Surcharge on certain duties and taxes for purposes of the Union
Notwithstanding anything in articles 269 and 270, Parliament may at any time increase any of the duties or taxes referred to in those articles [except the goods and services tax under article 246A,] by a surcharge for purposes of the Union and the whole proceeds of any such surcharge shall form part of the Consolidated Fund of India.
VERSION 1
Article 252, Draft Constitution of India 1948
Notwithstanding anything contained in articles 250 and 251 of this Constitution, Parliament may at any time increase any of the duties or taxes referred to in those articles by a surcharge for purposes of the Union and the whole proceeds of any such surcharge shall form part of the revenues of India.
VERSION 2
Article 271, Constitution of India 1950
Notwithstanding anything in articles 269 and 270, Parliament may at any time increase any of the duties or taxes referred to in those articles by a surcharge for purposes of the Union and the whole proceeds of any such surcharge shall form part of the Consolidated Fund of India.
SUMMARY
Draft Article 252 (Article 271, Constitution of India 1950) was taken up on 5 August 1949 in the Constituent Assembly. It empowered Parliament to levy a surcharge. This Draft Article also carved an exception to the method of distribution of revenue between Union and States laid down in Draft Articles 250 and 251: the surcharge collected would be included as the revenue of the Government of India exclusively.
A Member proposed a minor amendment to change the phrase ‘revenues of India’ to ‘Consolidated Fund of India’.
The Assembly accepted this amendment without any debate.
The Draft Article, as amended, was adopted on 5 August 1949.
In 2016, Article 271 was amended to exclude goods and services tax imposed under Article 246A from the ambit of this Article.