Interpretation of Finance Commission in Part XII
Official heading: “Interpretation”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part XII, Article 264, printed page 155
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
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1. In One Sentence
Clarifies that throughout Part XII, "Finance Commission" means the Finance Commission constituted under Article 280.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 264 provides the interpretive rule for the financial chapters of Part XII of the Constitution.
It explicitly defines the term "Finance Commission" used across revenue distribution and tax sharing clauses as referring to the constitutional Finance Commission established by the President under Article 280.
Originally, Article 264 contained definitions relating to Part A and Part B States, which were substituted into the present simplified definition by the Seventh Constitutional Amendment in 1956.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A state finance department examines constitutional provisions governing revenue distribution, grants-in-aid, and tax shares across Part XII.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 264 establishes definitional uniformity across constitutional financial provisions.
- Definitional scope: Applies throughout Part XII of the Constitution.
- Constitutional linkage: Connects all revenue-sharing provisions directly to Article 280.
- Post-1956 simplification: Substituted by the Seventh Amendment to eliminate obsolete princely state distinctions.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part XII, Article 264, printed page 155 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.