UPSC Prelims 2018 · Question 38 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2018 question on Residuary Powers 1935 Act
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2018
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectModern History
- TopicConstitutional Development
- DifficultyEasy
- TypeDirect
In the Federation established by the Government of India Act of 1935, residuary powers were given to
Show answer
Answer: B. Governor General
Analysis
Residuary powers were vested in the Governor-General, so the answer is (b).
The Government of India Act of 1935 envisaged an all India federation of eleven Governor's provinces, six Chief Commissioner's provinces and such Indian States as chose to join. Subjects were divided into three lists, Federal, Provincial and Concurrent, with the provincial legislature exclusively competent on the Provincial List and the federal legislature on the Federal List, and federal law prevailing in case of repugnancy on the Concurrent List. Residuary powers were vested in the Governor-General, who could in his discretion assign any such power by public notification to either the federal or a provincial legislature.
Source
Laxmikanth, chapter on Historical Background; Spectrum.
How to crack it
This sits in the Historical Background chapter, and the page that carries it also carries the 1935 Act's other examinable features: provincial autonomy, the three lists, the Federal Court, and the abolition of dyarchy in provinces alongside its introduction at the Centre. Learn the residuary power holder across successive Acts and the Constitution as a single sequence, because the contrast, discretionary power to the Governor-General then to Parliament under Article 248, is exactly what UPSC probes.