Chapter 5 - union and its territories

 Chapter 5 - Union and its territories 

Article 1 to 4 under part 1
Deals with Union and its territory

Article 1 describes India that is Bharat as a union of States rather than a Federation of states.
Union of States has been preferred to Federation of states- Two reasons -
Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement among the states.
States have no right to secede from the Federation.

Article 1 territory of India can be classified into three categories-
Territory of the states
union territories
A territory that may be acquired by the government of India at any time.

Names of state and union territories and their territorial extent mentioned in the first schedule.
Presently 28 States and nine union territories

Territory of India is a wider expression then Union of India because Territory of India also includes Union territories and territories that may be acquired by government of India at any future time.

Being Sovereign India can acquire foreign territories according to the modes recognized by international law-
Cession, Occupation,Conquest or subjugation

Article 2 empowers Parliament
• Power to admit into the union of India new States
• And Power to establish new States

Article 3 Authorizes the parliament to -
• 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.

2 conditions- above changes can be introduced in Parliament only with prior recommendation of the president.
Before recommending the bill, president has to refer the same to State Legislature concerned For expressing its views within a specified period

Power of parliament to form new States
Also includes the power to form new states or union territories by uniting a part of any state or Union territory to any other state or Union territory(18th Constitutional Amendment act of 1966)

The president is not bound by the views of the state legislature and may either accept or reject them.
Hence territorial Integrity or continued existence of any state is not guaranteed by the Constitution. Therefore India is rightly described as indestructible Union of destructible States.

Article 4
Declares that laws made for admission or establishment of new States and formation of new States and alteration of areas boundaries or names Are not to be considered as amendments of the Constitution under article 368
And Can be passed by a simple majority and by other ordinary legislative processes.

In 1960(berubari union case) Supreme Court held that the power of parliament to diminish the area of a state does not cover cession of Indian Territory to a foreign country. Hence Indian Territory can be ceded to a foreign state only by amending the Constitution under article 368 Consequently

9th Constitutional Amendment act 1960 enacted to transfer said territory(berubari union) to Pakistan.

Supreme Court in 1969 ruled that settlement of a boundary dispute between India and another country does not require a constitutional amendment. It can be done by executive action as it does not involve cession of Indian Territory to a foreign country.

Exchange of territories with Bangladesh

The 100th Constitutional Amendment Act 2015
Enacted to give effect to protocol entered between the government of India and Bangladesh.
Under this deal India transferred 111 enclaves to Bangladesh while Bangladesh transferred 51 enclaves to India.

In addition deal also involved transfer of adverse possession and the demarcation of a 6.1 kilometer undemarcated border stretch

Amendment modified the provision relating to territories of four states Assam West Bengal meghalaya and tripura in the first schedule of the Constitution.

Evolution of states and union territories 

At time of Independence Two categories of political units-British provinces and the princely states

Of 552 princely States situated in India 549 joined India and remaining three Hyderabad junagadh and Kashmir refused to join India. However, in course of time they were also integrated with India.

In 1950 fourfold classification of the states And union territories- Part A Part B and part C and Part D territories(Total 29)

Dhar commission and JVP committee

There has been demands from different regions particularly South India for reorganization of States on linguistic basis. In June 1948
Government-appointed Linguistic Provinces commission under chairmanship of SK Dhar

December 1948 recommended the reorganization of the states on the basis of administrative convenience rather than linguistic Factor.
Created much resentment.

Appointment of another linguistic provinces committee consisted of jawaharlal nehru vallabhbhai Patel and pattabhi sitaramayya(Jvp committee)

Formally rejected language as the basis of reorganization of State.

In October 1953 Government was forced to create the first linguistic state known as Andhra state by separating telugu-speaking areas from Madras State followed of prolonged popular agitation and the death of Potti sriramalu(Congressperson) After 56 Hunger strike


Fazl Ali Commission 

In other regions demands for creation of States on linguistic basis.
Government-appointed Three member State reorganisation commission under chairmanship of Fazl Ali
Other two members KM Pannikar And HN Kunzru

Accepted language as the basis of reorganization of States but rejected the theory of one language one state.

