Horizontal and vertical power-sharing

Detail

1. Horizontal distribution of power: what it means

• Horizontal distribution of power means power is shared among organs of government that sit at the same level:
• the legislature, which makes laws
• the executive, which carries out laws

• the judiciary, which interprets laws and settles disputes

• It is called "horizontal" because no organ sits above the others. Each works side by side with the rest.

• No organ can use unlimited power. Each organ checks the others, and the result is a balance of power.
• Checks and balances means each organ has some power to stop or correct the others, so no single organ can abuse power.
• How the checks work (NCERT examples):
• Legislature checks the executive. Ministers and government officials are responsible to Parliament (at the Union level) or to the state assemblies (at the state level).

• Judiciary checks both. Judges are appointed by the executive. Yet they can check how the executive works, and they can strike down laws made by legislatures.

• Why it matters: if one organ takes all power, democracy weakens. Sharing power keeps each organ answerable.

2. Horizontal sharing in India: the legal anchors

India has a functional separation of powers. The organs are not fully cut off from each other, as they are in the US model, but each has its own area of work and checks the others.

Provision	What it says	Which check it creates
Art. 50 (Directive Principle)	The State shall separate the judiciary from the executive in public services	Keeps judges free of executive control
Art. 75(3)	The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha	Legislature checks the executive
Art. 13	Laws that break Fundamental Rights are void	Basis of judicial review
Art. 32	Right to move the Supreme Court for writs to enforce Fundamental Rights	Judiciary checks the executive and legislature
Art. 226	High Courts can issue writs for Fundamental Rights "and for any other purpose"	Same check at the state level
Art. 121	Parliament cannot discuss a judge's conduct in office, except during a motion to remove the judge	Protects the judiciary from the legislature
Art. 122	Courts cannot question the validity of Parliament's proceedings on the ground of irregular procedure	Protects the legislature from the judiciary

• Collective responsibility means all ministers stand or fall together. If the Lok Sabha passes a no-confidence motion, the whole Council of Ministers must resign.
• Judicial review means courts can examine a law or an executive action and declare it void if it breaks the Constitution.
• Writ means a formal court order. For example, a writ of mandamus orders a public authority to do its legal duty.
• Arts. 121 and 122 work as a pair. Each protects one organ from the other, so the balance runs both ways.
• More detail is in the note on state government and governance.

3. NCERT examples of horizontal sharing

• Bombay High Court and children's homes: the Bombay High Court ordered the Maharashtra government to improve conditions in seven children's homes in Mumbai.
• The judiciary noticed an executive failure.
• The court ordered the executive to act.

• This is the judiciary checking the executive, which is horizontal sharing at work.

• The 2005 Russia cartoon: the cartoon is about laws that gave the Russian President more powers.

• When power gathers in one office, the other organs lose their ability to check it.
• The lesson is that concentrating power erodes democracy.
• Beyond NCERT: Russia ended direct elections of regional governors in 2004. This also weakened vertical sharing.

4. Vertical division of power: what it means

• Vertical division of power means power is shared among governments at different levels:
• a general government for the whole country, called the federal government (in India, the Union or Central Government)

• provincial or regional governments (in India, the State governments)

• It is called "vertical" because the levels sit one above the other.

• The constitution fixes each level's powers. One level cannot freely take away the other's powers.
• It reaches below the states. Power is also shared with local governments: municipalities in towns and panchayats in villages.
• Belgium vs Sri Lanka:
• Belgium amended its constitution four times between 1970 and 1993. It gave real powers to regional governments and became a federation in 1993. This kept Dutch and French speakers together.
• Sri Lanka refused to share power with Tamil-majority areas. Its constitution stayed unitary. Tamil anger grew and ended in civil war (1983-2009).

5. Vertical sharing in India: the legal anchors

(a) Division of legislative power between the Union and the States

• Art. 245: Parliament makes laws for the whole country or any part of it. A State legislature makes laws for that State.
• Art. 246 and the Seventh Schedule set up three lists:

List	Who makes laws	Examples
Union List (List I)	Parliament only	Defence, foreign affairs, banking, currency
State List (List II)	State legislatures only, in normal times	Police, public order, agriculture, local government
Concurrent List (List III)	Both Parliament and the States	Education, forests, marriage, criminal law

• Art. 248: residuary power belongs to Parliament. Residuary power means power over any subject not named in any of the three lists, such as cyber law.
• The Union holding residuary power shows that India's federation leans towards the Centre.

(b) The third tier: local government (both amendments passed in 1992)

	73rd Amendment, 1992	74th Amendment, 1992
Part added	Part IX: Panchayats	Part IXA: Municipalities
Schedule added	Eleventh Schedule	Twelfth Schedule
Subjects listed	29 subjects where panchayats have decision-making powers [4]	Municipal subjects such as urban planning, water supply, public health, sanitation, roads and bridges [5][6]
Level of government	Village and district	Town and city

• Part IX gives power to bodies at the village and district levels, known as Panchayats [4].
• Part IXA was inserted after Part IX, and the Twelfth Schedule was placed after the Eleventh [5].
• Both amendments came into force in 1993 [6].
• More detail is in the notes on federalism and Centre-State relations, and on panchayati raj.

(c) Shared-rule institutions: where the levels sit together Vertical sharing does not mean the levels never meet. India has forums where the Centre and the States decide or advise together.

• Inter-State Council (Art. 263):
• Origin: the Sarkaria Commission recommended a permanent Inter-State Council, which it called the Inter-Governmental Council [2].
• Set up: by a Presidential Notification dated 28 May 1990. Its mandate covers only clauses (b) and (c) of Art. 263 [2][3].
• Chair: the Prime Minister [2].
• Members: Chief Ministers of all States, Chief Ministers or Administrators of Union Territories, and six Union Cabinet ministers [2].
• Role: it studies and discusses subjects of common interest to the States, or to the Union and one or more States. It then recommends better coordination of policy and action [3].

