Revision summary
The 1935 Act designed an All-India Federation, three legislative lists, provincial autonomy and a Federal Court. Those are federal constitutional features and they later shaped the 1950 text. The federation of princely States never started, so the scheme stayed on paper. Governor-General and Governor special powers, and the absence of fundamental rights, kept a colonial unitary core. The Act therefore laid down a federal constitution in form, not a fully operative federation.
Model answer
Introduction
The Government of India Act, 1935, was the longest British statute for India and the first to draw an All-India Federation with three lists, provincial autonomy, and a Federal Court. On paper it laid down a federal constitution. In operation the federation of princely States never commenced, and the Governor-General’s special powers kept a strong unitary core. The honest answer is therefore a qualified yes: federal in design, not a working federation of the 1950 kind.
Body
Federal features on paper
- The Act proposed a federation of Governors’ Provinces and acceding Indian States, with a Federal Legislature and a Federal Executive, which is the classic federal idea of dual polities under a common centre.
- It distributed powers through a Federal List, a Provincial List and a Concurrent List, the direct ancestor of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India.
- Provincial autonomy replaced dyarchy in the provinces: popular ministries responsible to elected provincial legislatures ran transferred provincial subjects, which is a federal trait at the unit level.
- A Federal Court was created to decide disputes between units and to interpret the Act, a judicial umpire being a normal federal device.
- Residuary powers were with the Governor-General, and the Instrument of Accession was to define each prince’s federal subjects, which is closer to a treaty federation than to the later Indian model of a created Union.
Why it was not a full federal constitution in fact
- Part II of the Act, the All-India Federation, never came into force because the required number of princely States did not accede; from 1937 to 1947 the Centre remained the 1919-style dyarchy plus the 1935 central chapters, not a federation of States.
- The Governor-General had special responsibilities and discretionary powers over defence, ecclesiastical affairs, external affairs, and tribal areas, and could act against ministerial advice, which is not the federal executive of a dominion with responsible government at the Centre.
- Governors in the provinces had similar special responsibilities and could take over under Section 93, a colonial preview of later Article 356, which kept a unitary override inside “autonomy”.
- There was no bill of fundamental rights against the federal and provincial governments, and sovereignty remained with the British Crown and Parliament, which could still amend or repeal the Act.
- Representation of princes in the federal legislature was to be undemocratic nomination, so even a commenced federation would have mixed autocracy with elected British-India provinces.
Discussion against the 1950 Constitution
- The Constitution of India took the lists, the Federal Court (as the Supreme Court), and provincial autonomy, then added adult suffrage, justiciable rights, and a Union that exists without princely accession.
- Indian federalism is often called quasi-federal because of Articles 3, 248, 254 and 356; the 1935 Act was more quasi-federal still, because the Centre was not even a responsible federal cabinet in the full sense and the federation of States never sat.
- Scholars therefore say the 1935 Act laid down a federal scheme and a federal court, but not a living federal constitution. That distinction answers the question without denying the Act’s influence on 1950.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD A[GoI Act 1935] --> L[Three lists and provincial autonomy] A --> F[All-India Federation plan] F --> P[Princes did not accede] P --> U[Federation never commenced] A --> G[GG special powers] G --> U
Conclusion
- The Government of India Act, 1935, did lay down a federal constitution on paper: three lists, provincial autonomy, a Federal Court, and a planned All-India Federation. It did not become a working federation, because the princes did not join and the Governor-General retained a unitary, colonial core. It was a federal blueprint under the Crown, not a completed federal republic.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
What is quasi judicial body? Explain with the help of concrete examples.
Next question in the 2016 paper (Q8). View answer →
-
Did provincial ministries under the 1935 Act mean India was already a federation?
They meant provincial autonomy inside British India. The All-India Federation with the princes never came into force, so the Centre was not a federal government of acceding units.
-
Is the 1950 Constitution just the 1935 Act with a Preamble?
