The Union and its Territory : Part I (Articles 1- 4)

Part I of Indian Constitution is titled The Union and its Territory. It includes articles from 1- 4. Part I is a compilation of laws pertaining to the constitution of India as a country and the union of states that it is made of. This part of the constitution contains the law in the establishment, renaming, merging or altering the borders of the states. Articles under Part I were invoked when West Bengal was renamed, and for formation of relatively new states such as Jharkhand,Chattisgarh or Telengana.

Article 1: Name and territory of the Union

(1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.
(2) The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the First Schedule.
(3) The territory of India shall comprise –
(a) the territories of the States;
(b) the Union territories specified in the First Schedule; and
(c) 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 3: Formation of new Statees and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States

Parliament may by law –

(a) 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;
(b) increase the area of any State;
(c) diminish the area of any State;
(d) alter the boundaries of any State;
(e) alter the name of any State:
Provided that no Bill for the purpose shall be introduced in either House of Parliament except on the recommendation of the President and unless, where the proposal contained in the Bill affects the area, boundaries or name of any of the States, the Bill has been referred by the President to the Legislature of that State for expressing its views thereon within such period as may be specified in the reference or within such further period as the President may allow and the period so specified or allowed has expired. President is not bound by the views of the state legislature and may either accept or reject them, even if the views are received in time.

Explanation I: In this article, in clauses (a) to (e), “State” includes a Union territory, but in the proviso, “State” does not include a Union territory.
Explanation II: The power conferred on Parliament by clause (a) includes the power to form a new State or Union territory by uniting a part of any other State or Union territory to any other State of Union territory.

Article 4: Laws made under Articles 2 and 3 to provide for the amendment of the First and the Fourth Schedules and supplemental, incidental and consequential matters

(1) Any law referred to in article 2 or article 3 shall contain such provisions for the amendment of the First Schedule and the Fourth Schedule as may be necessary to give effect to the provisions of the law and may also contain such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions (including provisions as to representation in Parliament and in the Legislature or Legislatures of the State or States affected by such law) as Parliament may deem necessary.
(2) No such law as aforesaid shall be deemed to be in amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of article 368.

Other Important Points to be remembered:

• 100th Constitutional Amendment Act (2015) was enacted to give effect to the acquiring of certain territories by India and transfer of certain other territories to Bangladesh in pursuance of the agreement and its protocol entered into between the Governments of India and Bangladesh.
• Cessation of an Indian territory to foreign country does not cover under Art.3 and it can be done only by amending constitution under Art. 368.
• 7 th Constitutional Amendment Act 1956 – Led to creation of Zonal councils in india to advise on matters of common interest. They statutory in origin. Total 5 zonal councils exist in India. However, North-Eastern zonal council is created by separate statute in 1971 (North Eastern Council Act, 1972). The chairman of the Zonal council is Union Home Minister and Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time.
• Settlement of a boundary dispute between India and another country does not require a constitutional amendment (Under Art. 368). It can be done by executive action as it does not involve cession of Indian territory to a foreign country.
• Before 1956, the states were classified into four parts-
• Part A – 9 former governor’s provinces
• Part B – 9 former princely states
• Part C – former princely states + chief commissioners provinces
• Part D – Andaman and Nicobar
•  By the States Re-organization Act (1956) and the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act (1956), the four-fold division of state were abolished.

Evolution of States and Union Territories

• India had comprised two categories of political units –
  • The British provinces (under the direct rule of British government)
  • The princely states (under the rule of native princes but subject to the paramountcy of the British Crown).
• The Indian Independence Act (1947) created two independent and separate dominions of India and Pakistan and gave three options to the princely states –
  • Joining India
  • Joining Pakistan
  • Remaining independent.
• Of the 552 princely states situated within the geographical boundaries of India, 549 joined India and the remaining 3 (Hyderabad, Junagarh and Kashmir) refused to join India.
• In course of time, they were also integrated with India–
  • Hyderabad by means of police action (Operation POLO)
  • Junagarh by means of referendum

• Kashmir by the Instrument of Accession.

Dhar Commision and JVP Committee (1948)

• The integration of princely states with the rest of India has purely an ad hoc arrangement.

• Government of India appointed the Linguistic Provinces Commission under the chairmanship ofK. Dhar in 1948 to examine the feasibility and evolution of an objective criteria.
• Committee recommended the reorganization of states on the basis of administrative convenience rather than linguistic factor.
• Disappointment with Dhar committee led to the appointment of another Linguistic Provinces Committee in 1948 consist of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya, itself to examine the whole question afresh.
• JVP committee formally rejected language as the basis for reorganisation of states.

