Question

Under the scheme of distribution of legislative powers in the Constitution of India, a subject which is not enumerated in either the State List or the Concurrent List falls within the residuary field of legislation. Such residuary power is vested in:

• A. The Supreme Court of India
• B. The Parliament
• C. The State Legislatures
• D. The President of India

Hint:

Remember Article 248 along with Entry 97 of the Union List. Both together establish Parliament's exclusive residuary legislative power.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Concept: The Constitution of India distributes legislative powers between the Union and the States through the Seventh Schedule. Subjects are classified into the Union List, State List, and Concurrent List. Matters not mentioned in any of these lists are called residuary subjects.

Step 1: Understanding residuary powers.
Residuary powers refer to legislative powers relating to subjects that were not anticipated by the Constitution makers and therefore were not included in any of the three lists.

Step 2: Constitutional provision.
Article 248 of the Constitution provides that Parliament has exclusive power to make laws with respect to any matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or the State List.

Step 3: Reason behind the provision.
The Constitution ensures national uniformity regarding emerging subjects such as cyber law, digital currencies, and other modern developments by vesting residuary powers in Parliament. \[ \boxed{\text{Residuary legislative powers belong to Parliament}} \]

Answer 2

Residuary power refers to legislative competence over any matter that does not appear in the State List or the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule. Article 248 of the Constitution fixes exactly where such power lies, and testing each option against that article shows which one is correct.

1. The Supreme Court of India: the Supreme Court is a judicial body that interprets and applies laws and resolves disputes; it has no independent power to enact legislation on any subject, residuary or otherwise, so this option cannot be right.
2. The Parliament: Article 248 expressly gives Parliament exclusive power to make laws on any matter not enumerated in the State List or Concurrent List. Since this is precisely what residuary power means, this option matches the constitutional text directly.
3. The State Legislatures: the State Legislatures are confined to the subjects placed in the State List, and along with Parliament, the Concurrent List; the Constitution does not extend their competence to unlisted or emerging subjects, so residuary power does not rest with them.
4. The President of India: the President is the head of the Executive and can act on legislative matters only through mechanisms like ordinances under Article 123, which itself substitutes for parliamentary legislation and does not create an independent residuary legislative power vested permanently in the President.

Article 248 leaves no ambiguity that the power to legislate on any subject outside the three enumerated lists belongs to Parliament alone.

Hence, the correct answer is the Parliament.