Article 1 to 4 under Part-I of the Constitution deal with the Union and its territory.
Article 1 describes India, that is, Bharat as a 'Union of States' rather than a 'Federation of states'.
The names of states and union territories and their territorial extent are mentioned in the first schedule of the Constitution.
Article 2 empowers the Parliament to 'admit into the Union of India, or establish, new states on such terms and condition as it thinks fit'. Article 2 relates to the admission or establishment of new states that are not part of the Union of India.
Article 3 relates to the formation of or changes in the existing states of the Union of India.
Article 4 itself declares that the laws made for admission or establishment of new states (under Article 2) and formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states (under Article 3) are not to be considered as amendments of the Constitution under article 368. This means that such laws can be passed by a simple majority and by the ordinary legislative process.
The Supreme Court held that Indian territory can be ceded to a foreign state only by amending the Constitution under Article 368.
The 9th Constitutional Amendment act (1960 was enacted to transfer the Berubari Union to Pakistan (West Bengal).
The 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.
The 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. Under this deal, India transferred 111 enclaves to Bangladesh, while Bangladesh transferred 51 enclaves to India. In addition, the deal also involved the transfer of adverse possessions and the demarcation of a 6.1 km undemarcated border stretch.
In 1950, the constitution contained a four-fold classification of the states and territories of the Indian Union.
Part A states comprised nine erstwhile governor's provinces of British India.
Part B states consisted of nine erstwhile princely states with legislatures.
Part C states consisted of erstwhile chief commissioner's provinces of British India and some of the erstwhile princely states. These Part C states (in all 10 in number) were centrally administered.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands were kept as the solitary Part D territories.
Dhar Commission and JVP Committee
In June 1948, the GOI appointed the Linguistic Provinces Commission under the Chairmanship of S.K. Dhar to examine the feasibility of this. The commission submitted its report in December, 1948, and recommended the reorganisation of states on the basis of administrative convenience rather than linguistic factor.
Appointment of another Linguistic Provinces Committee by the Congress in December 1948, itself to examine the whole question afresh. It consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallahbhai Patel and Pattabi Sitaramayya and hence, was popularly known as JVP Committee. It had no Chairman or convenor. It submitted its report in April, 1949, and formally rejected language as the basis for reorganisation of states.
In October, 1953, the GOI was forced to create the first linguistic state, known as Andhra State, by separating the Telugu speaking areas from the Madras state.
Fazl Ali Commission
The creation of andhra state intensified the demand from other regions for creation of states on linguistic basis. this forced the Government of India to appoint (in December 1953) a three-member States Reorganisation Commission under the chairmanship of Fazl Ali to re-examine the whole question . Its other two members were K.M. Panikkar and H.N. Kunzru. It submitted its report in September 1955 and broadly accepted language as the basis of reorganisation of states. But, 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.
Suggested the abolition of the four-fold classification of states and territories under the Original constitution and creation of 16 states and 3 centrally administered territories.
By the States Reorganisation Act (1956) and the 7th constitutional Amendment Act (1956), the distinction between Part A and Part B states was done away with and Part C states were abolished. As a result, 14 states and 6 Union territories were created on November 1, 1956.
New States and Union Territories Created After 1956
Maharashtra and Gujarat - In 1960, the bilingual state of Bombay was divided into two separate states - Marathi & Gujarati speaking people. Gujarat was established as the 15th state of the Indian Union.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli - 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.
Goa, Daman and Diu - In 1961, India acquired these 3 territories from the Portuguese by means of a police action. They were constituted as a Union territory by the 12th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1962. Later in 1987, Goa was conferred a statehood.
Puducherry - The French handed over this territory to India in 1954. subequently, it was administered as an 'acquired territory', till 1962 when it was made a union territory by the 14th Constitutional Amendment act.
Nagaland - In 1963, the State of Nagaland was formed by taking the Naga Hills and Tuensang area out of the state of Assam. However, before giving Nagaland the status of the 16th state of the Indian Union, it was placed under the control of governor of Assam in 1961.
Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh - In 1966, the state of Punjab was bifurcated to create Haryana, the 17th state of the Indian Union, and the Union territory of Chandigarh. On the recommendation of the Shah Commission (1966), the Punjabi-speaking areas were constituted into the unilingual state of Punjab, the Hindi-speaking areas were constituted into the State of Haryana and the hill areas were merged with the adjoining union territory of Himachal Pradesh. In 1971 the UTs of Himachal Pradesh was elevated to the status of a state (18th state of the Indian Union).
Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya - In 1972, the political map of Northeast India underwent a major change. Thus, the 2 UTs of Manipur and Tripura and the sub-state of Meghalaya got statehood and the 2 UTs of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh (originally known as North-East Frontier Agency - NEFA) came into being. (Manipur 19th, Tripura 20th and Meghalaya 21st).
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, whereby the Indian government assumed responsibility for the defence, external affairs and communications of Sikkim. In 1974 , Sikkim expressed its desire for greater association with India. Accordingly, 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 Article 2-A and a new Schedule (10th Schedule containing the terms and conditions of association) were inserted in the Constitution. This experiment, however, did not las long as it could not full satisfy the aspiration of the people of Sikkim. In a referendum held in 1975, they voted for the abolition of the institution of Chogyal and Sikkim becoming an integral part of India. Consequently 36th Constitutional Amendment Act (1975) was enacted to make Sikkim a full-fledged state of the Indian Union (the 22nd State). 4th schedules to the Constitution and added a new Article 371-F to provide for certain special provisions with respect to the administration of Sikkim. It also repealed Article 2-A and the 10th Schedule that were added by the 35th Amendment Act of 1974.
Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa - In 1987, 3 States of Mizoram 23rd, Arunachal Pradesh 24th, Goa 25th states of the Indian Union respectively.
Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand - In 2000, 3 more new States of Chhattisgarh 26th, Uttarakhand 27th, Jharkhand 28th.
Telangana - 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. The Andhra State Act (1953) formed the first linguistic state of India, known as the state of Andhra. The States Reorganisation Act (1956) merged the Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state with the Andhra state. Again, the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (2014) bifurcated the Andhra Pradesh into 2 separate state, namely, the Andhra Pradesh (residuary) and the Telangana.
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 Article 370 of 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". This order superseded the earlier order known as "The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954". Further, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, bifurcated the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir into two separate union territories, namely, the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the union territory of Ladakh.
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