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PART K 118. Contrary to the suggestion in the report, the 2018 Constitution Bench judgment provided that NCTD shall have legislative power over all subjects in List II, except the excluded subjects provided in Article 239AA(3)(c).

119. The report of the Balakrishnan Committee was referred to in the Statement of Objects and Reasons of 1991 Constitution Amendment. The Statement of Objects and Reasons can only be referred to the limited extent of understanding the background, the antecedent state of affairs, the surrounding circumstances in relation to the amendment, and the purpose of the amendment. In RS Nayak v. AR Antulay ,a Constitution Bench of this Court held that the reports of a committee which preceded the enactment of a legislation, reports of joint parliamentary committees, a report of a commission set up for collecting information leading to the enactment are permissible external aids to construction. Thus, the report of the Balakrishnan Committee can be relied on by this Court to understand the intent behind the introduction of Article 239AA. However, this Court is not bound by the report of a committee to construe specific phrases. It is for this reason that the 2018 Constitution Bench construed the text of Article 239AA contextually with reference to the constitutional structure envisaged for NCTD without relying on the Report of the Balakrishnan Committee.

120. Moreover, the arguments made in the Balakrishnan Committee Report against the inclusion of “services” for NCTD have been rejected by this Court. The argument in the Balakrishnan Committee Report that the use of the word ‘State’ in