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THE CONSTITUTION, MADE UNDERSTANDABLE

Article 369
Temporary power to Parliament to make laws with respect to certain matters in the State List as if they were matters in the Concurrent List

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Source edition: as on 1 May 2026. Omitted and struck-down reference entries remain labelled. Open the authoritative PDF ↗

Article 369 / Part XXI

Temporary power to Parliament to make laws with respect to certain matters in the State List as if they were matters in the Concurrent List

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Plain languageOfficial textPurpose & sources
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THE PLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE

What does this mean?

For the initial five-year period, Parliament had temporary power over the specified State List matters as if they were Concurrent subjects. Its historical period prevents treating it as a permanent additional Union List.

Temporary, transitional and State-specific arrangements, including legal continuity at commencement.

PURPOSE & CONTEXT

Why is this provision here?

State-specific and transitional circumstances can require tailored constitutional arrangements. The provision must be read for the particular territory, institutions and conditions it actually covers.

Historical evidence

This Article number belongs to the original constitutional framework, but its present wording may include later amendments or substitutions. A provision-specific original Assembly debate has not been verified here. The explanation of function above is editorial inference from the text, not an attributed single motive of the framers. The original draft-making archive is a research resource, not proof of a particular historical reason.

The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.

Limits, exceptions & reading carefully

Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.

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Read the official constitutional text
369. Temporary power to Parliament to make laws with respect to certain matters in the State List as if they were matters in the Concurrent List.—Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament shall, during a period of five years from the commencement of this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to the following matters as if they were enumerated in the Concurrent List, namely:— (a) trade and commerce within a State in, and the production, supply and distribution of, cotton and woollen textiles, raw cotton (including ginned cotton and unginned cotton or kapas), cotton seed, paper (including newsprint), food-stuffs (including edible oilseeds and oil), cattle fodder (including oil-cakes and other concentrates), coal (including coke and derivatives of coal), iron, steel and mica; (b) offences against laws with respect to any of the matters mentioned in clause (a), jurisdiction and powers of all courts except the Supreme Court with respect to any of those matters, and fees in respect of any of those matters but not including fees taken in any court, but any law made by Parliament, which Parliament would not but for the provisions of this article have been competent to make, shall, to the extent of the incompetency, cease to have effect on the expiration of the said period, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before the expiration thereof.
Source-page notes · may concern neighbouring Articles

1. Subs. by the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962, s. 2, for "TEMPORARY AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS" (w.e.f. 1-12-1963).

Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.