the Central and State governments, making sure that the powers are not concentrated in the hands of one authority. This separation encourages cooperative governance by enabling both governmental levels to operate independently within their separate spheres of influence while working together to achieve common objectives. The Supreme Court has reaffirmed the importance of this federal balance in numerous cases, underscoring that any encroachment by one level of government on the domain of another would violate the principles of the Constitution. This framework ensures that the Union and States operate as partners rather than competitors in governance.
This demarcation of powers of the Central and State governments have been laid down under Article 246 of the Constitution. Article 246 clearly states the division of powers between the Union and State governments under the three lists mentioned under the Seventh Schedule i.e., Union List, State List and Concurrent List. Further, the power to legislate on subjects which are not present in any of the lists i.e., residuary subjects is reserved with the Union government under Article 248 of the Constitution.
Even if the powers of the Union and State government are separate, the courts over the years have seen a challenge on this power. While the courts have protected the powers of States to make laws in many cases like the landmark case of Government of NCT of Delhi v. Union of India, in which the court upheld the power of legislature of Delhi to make laws except in cases of public order, police and land matters, there have also been cases like State of West Bengal v. Union of India in which the court held that the Constitution does not recognise sovereignty of States and hence States cannot challenge the legislative decisions of the Union government.
