The Union & Territories

The Union & Territories

Part-1

Article 1-4

Introduction: Constitutional Provisions

Part I of Indian Constitution deals with topics of "The Union and its Territories", (Article 1- 4). At present the number of States are 28 and 8 Union Territories in India.

ARTICLES                                               PROVISION

Article 1

Name and territory of the Union

Article 2	Admission or establishment of new States
Article 3	Formation    of    new    States    and    alteration    of   areas,boundaries or names of existing States
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

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

According to Article 1 India, that is, Bharat shall be a ‘Union of States’.                                                                        Dr. B.R. Ambedkar said in the Constituent Assembly that the Indian federation was a “Union” because it was Indissoluble, and no State had a right to secede from the Indian Union. According to him: “The Drafting Committee wanted to make it clear that though India was to be a federation, the federation was not the result of an agreement by the States to join in a federation, and no State has the right to secede from it. The federation is a Union because it is indestructible. Though the country and the people may be divided into different states for convenience of administration, the country is one integral whole. The Drafting Committee thought that it was better to make it clear at the outset rather than to leave it to speculation or to dispute.”

The phrases ‘Union of India’ and ‘Territory of India’ need to be distinguished. The Union of India includes only the States which enjoy the status of being members of the federal system and share a distribution of powers with the Union. Whereas the expression “Territory of India” includes not only the States, but also the Union Territories and such other territories as may be acquired by India.

ARTICLE 2: ADMISSION OR ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW STATES

After independence the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the Indian Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit. Example the French settlements of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam and the Portuguese settlements of Goa, and Daman and Sikkim, etc., were integrates into India by the parliament.

Article 2 relates to admission or establishment of new states that were/are not part of the India.

Article 3. Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States:-
Parliament may by law—
1. 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.
2. Increase the area of any State.
3. Diminish the area of any State.
4. Alter the boundaries of any State.
5. Alter the name of any State.
Article 3 deals with establishment or creation of new states after reorganization of existing states which are already parts of India.

What is the Parliamentary procedure in this regard?

A Bill can be introduced in either House of the Parliament, only on the recommendation of the President. If such a Bill affects the boundary or name of a State, then the President, before introducing it in the Parliament, shall refer the Bill to the State Legislature concerned for its opinion, fixing a time limit within which an opinion may be expressed by the State Legislature. The President may extend the time limit so specified. If the State Legislature fails to express an opinion within the stipulated time limit then it is deemed that it has expressed its views. If it submits its views within the period so specified or extended, Parliament is not bound to accept or act upon the views of the State Legislature. Further, it is not necessary to make fresh reference to the State Legislature every time an amendment to the Bill is proposed and accepted. The Bill need to be passed with a simple majority.

In the case of Union Territories, it is not necessary to obtain the views of Legislatures of Union Territories before a Bill affecting their boundaries or names is introduced. 

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 an amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of Article 368.

Article 4 allows for following changes:-

1. The First Schedule (names of the States in the Union of India) 

2. The Fourth Schedule (number of seats each State is allotted in the Rajya Sabha).

It also says that says that no law altering existing States or creating a new State will be considered a constitutional amendment. 

Evolution of Indian States and Union Territories:

Before Independence:-

During the British period India was divided into two administrative units (also called Presidencies) those units which were directly governed by the British was known as British India and Princely States which were nominally controlled by a local prince or raja, loyal to the British Empire.

After Independence:-

After independence the territories of the princely states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, made India a sovereign democratic republic. The new republic was also declared to be a "Union of States".

The constitution of 1950 distinguished between four main types of states:

Part-A states, which were the former governors' provinces of British India, were ruled by an elected governor and state legislature. There were 9 states under Part-A, namely Assam, Bihar, Bombay (formerly Bombay Province), East Punjab, Madhya Pradesh (formerly Central Provinces and Berar), Madras, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh (formerly the United Provinces), and West Bengal.

Part-B states were former princely states or groups of princely states and were governed by a Rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state, and an elected legislature. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India. There were 8 states under Part B, namely Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU), Rajasthan (formerly Rajputana Agency), Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin.

Part-C states included both the former chief commissioners' provinces and some princely states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. There were 10 states under Part C, namely Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Kutch, Manipur, Tripura, and Vindhya Pradesh.

