“Quando aliquid prohibetur ex directo, prohibetur et per obliquum” implies that “which anything is prohibited directly, it is also prohibited indirectly.” In our Constitution, this doctrine is usually applied to Article 246 which has demarcated the Legislative Competance of the Parliament and the State Legislative Assemblies by outlining the different subjects under List I for the Union, List II for the State and List III for both, as mentioned is the Seventh Schedule. This doctrine comes into play when a Legislature does not possess thepower to make law upon a particular subject but nonetheless indirectly makes one. By applying this principle the fate of the impugned legislation is decided. For further reading refer K.C. Gajapati Narayana Deo and Ors. v. The State of Orissa, AIR 1953 SC 375.