No. It borrowed lists, courts and autonomy, then added popular sovereignty, fundamental rights, adult suffrage and a Union that does not depend on princely accession.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2025 · Q14 · GS II · 15 marks
Examine the evolving pattern of Centre-State financial relations in the context of planned development in India. How far have the recent reforms impacted the fiscal federalism in India? -
2024 · Q13 · GS II · 15 marks
What changes has the Union Government recently introduced in the domain of Centre-State relations? Suggest measures to be adopted to build the trust between the Centre and the States and for strengthening federalism. -
2023 · Q15 · GS II · 15 marks
Explain the significance of the 101st Constitutional Amendment Act. To what extent does it reflect the accommodative spirit of federalism? -
2021 · Q11 · GS II · 15 marks
The jurisdiction of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) regarding lodging an FIR and conducting probe within a particular state is being questioned by various States. However, the power of States to withhold consent to the CBI is not absolute. Explain with special reference to the federal character of India. -
2019 · Q4 · GS II · 10 marks
From the resolution of contentious issues regarding distribution of legislative powers by the courts, 'Principle of Federal Supremacy' and 'Harmonious Construction' have emerged. Explain. -
2016 · Q1 · GS II · 12 marks
Discuss the essentials of the 69th Constitutional Amendment Act and anomalies, if any, that have led to recent reported conflicts between the elected representatives and the institution of the Lieutenant Governor in the administration of Delhi. Do you think that this will give rise to a new trend in the functioning of the Indian federal politics? -
2015 · Q2 · GS II · 12 marks
The concept of cooperative federalism has been increasingly emphasised in recent years. Highlight the drawbacks in the existing structure and extent to which cooperative federalism would answer the shortcomings. -
2015 · Q4 · GS II · 12 marks
Khap panchayats have been in the news for functioning as extra - constitutional authorities, often delivering pronouncements amounting to human right violations. Discuss critically the actions taken by the legislative, executive and judiciary to set the things right in this regard.
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2016 · GS II · 12 marks
Discuss the essentials of the 69th Constitutional Amendment Act and anomalies, if any, that have led to recent reported conflicts between the elected representatives and the institution of the Lieutenant Governor in the administration of Delhi. Do you think that this will give rise to a new trend in the functioning of the Indian federal politics?
Federal Structure and Devolution
The 69th Amendment inserted Article 239AA and created Delhi’s Assembly and Council of Ministers, excluding police, public order and land. Ministers aid and advise the Lieutenant Governor, but a difference may be sent to the President, which became the legal hook for file delays. The GNCTD Act, 1991, and control over services widened the gap between the voters’ government and the Administrator. The clash is structural to a national-capital Union Territory, not a new model for the States. Court cases and the 2021 Amendment show competitive, litigated federalism in Delhi rather than a nationwide federal mutation.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2016 · GS II · 12 marks
To what extent is Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, bearing marginal note "temporary provision with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir", temporary? Discuss the future prospects of this provision in the context of Indian polity.
Indian Constitution
Article 370 is labelled temporary in Part XXI and can cease under clause (3), but the State Constituent Assembly never recommended that before it dissolved in 1957. Presidential orders, especially 1954, extended the Union Constitution while keeping the special gateway. Court practice treated the article as continuing, so it was temporary in name and durable in fact until 2019. C.O. 272, C.O. 273 and the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, made it inoperative; the 2023 judgment upheld that path and spoke of restoring statehood. Prospects in polity are now about statehood and ordinary federalism, not about reviving the old Article 370 as a living special status.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2016 · GS II · 12 marks
"The Indian party system is passing through a phase of transition which looks to be full of contradictions and paradoxes." Discuss.
Governance and Policy
The party system moved from Congress dominance to coalitions and then to a new national majority, without erasing State-level regional parties. Presidential campaign style collides with parliamentary collective responsibility. The Tenth and 91st Amendments curb defection and cabinet size but strengthen high commands. National and state party labels under the Symbols Order do not match the mixed federal reality. The transition is therefore full of legal and political paradoxes, not a clean model change.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.