Part-D state included the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the union government
The Era of Commissions:

Since independence the demand for re-organization of States was holding ground in different parts of India. And on this issue constitution makers had varied views, and the Constituent Assembly did not have sufficient time to look into the matter so they appointed Commissions to look into the matter.

Dhar Commission: 
The integration and merger of princely states was purely ad hoc arrangement and there was need for reorganization of states on a permanent basis. In June 1948, the Constituent Assembly announced the setting up of the Linguistic Provinces Commission, under the chairmanship of S.K. Dhar,a judge of the Allahabad High Court, to examine the feasibility of state re-organization. The Commission in its report recommended that the reorganization of States should be on the basis of administrative convenience rather than linguistic basis.
J.V.P Committee: 

The Dhar Commission report created general disappointment and led to the appointment of another Linguistic Provinces Committee by the Congress in December 1948, consisting of three members, namely, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya and hence, was popularly known as J.V.P Committee. In its report,the committee reaffirmed the position of the Dhar Commission.The committee also dismissed the idea of reorganization of states on a linguistic basis.

First Linguistic State:In 1953, the government was forced to create a separate state of Andhra Pradesh for Telugu-speaking people following the long-drawn agitation and death of Potti Sriramulu after a hunger strike for 56 days.Thus,the first linguistic state of Andhra Pradesh was created.

Fazl Ali Commission:

After the formation of Andhra Pradesh, demand for creation of states on linguistic basis increased in different parts of country. On December 22, 1953, Jawaharlal Nehru announced the appointment of a commission under Fazl Ali to consider this issue. The other two members of the commission were K.M Panikkar and H.N Kunzru.The commission submitted its report after taking into account the wishes and claims of people in different regions. The Commission suggested the abolition of the four-fold classification of states under the original Constitution and recommended creation of 16 states and 3 centrally administered territories. The Commission also laid down the following four major principles as the basis of reorganization:-

1. Preserving and strengthening of the security and unity of the country;

2. Financial, economic and administrative viability;

3. Linguistic and cultural homogeneity;

4. Scope for successful working of plans of development.

However, the government did not accept these recommendations in toto. While accepting Commission’s recommendation to do away with the four-fold distribution of states as provided under the original Constitution.
The States Reorganization Act, 1956

By the States Reorganization Act, 1956 and 7^th  Constitutional Amendment Act of 1956, the distinction between the Part A and B States was done away with and part C States were abolished. Instead, the Act divided the country into 14 states and 6 union territories under the States Reorganization Act 1956.

The 14 states were : Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Mysore, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The six union territories were Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands, Manipur and Tripura.

The Act was implemented in November, 1956.

New States and Union Territories after 1956

1. The Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960, divided the State of Bombay to establish the two States of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

2.  The State of Nagaland Act, 1962 created Nagaland as a separate State.

3. The Punjab Re-organization Act, 1966 divided Punjab into Punjab and Haryana.

4. New State of Himachal Pradesh comprising of the existing Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh was established by the State of Himachal Pradesh Act, 1970.

5. New States of Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya and Union Territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh were established by North pastern Areas (Re­organization) Act. 1971. Later Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh achieved statehood by State of Mizoram Act, 1986 and State of Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986.

6. New State of Sikkim was established by Constitution (36th Amendment) Act, 1975.

7. The State of Goa Act, 1987 incorporated Goa as a separate State of the Union.

Chhattisgarh was formed as a result of Madhya Pradesh Re-organization Act, 2000 which came into being on November 1, 2000.

8. Uttaranchal came into existence by Uttar Pradesh Re-organization Act, 2000 on 8th November, 2000, comprising the northern districts of Kumaon and Garhwal hills of Uttar Pradesh.

9. The State of Jharkhand was established by Bihar Re-organization Act, 2000 on 15th November, 2000, by comprising eighteen southern districts of Chhota Nagpur and Santhal Pargana areas of Bihar.

10. The State of Telangana was created by Andhra Pradesh Re-organization Act, 2014 and came into being on 2nd June 2014.

11. Two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh were created by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 and this act came into effect on October 31, 2019.

12. The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were created by The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union territories) Act, 2019 and this act came into effect on 26 January 2020.