Laxmikanth Summary: Union & its Territory

Part I of the Indian Constitution

Part I of the Constitution is titled The Union and its Territory. It contains Articles 1-4 and lays down the constitutional provisions relating to the name, composition and territorial extent of the Union of India, and the legislative process for admission, establishment, formation, alteration, merger, or renaming of States and Union territories.

• Specifies that India, that is Bharat, is a Union of States and lists States and Union territories in the First Schedule.
• Provides the legal framework for admission or establishment of new States, and for formation of new States or alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States.
• Offers a legislative route by which Parliament can effect territorial changes, subject to the procedural safeguards provided in the Articles themselves.
• Examples of invocation include renaming of States and the formation of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

Articles 1-4: Overview

Article 1 - Name and territory of the Union

• India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.
• The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the First Schedule.
• The territory of India comprises:
  • the territories of the States;
  • the Union territories specified in the First Schedule; and
  • such other territories as may be acquired.

Article 2 - Admission or establishment of new States

• Parliament may, by law, admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit.
• Article 2 thus vests in Parliament two principal powers:
  • the power to admit new States into the Union; and
  • the power to establish new States.

Article 3 - Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States

Parliament may, by law, do any of the following:

• form a new State by separation of territory from any State, or by uniting two or more States or parts of States, or by uniting any territory to a part of any State;
• increase the area of any State;
• diminish the area of any State;
• alter the boundaries of any State; and
• alter the name of any State.

Article 3 therefore deals with the formation of new States and the reorganisation of existing States. It also prescribes two important procedural conditions:

• A Bill for any measure under Article 3 can be introduced in Parliament only with the prior recommendation of the President.
• Before making that recommendation, the President must refer the Bill to the legislature of the State(s) affected, asking them to express their views within a specified period.

The views expressed by the State legislature are consultative; Parliament is not bound to accept them. No fresh reference to the State legislature is necessary each time an amendment to the Bill is moved in Parliament. For Union territories there may be no need for reference to a state legislature.

Article 4 - Laws made under Articles 2 and 3 not to be considered amendments of Constitution under Article 368

• Laws enacted under Article 2 or Article 3, and any provision in an Act in respect of the First Schedule, shall not be deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of Article 368.
• Consequently, such laws can be passed by the ordinary legislative process and by a simple majority in Parliament.
• The Supreme Court has interpreted these provisions to mean that Parliament's power to alter the territorial extent of States is exercisable within the constitutional procedure set out in Article 3, and that such laws do not constitute amendments under Article 368.

Formation of States and Union Territories

State/UT Name Changes

Exchange of Territories with Bangladesh

The 100th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2015 enabled the exchange of territories between India and Bangladesh, facilitating the transfer of enclaves and adverse possessions and settling certain undemarcated border stretches.

Background

• India and Bangladesh share a land boundary of about 4,096.7 km, as laid down by the Radcliffe Award (1947).
• Disputes over parts of the Radcliffe Award were addressed through various instruments, including the Bhadra Award (1950) and the Nehru-Noon Agreement (1958).
• The Berubari Union case led to the Constitution (9th Amendment) Act, 1960, but certain provisions were not implemented in respect of territories that later formed Bangladesh.
• An agreement signed on 16 May 1974 sought to demarcate the land boundary between India and Bangladesh, but it required constitutional amendment for transfer of territory and therefore was not ratified immediately.
• As a result of the final settlement, India transferred 111 enclaves to Bangladesh and Bangladesh transferred 51 enclaves to India; adverse possessions were also regularised and a small undemarcated stretch (about 6.1 km) was addressed.
• The 100th Constitutional Amendment Act (2015) amended the First Schedule entries relating to four Indian States-Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura-to reflect the agreed boundary changes.

Land Boundary Agreement and Protocol

• A Protocol to the Land Boundary Agreement was signed on 6 September 2011, dealing with demarcation of undemarcated boundaries, territorial adjustments in adverse possession and exchange of enclaves.
• The Protocol was finalised with the concurrence of the state governments of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and West Bengal.

Evolution of States and Union Territories in India

India's political map has evolved since 1947 due to integration of princely states, linguistic and administrative reorganisation, and subsequent demands for new States and Union territories.

Integration of Princely States

• At independence (1947) India comprised British provinces and 552 princely states.
• 549 princely states acceded to India; three-Hyderabad, Junagarh and Kashmir-initially resisted but were integrated subsequently by different means.
• Methods of integration included police action (Hyderabad), referendum (e.g., Junagarh), and Instrument of Accession (Kashmir).
• Under the Constitution of 1950 states and territories were classified into Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D categories, totalling 29 units.
• Part A comprised former governor's provinces; Part B comprised states formed from groups of princely states; Part C included centrally administered areas; Part D covered the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Dhar Commission and the JVP Committee

• There was a strong demand for reorganisation of states on linguistic lines. In June 1948 the Government appointed the Linguistic Provinces Commission under S. K. Dhar to examine the issue.
• The Dhar Commission (report December 1948) recommended reorganisation for administrative convenience rather than on strictly linguistic grounds, which generated public dissatisfaction.
• The Congress formed another committee in December 1948, the JVP Committee (Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya), which submitted its report in April 1949 and rejected language as the main basis for reorganisation; yet demands continued and Andhra State was created in 1953.

