Subjects that are not included in any of the three lists of the Seventh Schedule are called:

Subjects that are not mentioned in the Union List, the State List or the Concurrent List are called residuary subjects.

Who can make laws on them:

• Under Article 248, Parliament has exclusive power to make laws on any matter not enumerated in the Concurrent List or the State List, including the power to impose taxes not mentioned in those lists.
• Entry 97 of the Union List also gives Parliament this power.
• So residuary powers belong to the Union in India.

Source of the provision:

• This arrangement was borrowed from the Constitution of Canada, where residuary powers also lie with the Centre.
• In the United States and Australia, residuary powers belong to the states.
• Under the Government of India Act, 1935, residuary powers were given to the Governor-General, who could assign them to the Centre or the provinces.

Examples of residuary subjects:

• Cyber laws and information technology were not specifically mentioned in the lists, and Parliament made laws on them using residuary powers.
• Taxes on services were levied by Parliament using residuary powers before the Goods and Services Tax was introduced.

Why residuary powers were given to the Union:

• The framers wanted a strong Centre to maintain the unity and integrity of the country.
• New subjects that might arise in the future, especially those of national importance, could then be dealt with by Parliament.

The three lists:

• The Union List has subjects of national importance, such as defence and foreign affairs.
• The State List has subjects of local importance, such as police and public health.
• The Concurrent List has subjects of common interest, such as education and criminal law.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Concurrent subjects are in the Concurrent List.
• ✗Reserved and transferred subjects were categories under dyarchy in the Government of India Act, 1919.