• It is advisory only. Its recommendations are not binding.

• GST Council (Art. 279A):

• Created by: the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016. This Act gave Parliament and the State legislatures simultaneous power to make GST laws, meaning both can legislate on GST at the same time [7].
• First meeting: 22-23 September 2016, in New Delhi [7].
• Members: the Union Finance Minister (chair), the Union Minister of State for Revenue or Finance, and the Finance Minister or another nominated minister from each State [7].
• Voting rule:
  • A decision needs at least three-fourths of the weighted votes of members present and voting.
  • The Centre's vote counts for one-third of the total votes cast.
  • All States together count for two-thirds [7].
  • So neither the Centre alone nor the States alone can push a decision through. Each side holds a veto.

• Union of India v. Mohit Minerals (2022): the Supreme Court held that GST Council recommendations are not binding on Parliament or the State legislatures [8][9].

  • Reason 1: both levels hold simultaneous power over GST. Binding recommendations would undo fiscal federalism, meaning each level's control over its own taxes [8].
  • Reason 2: the recommendations still carry great persuasive value, because they come from cooperative federalism in action [8][9].

• Zonal Councils and NITI Aayog's Governing Council are other forums where the Union and the States meet to coordinate policy.

6. NCERT news items on vertical sharing

• Ontario (Canada): the provincial government of Ontario agreed to a land-claim settlement with an aboriginal community.
• A regional (provincial) government took a major decision by itself.

• This shows real power held by the regional level.

• Nigeria: state finance ministers met and demanded that the federal government announce its revenue-sharing formula.

• Lower-level governments pressed the federal level over their share of money.
• This shows sharing of resources between levels.

7. Unitary vs federal states

• Unitary state: there is one main government, and any regional bodies get their powers from it. Some countries have no provincial governments at all.

• Sri Lanka's constitution is unitary. This is why Tamil demands for regional autonomy found no constitutional outlet.

• Federal state: the constitution itself divides power between at least two levels. One level cannot take back the other's powers by ordinary law.

• Alfred Stepan (1999) grouped federations into two kinds:

Type	How it formed	Examples
Holding-together federation	A large, diverse country decides to share power. The Centre hands power down to the regions to keep the country united. The Centre usually stays stronger.	India, Belgium, Spain
Coming-together federation	Independent states join to form a bigger unit. Each keeps its own identity and they usually have roughly equal power.	USA, Switzerland

• Exam trap: Belgium is holding-together, not coming-together. It turned from a unitary state into a federation in 1993.

8. NCERT Exercise 8 (matching)

Form of power-sharing	Form of government
1. Power shared among different organs of government	B. Separation of powers
2. Power shared among governments at different levels	D. Federal government
3. Power shared by different social groups	A. Community government
4. Power shared by two or more political parties	C. Coalition government

• Correct match: 1-B, 2-D, 3-A, 4-C, so the answer is (c).

Prelims Hooks

• Horizontal = same level (legislature, executive, judiciary): checks and balances. Vertical = different levels (Union, State, local): federalism.
• Art. 50 (separate judiciary from executive) is a Directive Principle. It is not a Fundamental Right.
• Art. 75(3): the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha only, not to the Rajya Sabha.
• Art. 121 stops Parliament from discussing a judge's conduct except during a removal motion. Art. 122 stops courts from questioning Parliament's internal procedure.
• Residuary power lies with Parliament (Art. 248). In the USA and Switzerland, residuary power lies with the units.
• 73rd Amendment: Part IX + Eleventh Schedule (29 subjects). 74th Amendment: Part IXA + Twelfth Schedule [4][5].
• Inter-State Council: set up by Presidential notification on 28 May 1990 on the Sarkaria Commission's advice. The PM chairs it and six Union Cabinet ministers are members [2].
• GST Council: a decision needs three-fourths of weighted votes. The Centre has one-third weight and the States two-thirds [7].
• Mohit Minerals (2022): GST Council recommendations are persuasive, not binding [8].
• Stepan: India, Belgium and Spain are holding-together federations. The USA and Switzerland are coming-together federations. Sri Lanka is unitary.

Mains Points

• India's separation of powers is functional, not rigid. Ministers sit in the legislature (Art. 75(3)), and judges are appointed through an executive process. Yet judicial review (Arts. 13, 32, 226) and the protections in Arts. 121-122 keep a balance. The Bombay High Court children's homes order shows courts pushing a slow executive to act. The 2005 Russia cartoon warns what happens when the balance collapses.
• Holding-together federalism explains India's central tilt. Residuary power with the Union (Art. 248) and a strong Union List kept a diverse country united. Like Belgium after 1993, India also gave real space to regions and later to local bodies (73rd and 74th Amendments, 1992). Sri Lanka's unitary refusal shows the cost of denying such space.
• Vertical sharing needs forums for shared rule, not just divided rule. The GST Council's weighted voting (Centre one-third, States two-thirds, three-fourths needed) gives each side a veto [7]. Mohit Minerals (2022) kept State legislative power intact by making Council recommendations persuasive only [8]. The weak spot is that the Inter-State Council stays advisory and limited to Art. 263(b)-(c) [2]. Reform could give it a permanent secretariat-backed role and regular meetings.
• The third tier is still incomplete. Parts IX and IXA list subjects for local bodies [4][5], but the funds, functions and staff given to them depend on each State. Real vertical power-sharing below the State level needs this devolution to be enforced.