The Government of India Act, 1935 was the most comprehensive constitutional reform introduced by the British in India before independence.
It provided for the division of powers between the Centre (Union) and the Provinces through three legislative lists:
Federal List – subjects under the control of the central government.
Provincial List – subjects under the control of provincial governments.
Concurrent List – subjects where both the Centre and Provinces could legislate, but in case of conflict, the central law prevailed.
This was the first time in Indian constitutional history that such a division of powers was introduced.
Later, the Indian Constitution (1950) adopted a similar system of Union List, State List, and Concurrent List, inspired by the 1935 Act.
Therefore, the Government of India Act, 1935 provided for three lists for the division of powers.