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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Neither the GST Council nor Parliament has the final say over every part of GST law. Under Article 246A of the Constitution, Parliament and State legislatures share power to make GST laws, while Parliament alone legislates on GST for inter-State supplies. The GST Council recommends policy; its recommendations do not bind legislatures when they enact primary law. But a government may be bound to follow a Council recommendation when a GST Act makes that recommendation a condition of delegated rule-making or a notification.
Are GST Council recommendations binding on Parliament?
No—not when Parliament or a State legislature is exercising its primary lawmaking power under Article 246A. The Supreme Court settled that distinction in Union of India v. Mohit Minerals Pvt. Ltd., decided on 19 May 2022. It held that Council recommendations are “recommendatory in nature” for legislatures. A recommendation may guide lawmakers and help coordinate GST policy, but it does not itself become law or compel a legislature to enact it.
This does not mean that every government action can disregard a recommendation. Primary legislation and delegated rules or notifications are different legal acts, and the statute authorizing the latter may make following a Council recommendation obligatory.
Who has constitutional power to make GST laws?
Parliament and State legislatures share authority
Article 246A, introduced by the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act, 2016, gives Parliament and State legislatures power to make laws on GST. The constitutional text is available in the [official GST legislation materials]. This shared authority is why it is inaccurate to say that Parliament alone controls all GST lawmaking.
Parliament has the inter-State GST field
Article 246A(2) gives Parliament exclusive authority to make laws for GST where the supply takes place in the course of inter-State trade or commerce. That specific exception does not erase State legislatures’ GST lawmaking power in their constitutional field.
What does the GST Council do?
Article 279A establishes the GST Council as a forum for the Union and States to coordinate GST policy. Its recommendations can address which supplies are taxed or exempt, model GST laws, levy and apportionment principles, place of supply, turnover thresholds, rates and specified special rates. The GST Council’s official description sets out its constitutional role.
These recommendations are consequential: they offer a common basis for coordination in a system where both Union and State legislatures have lawmaking power. But the Council recommends; it does not enact primary legislation. A recommendation becomes law only through the applicable legal process, such as enactment by the legislature with authority over the matter.
What did the Supreme Court decide in Mohit Minerals?
In its 19 May 2022 judgment, the Supreme Court rejected the claim that GST Council recommendations bind legislatures exercising their Article 246A powers. It described the recommendations as the product of collaborative dialogue between the Union and States, but said their character is recommendatory. The judgment in Union of India v. Mohit Minerals Pvt. Ltd. is the key authority for this distinction.
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The Court also considered statutory provisions under the CGST and IGST Acts that tie certain government actions to Council recommendations. It treated those provisions as constraints on delegated authority—not as a transfer of Parliament’s or a State legislature’s primary lawmaking power to the Council.
When can a Council recommendation bind a government?
Where a GST Act delegates authority to the Union or a State government and requires the relevant rule or notification to be made on the Council’s recommendation, the government must comply with that statutory condition when exercising the delegated power. The binding force comes from the Act governing that executive action, not from a general constitutional power of the Council over legislatures.
| Question | Primary GST legislation | Delegated rules or notifications |
|---|---|---|
| Legal source | Article 246A of the Constitution | Relevant provisions of the CGST or IGST Act delegating authority |
| Who acts? | Parliament or a State legislature within its constitutional field | The Union or a State government exercising delegated statutory power |
| Effect of Council recommendation | Recommendatory, not binding on legislative power | Binding where the governing Act requires action on a recommendation |
| Key authority | Mohit Minerals (Supreme Court, 19 May 2022) | The applicable statutory provision, as explained in Mohit Minerals |
How does the Council’s voting structure fit into the balance?
Article 279A(9) requires a three-fourths majority of members present and voting for a Council decision. The Union’s vote carries one-third of the total weight, and the States collectively carry two-thirds. The Supreme Court discussed this design as part of collaborative federalism. Those voting weights shape decision-making within the Council; they do not give it legislative supremacy over Parliament or State legislatures.
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