Union and Its Territory
Constitution – Union and Its Territory (Article 1 -4)
Constitution of India An Introduction with flow Chart & Schedules
The Nature of Constitution ( Federal or Unitary)
Part – 1 The Union and Its Territory (Article 1 -4)
Articles 1 to 4 under Part I of the Constitution deals with the Union and its Territory.
Article 1. – Name and Territory of the Union
Article 2. – Admission or establishment of new States.
Article 2A. – [Omitted.]
Article 3. – Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States.
Article 4. – Laws made under Article 2 and 3 to provide for the amendment of the first and the fourth Schedules and Supplemetal, incidental and consequential matters
Article 1. – Name and Territory of the Union
- Article 1 of the Constitution declares that India ( Bharat) Shall be the Union of States.
- The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the First Schedule
- The territoriey of India shall comprise-
- The Territories of the States;
- The Union territories specified in the firrst Schedule;
- Other Territories which may be acquired by Government of India.
Note – The Union of India includes only the States enjoying the Status of being members of the federal system and sharing the powers with the Union.
The territory of India includes the States, the Union Territories and such other territories as may be acquired by India in future. Both States and the Territories have specified in the first Schedule of the Constitution.
The territory of India at present Consists of the following-
| States | Union Territories | Other Territories as may be acquired | |
| 1. | Andhra Pradesh | Delhi | |
| 2. | Assam | The Andaman and Nicobar Islands | |
| 3. | Bihar | Lakshadweep The Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands ( Alternation of Names) Act No. 34 of 1973 | |
| 4. | Gujarat | Dadra and Nagar Haveli [By the Constitution (10th Amendment) Act, 1961] and Daman and Diu [By the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu ( Merger of Union Territories) Act, 2019] | |
| 5. | Kerala | Puducherry [By the Pondichery ( Alteration of Name) Act, 2006 by the Sec. 5 for the word “ Pondichery” ( W.e.f. 1-10-2006)] | |
| 6. | Madhya Pradesh | Chandigarh By Sec. 7 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 ( 31 of 1966) | |
| 7. | TamilNadu | Jammu and Kashmir [By Sec. 6 of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019)] | |
| 8. | Maharashtra by the(Bombay -Reorganisation Act, 1960) | Laddakh [By Sec. 6 of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (34 of 2019)] | |
| 9. | Karnataka | ||
| 10. | Odisha By Orissa (Alteration of Name)Act, 2011 | ||
| 11. | Punjab | ||
| 12. | Rajasthan | ||
| 13. | Uttar Pradesh | ||
| 14. | West Bengal | ||
| 15. | Nagaland by the State of Nagaland Act, 1962 | ||
| 16. | Haryana By the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 | ||
| 17. | Himachal Pradesh | ||
| 18. | Manipur By the North Eastern Areas Reorganisation Act, 1971 | ||
| 19. | Tripura | ||
| 20. | Meghalaya | ||
| 21. | Sikkim By the Constitution (36th Amendment) Act, 1974 | ||
| 22. | Mizoram By the State Mizoram Act, 1986 [53rd Constitution ( Amendment) Act, 1986] | ||
| 23. | Arunachal Pradesh By the Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986 ( 55th Amendment Act, 1987) | ||
| 24. | Goa By the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act, 1987 ( 56th Constitution Amendment Act, 1987) | ||
| 25. | Chhattisgarh By the Madhya Pradesh State Reorganisation Act, 2000 | ||
| 26. | Uttarakhand By the Uttar Pradesh State Reorganisation Act, 2000 and Sub. By Act No. 52 of 2006 , for “ Uttaranchal” | ||
| 27. | Jharkand By the Bihar State Reorganisation Act, 2000 | ||
| 28. | Telangana By the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 |
Article. 2 – Admission or establishment of new States –
- According to the article 2 Parliament may by law admit new States into the Union India or establish new States on such terms and conditions as it think.
Explanation:
Article 2 gives Parliament two powers
- The power to admit into the Union new States which are established and are already in existence. i.e., The French Settlements of Pondicherry, etc.
- The power to establish new States which were not in existence before.
Article 2-A. Sikkim to be associated with the Union.-[Rep. by the Constitution ( Thirty – Sixth Amendment ) Act, 1975 s. 5 ( w.e.f. – 26-4-1975)]
Article. 3 – Formation of new States and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing State
- According to Article 3 Parliament may form or establish A new State in the following ways :-
- By seperation of territory from any State; or
- By Uniting two or more States; or
- By uniting any parts of States: or
- By uniting any territory to a part of any State.
- Under the Article 3 Parliament may 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.
Note : State includes a Union Territory
In this regard Parliament follows the following Steps;
Step – 1: On the recommendation of the President, either House of Parliament may introduce a bill for the formation of new States or the alteration of the boundaries or the names of the existing State.
Step-2: If the bill affects the area, boundaries or names of a State, then the President will refer the Bill to the concerned Legislature of State before introducing it in the Parliament for their opinion.
Step-3: If the State Legislature fails to express an opinion within the given period the President will introduce the bill in the Parliament even though the opinion of the State have not been obtained.
If Legislature of State expresses its opinion within the given period, the Parliament is not bound to accept or act upon the views of the State Legislature.
In the case of Union Territories, it is not necessary to seek the views of Legislatures of Union Territories before introducing such Bill.
Article. 4 –
It states that any law mentioned to in Article-2 or Article-3 shall contain such provisions for the amendment of the Ist Schedule and the IVth Schedule necessary to provide effects to the provisions of law and may also contain such supplemental, incidental, and consequential provisions, as the Parliament may deem necessary.
Article 4 allows for consequential changes in the Ist Schedule (i.e. names of the States in the Union of India) and IVth Schedule (i.e. a number of seats allotted in the Rajya Sabha for each state.)
Any Such law relating to altering existing States or formating a new State shall not be treated as the amendment of the Constitution for the purpose of article 368.