Which one of the following is NOT vested in the Union by the Constitution (Fortieth Amendment) Act?
All mines and minerals lying in the ocean within its territorial waters
All resources of the exclusive economic zone
Fisheries
All things of value in the ocean within its continental shelf
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC Geoscientist – 2020
The Constitution (Fortieth Amendment) Act, 1976, inserted a new Article 297 into the Constitution. This article declared that all lands, minerals, and other things of value underlying the ocean within the territorial waters, the continental shelf, or the exclusive economic zone of India, and all other resources of the exclusive economic zone, shall vest in the Union and be held for the purposes of the Union. Options A, B, and D (Mines and minerals in territorial waters, All resources of the EEZ, All things of value in the continental shelf) are directly covered by the vesting provisions introduced by this amendment. While fisheries resources are part of the “resources of the exclusive economic zone” (B), the term “Fisheries” itself (C) might refer more broadly to the activity or sector, whose legislative competence (Entry 57, Union List: Fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters) existed prior to the 40th Amendment. The Act primarily vested the *property rights* over the resources and areas.