South Indian States prior to the States Reorganisation Act.

Fazl Ali Commission

• The Fazl Ali Commission was appointed in December 1953 to reconsider the reorganisation question after the creation of Andhra State.
• It was chaired by Fazl Ali, with members K. M. Panikkar and H. N. Kunzru, and submitted its report in September 1955.
• The commission accepted language as a basis for reorganisation but rejected the slogan "one language - one state."
• It identified four major considerations for reorganisation:

1. preservation and strengthening of the country's unity and security;
2. linguistic and cultural homogeneity;
3. financial, economic and administrative considerations; and
4. planning and promotion of welfare at both state and national levels.

Proposals and Outcome

• The commission recommended abolition of the original four-fold classification of states and proposed a new structure of 16 states and 3 centrally administered territories.
• Acting on its recommendations, the Government enacted the States Reorganisation Act (1956) and the Seventh Constitutional Amendment (1956), which reorganised states and union territories effective 1 November 1956.
• The reorganisation resulted in the creation of 14 states and 6 union territories at that time; distinctions such as Part A and Part B were eliminated and Part C states were reorganised or converted into union territories.

Territory of India in 1956

New States and Union Territories after 1956

The political map of India continued to change after 1956 in response to linguistic, ethnic, administrative and security considerations. Key developments include:

Maharashtra and Gujarat (1960)

• The bilingual State of Bombay was reorganised in 1960 to create Maharashtra (for Marathi speakers) and Gujarat (for Gujarati speakers).
• Gujarat became the 15th state of the Indian Union.

Dadra and Nagar Haveli

• Dadra and Nagar Haveli were transferred from Portuguese control to India in the 1950s and constituted a union territory in 1961 under legislation that followed.
• In 2020 this territory was merged with Daman and Diu to form the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu under the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019.

Goa, Daman and Diu

• India annexed Goa, Daman and Diu from Portugal in 1961; these territories were made a union territory through legislative and constitutional measures, including the Twelfth Constitutional Amendment (1962).
• Goa was granted statehood in 1987, and Daman and Diu remained a union territory until its merger with Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 2020.

Puducherry

• The former French territories of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam were transferred to India in 1954, and the area was constituted as a union territory by the Fourteenth Constitutional Amendment (1962).

Nagaland

• Nagaland was created as a State in 1963 by separating the Naga Hills and Tuensang area from Assam, addressing political demands of the Naga people.

Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh (1966)

• In 1966 the State of Punjab was reorganised on linguistic lines to create Haryana (Hindi-speaking) and a separate Chandigarh union territory; hilly areas were merged with Himachal Pradesh, which later became a State (1971).

Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya (1972) and others

• In 1972, Manipur and Tripura were granted statehood; Meghalaya also became a State around this period; parts of Assam were later carved out to create Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

Sikkim

• Until 1947 Sikkim was a princely State ruled by a monarch known as the Chogyal.
• After 1947 Sikkim became an Indian protectorate, with India responsible for its defence, foreign affairs and communications.
• The Thirty-fifth Constitutional Amendment Act (1974) altered Sikkim's constitutional position and provided a special constitutional arrangement.
• Following a popular vote in 1975, the Thirty-sixth Constitutional Amendment Act (1975) was passed, and Sikkim was admitted as the 22nd State of India with provisions to integrate it fully into the Union.

Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa (1987)

• In 1987 three new States - Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa - were created; the creation of Mizoram followed a peace agreement between the Central government and the Mizo National Front.

Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand (2000)

• On 1 November 2000 three States were carved out of existing ones: Chhattisgarh (from Madhya Pradesh), Uttarakhand (from Uttar Pradesh) and Jharkhand (from Bihar).

Telangana (2014)

• Telangana became the 29th State of India in 2014, created by bifurcating the existing State of Andhra Pradesh.
• Relevant antecedents include the Andhra State Act (1953), the States Reorganisation Act (1956) that merged Telugu-speaking regions into Andhra Pradesh, and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (2014) that led to the creation of Telangana.

Territory of India

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh (2019)

• The special status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was abrogated in 2019 by means of The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 and accompanying legislation.
• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 reorganised the former State into two Union territories: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
• The union territory of Jammu & Kashmir comprises the districts other than Kargil and Leh, which are part of the union territory of Ladakh.

Expansion and renaming

• The number of States has increased from 14 (in 1956) to 28 at present.
• The number of Union territories has also risen, from 6 in 1956 to 8 currently.
• Multiple States and territories have been renamed: examples include United Provinces → Uttar Pradesh, Madras → Tamil Nadu, Mysore → Karnataka, Orissa → Odisha and Pondicherry → Puducherry.
• The National Capital, Delhi, has been designated the National Capital Territory of Delhi without full statehood.