Inter-State Council and Indian Federalism: An Institutional Failure of Co-operative Federalism?

Abstract

The Inter-State Council (ISC) that was envisioned in Article 263 of the Indian Constitution[1] was conceived as a top level institutional process of cooperation in federalism and established dialogue between the Union and the States. It has been a constant underutilised adjunct to the federal governance structure in India, notwithstanding the fact that it was constitutionally mandated. This study analyzes whether ISC has been failing as an institution of cooperative federalism and why. An overarching thesis that is being developed is that the poor performance of the ISC actually is not just the outcome of bureaucratic inefficiency or the occasional political oversight, but instead resides in institutional and political limitations inherent in the way the organization is designed and operates.

Based on a doctrinal approach, the study examines the text of the Constitution, judicial interpretations, and other applicable commission reports to determine the legal standing of the ISC and its structure of operation. This is supplemented with an institutional design critique appraising the consultative character of the Council, its reliance on executive discretion and the unenforceability of its results. A comparative federalism approach also places the ISC in the context of other similar intergovernmental organisations in other federal systems and how structural autonomy and regularisation are essential to successful intergovernmental coordination.

The paper is also innovative in its contribution to the existing literature by repositioning the ISC as not a dormant or failed body, but as an institution that is structurally constrained and whose constraints are indicative of tensions on a larger scale in the centralised form of federalism in India. The results are highly policy relevant as they can provide a clue to the redesign of the relationships between Centre and States as well as guide future reforms to be made in order to enhance cooperative federal governance in India.