Identified four major factors
Preservation and strengthening of the unity and security of the country
Linguistic and cultural homogeneity Financial economic and administrative consideration
Planning and promotion of the welfare of the people in each state as well as of the nation as a whole.

Commission suggested the abolition of fourfold classification of states
And creation of 16 States and three centrally administered territories.

Government accepted with minor modification By state reorganization act 1956 and 7th Constitutional Amendment act 1956

14 States and six union territories were created on November 1 1956

Established new state Kerala- By merging travancore-cochin state with Malabar District of Madras And kasargode of South canara.

Created Andhra Pradesh- By merging telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad with the Andhra state

Madhya Pradesh state- vindhya Pradesh State and bhopal State into madhya Pradesh state

Merged saurashtra State kutcch State into that of the Bombay state.

The coorg State into that of Mysore state

The patiala and East Punjab state union into the that of Punjab state.

And the ajmer State into that of Rajasthan state

Created new Union territory of laccadive minicoy and amindivi Island from the territory detached from The Madras state.

New States and union territories created after 1956

Maharashtra and Gujarat
In 1960

Dadra And nagar haveli
Liberated from Portuguese in 1954
Converted into Union territory by Tenth Constitutional Amendment Act
15th state Of India

Goa Daman and Diu
Acquired three territories from Portuguese By means of police action in 1961
12th Constitutional Amendment act 1962
Constituted as a union territory.

In 1987 goa conferred statehood.

Puducherry
French handed over this territory to India in 1954.
Till 1962 administered as an acquired territory.
By 14th Constitutional Amendment Act Made a union territory.

Nagaland
Formed in 1963 My taking Naga Hills and area Out of state of Assam
16th state of Indian Union

Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.
In 1966 state of Punjab was bifurcated to create haryana 17th state.
And the union territory of Chandigarh

The hilly areas were merged with adjoining Union territory of Himachal Pradesh.
In 1971 HP elevated to the status of a state 18th state.

Manipur tripura and meghalaya

In 1972 Manipur and tripura And substate of meghalaya got statehood.

And two union territories mizoram and arunachal Pradesh.

Came into being 19, 20 and 21st state

Initially 22nd Constitutional Amendment act 1969 created meghalaya as an autonomous state or sub state within state of Assam
Did not satisfy the aspiration of the people.



Sikkim

Till 1947. Sikkin an Indian princely State ruled by chogyal
Lapse of British Paramountcy
Sikkim became a protectorate of India.

Indian government has assumed responsibility for the defense external Affair and communication of Sikkim.

35th Constitutional Amendment Act Introduced a new class of statehood

Conferring Sikkim the status of an associate state
A new article 2A and a new schedule 10th schedule inserted in the Constitution.

In a referendum held in 1975.

People voted for the abolition of the institution of chögyal and Sikkim becoming an integral part of India.
36 Constitutional Amendment act 1975 enacted to make scheme of full-fledged state of an Indian Union.
22nd state
This amended The first and fourth schedule And added a new article 371F To provide certain special provision
Repealed Article 2A and the tenth schedule

Mizoram arunachal Pradesh and Goa
In 1987 23rd 24th and 25th States-


Chattisgar uttarakhand And jharkand
In 2000 Created out of territories of madhya Pradesh uttar Pradesh and Bihar 26th, 27th and 28th.

Telangana in 2014
29th state Carved out of the territories of Andhra Pradesh

Jammu and Kashmir and ladakh
Till 2019 J&K had its own Constitution And special status by virtue of article 370

Jammu and Kashmir reorganization act 2019
Bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two separate union territories namely Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the union territory of ladakh.

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

Change of names

United province First state to have a new name Uttar Pradesh In 1950

In 1969 Madras was renamed Tamil Nadu

In 1973. Mysore was renamed Karnataka.
Same year laccadive minicoy and amindivi island renamed lakhsadweep

1992 Union territory of Delhi was re-designated as the national capital territory of Delhi By 69th Constitutional Amendment act 1991

In 2006 Uttranchal was renamed as uttarakhand
Same year pondicherry was renamed as puducherry.

In 2011 was renamed as odisha.