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Schedules Of The Indian Constitution

Schedules are essentially tables that include additional details not covered in the articles. The Indian Constitution initially consisted of eight schedules. Subsequently, four more schedules were added through various amendments, bringing the total to twelve.

This post provides a concise overview of all twelve Schedules of the Indian Constitution.

What is the purpose behind including schedules in the Indian Constitution?

  • Schedules play a vital role in the Indian Constitution. Initially, there were eight schedules, but through constitutional amendments, the number has increased to twelve. The purpose of these schedules in the Indian Constitution is as follows:
  • To simplify the legal intricacies of the Indian Constitution, the schedules within it are crafted to ensure ease of comprehension.
  • To be used as a point of reference for obtaining additional information or clarification on specific provisions of the Constitution.
  • The schedule serves the purpose of facilitating the revision or update of the Constitution by allowing for amendments to specific sections, rather than necessitating a complete rewrite of the entire article.

Schedules of Indian Constitution

  • First schedule: The first schedule contains the list of states and union territories and their territories. There are 28 states and 8 Union territories in the country. (Articles Articles 1 and 4 )
  • Second Schedule: The second schedule contains provisions of the President, Governors of States, Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of a State, the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India. (Articles 59(3), 65(3), 75(6), 97, 125, 148(3), 158(3), 164 (5), 186 and 221)
  • Third Schedule: The third Schedule contains the Forms of Oaths or Affirmations including The Union and state ministers; The candidates for election to the Parliament and the state legislature; The members of Parliament and state legislature ; The judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts; The Comptroller and Auditor General of India. (Articles 75(4), 99, 124(6), 148(2), 164(3), 188 and 219)
  • Fourth Schedule: The fourth Schedule contains provisions as to the allocation of seats in the Council of States (Rajya sabha). Articles 4(1) and 80(2)
  • Fifth Schedule: The fifth Schedule contains provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes. (Article 244(1)
  • Sixth Schedule: The sixth Schedule contains provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. (Articles 244(2) and 275(1)
  • Seventh Schedule: The seventh Schedule contains the Union list, State list and the concurrent list. (Article 246)
    • It includes three lists for determining the legislative authority for various subject matters.
    • Union List includes subjects of national importance, such as defense and foreign affairs, for which only the central government can make laws.
    • State List includes subjects of state and local importance, such as police and public health, for which only state governments have the authority to make laws.
    • Concurrent List includes subjects of joint importance, such as education, marriage, etc for which both the central and state governments can make laws.

Note:

  • The Parliament holds the power to pass laws concerning residual subjects, which are those not covered in any of the three lists.
  • Regardless of whether an issue is included in the State List, Parliament holds the power to enact laws concerning it for any region of India’s territory that is not a part of a state.
  • The Union List takes precedence over both the Concurrent List and the State List, while the Concurrent List holds priority over the State List.
  • In case of a conflict, the Union List should be given priority over the Concurrent List. Similarly, whenever there is a dispute, the Concurrent List should take precedence over the State List.
  • In cases where there is a conflict between a central law and a state law pertaining to a topic listed in the Concurrent List, the central law will take precedence. There is, however, one exception to this rule. If the state law has been submitted to the president for review and has received approval, it will hold supremacy within that state. Nevertheless, the Parliament still maintains the authority to amend such a law by enacting another legislation on the same subject at a later time.
  • Eighth Schedule: The eighth Schedule contains the list of recognized languages. Originally, there were 14 languages in the schedule, but presently it contains 22 languages, namely: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu. (Articles 344(1) and 351)
  • Ninth Schedule: Ninth Schedule contains provisions as to validation of certain Acts and Regulations. It was added to the Constitution by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951. The purpose of including the Ninth Schedule was to safeguard specific laws and regulations from being invalidated based on the argument that they infringe upon the fundamental rights guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution. (Article 31B). It includes provisions regarding the disqualification of Members of Parliament and State Legislatures based on defection.
  • Tenth Schedule: TThe Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act of 1985 introduced the Tenth Schedule, commonly known as the Anti-defection Law. This crucial addition was made to address the issue of political defections. (Articles 102(2) and 191(2))
  • Elevenths Schedule: The Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act of 1992 added the Eleventh Schedule, which addresses the powers, authority, and responsibilities of Panchayats.
    • Article 243G encompasses 29 essential functions of the panchayats, including but not limited to Agriculture, Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation, and soil conservation.
  • Twelfth Schedule: It deals with the powers, authorities, and responsibilities of the municipalities. It was also added by the Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act, 1992.
    • It contains 18 functional items of the municipalities that are Urban planning, including town planning, Regulation of land use and construction of buildings, etc.
    • Previously, numerous acts were added to the ninth schedule as a means to evade judicial review. However, following the Kesavananda Bharati case, the court has taken measures to restrict this practice as well. (Article 243W)