Article 279A and the GST Council: composition and the weighting of its votes

Background

The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016 inserted Article 279A, under which the GST Council is a constitutional body and a joint forum of the Centre and the States.
Article 279A(1) required the GST Council to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of Article 279A; the notification bringing Article 279A into force took effect from 12th September, 2016 and the Council was constituted on 15.09.2016.
Its members are the Union Finance Minister as Chairperson, the Union Minister of State in charge of Revenue or Finance, and the Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State Government.
Under Article 279A(4) the Council makes recommendations to the Union and the States on the goods and services that may be subjected to or exempted from GST, model GST laws, the principles that govern place of supply, threshold limits, and GST rates including floor rates with bands, as well as special rates for raising additional resources during natural calamities or disasters and special provisions for certain States.
Every decision of the Council is taken by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present and voting.
Within that weighting, one-third of the total votes cast belongs to the Centre and two-thirds of the total votes cast to the States taken together.
The Secretary (Revenue) is the ex-officio Secretary to the GST Council, and the Council Secretariat has its office at New Delhi, manned by officers taken on deputation from both the Central and State Governments.
Because neither side alone commands three-fourths of the weighted votes, the design forces the Centre and the States to build agreement before a recommendation can carry.