Fazl Ali Commission (1953)

• The creation of Andhra state in 1953 intensified the demand from other regions for creation of states on linguistic basis.
• This forced the Government to appoint a three- member States Reorganisation Commission in 1953, under the of to re-examine the whole question.
• Members – Fazl Ali (chairmanship), M. Panikkar and H.N. Kunzru.
• Committee broadly accepted language as the basis of reorganisation of states.
• At same time, it rejected the theory of “one language-one state”.
• Its view was that the unity of India should be regarded as the primary consideration in any redrawing of the country’s political units.
• It identified four major factors that can be taken into account –
  • Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the country.
  • Linguistic and cultural homogeneity.
  • Financial, economic and administrative considerations.
  • Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the nation as a whole.

New States and Union Territories post 1956:

1. Maharashtra and Gujarat à In 1960, the bilingual state of Bombay was divided into two separate states – Maharashtra (Marathi speaking people) and Gujarat (Gujarati speaking people).
2. Dadra and Nagar Haveli à The Portuguese ruled this territory until its liberation in 1954. It was converted into a union territory of India by the 10th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1961.
3. Goa, Daman and Diu à India acquired these three territories from the Portuguese by means of a police action in 1961. They were constituted as a UTs by the 12th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1962. Goa was conferred statehood in 1987. Consequently, Daman and Diu was made a separate union territory.
4. Puducherry à The territory of Puducherry comprises the former French establishments in India known as Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. It was administered as an ‘acquired territory’, till 1962 when it was made a UT by the 14th Constitutional Amendment Act.
5. Nagaland à In 1963, the State of Nagaland was formed by taking the Naga Hills and Tuensang area out of the state of Assam.
6. Haryana, Chandigarh à On the recommendation of the Shah Commission (1966), in 1966, the State of Punjab was bifurcate to create Haryana, and the UT of Chandigarh.
7. Himachal Pradesh à In 1971, the UT of Himachal Pradesh was elevated to the status of a state of the Indian Union.

8. Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya à In 1972, the two UTs of Manipur and Tripura and the sub-state of Meghalaya got statehood and the two UTs of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (NEFA) came into being.
9. Sikkim:

• • Till 1947, Sikkim was an; Indian princely state ruled by Chogyal. In 1947, after the lapse of British paramountcy, Sikkim became a ‘protectorate’ of India.
  • Indian Government assumed responsibility for the defence, external affairs and communications of Sikkim.
  • The 35th Constitutional Amendment Act (1974) was enacted by the parliament. This amendment introduced a new class of statehood under the constitution by conferring on Sikkim the status of an ‘associate state’ of the Indian Union.
  • For this purpose, a new Art. 2-A and a new schedule (10th Schedule) were inserted in the Constitution.
  • The 36th Constitutional Amendment Act (1975) was enacted to make Sikkim a full-fledged state of the Indian Union (the 22nd state).
  • This amendment amended the First and the Fourth Schedules to the Constitution and added a new Art. 371-F to provide for certain special provisions with respect to the administration of Sikkim.
  • It also repealed 2-A and the 10th Schedule.

10. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa à In 1987, three new States of Mizoram (Mizoram Peace Accord 1985), Arunachal Pradesh and Goa came into being states of the Indian Union.
11. Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand à In 2000, three more new States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were created out of the territories of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, respectively.
12. Telangana à In 2014, the new state of Telangana came into existence as the 29th state of the Indian Union. It was carved out of the territories of Andhra Pradesh.
13. Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh:

• • Till 2019, the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir had its own constitution and thus enjoyed a special status by virtue of 370 of the Constitution of India.
  • In 2019, this special status was abolished by a presidential order known as “The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019”.
  • Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, bifurcated the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir into two separate UTs –
    • UT of Jammu & Kashmir – Comprises all the districts of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir except Kargil and Leh districts
    • UT of Ladakh – Kargil and Leh districts

Thus, the number of states and union territories increased from 14 and 6 in 1956 to  28 and 9 in 2019, respectively.

Previous Year’s Questions:

Prelims:

1. If a new state of the Indian Union is to be created, which one of the following schedules of the Constitution must be amended? (2001)

1. First
2. Second
3. Third
4. Fifth

2. Which one of the following schedules of the Indian Constitution lists the names of states and specifies their                 territories? (2003)

1. First
2. Second
3. Third
4. Fourth

Answers:

1. (a)
2. (a)