CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR

SCHOOL LAW AND GOVERNANCE

ACADEMIC YEAR: - 2023-2024

DEPARTMENT: - LAW AND GOVERNANCE

TOPIC OF ASSIGNMENT: CONSTITUTIONAL POSITION OF INDIAN

STATES BEFORE AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE
SUBMITTED TO:
Dr. KUMARI NITU
(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SLG, CUSB)

SUBMITTED BY:
NAME: DHRUV KUMAR TEJASVI
ENROLLMENT NO: CUSB2213125035
COURSE NAME: CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY
SECTION: A
 INTRODUCTION

India is a prosperous country with 29 states and 7 Union territories. Everystate of this country
has a unique charm, a unique history and a unique culture, which makes it stand apart from the
rest. One needs more than a lifetime to explore all the states of India as they offer a wide
spectrum of tourism possibilities. You meet multilingual people, delve into their faiths,
understand their cultures and savour their cuisines. States of India offer diverse geographical
experiences to travellers. Beach lovers can enjoy the pleasure of sun, sea and sand in states like
Goa, Chennai and Kerala. These states house the most immaculate beaches where sun shines
with all its grandeur. Then there are states like Jammu and Kashmir, Uttaranchal and Himachal
Pradesh which bring out the most enchanting facets of nature. These states also offer you
immense opportunities to partake in the most exciting adventure activities, including river
rafting, climbing, paragliding, mountaineering, skiing and camping.

Those looking for culturally rich states of India, Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat,Haryana and Bihar
top the charts. The locals of these states follow their cultures and religions by heart which can
be seen in their traditional attires,festivals and lifestyle. Some states of India are known for their
serenity as they are still far-away from the modern layers. Visit Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur
and Nagaland toexperience a whole new side of India which is simple yet stunning, unique yet
familiar.

INDIAN STATES BEFORE INDEPENDENCE1

There were 17 provinces and 584 princely states in the British India. Theprovinces were:

Ajmer – Merwara (Now part of of Rajasthan)Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Assam (Seven Sister states and some parts of Bangladesh) Baluchistan (Joined Pakistan after
Independence)
Bengal (Split into West Bengal and East Pakistan (Bangladesh))Bihar
Bombay (Consisted parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka)
Central Provinces & Berar (It is Madhya Pradesh in the present time) Coorg (Now part of
Karnataka)
Delhi (Now part of NCT of Delhi)
Madras (Consisted parts of present day Tamil Nnadu, Andhra Pradesh andKarnataka)
North-West Frontier (Joined Pakistan after Independence) Orissa (It is Odisha in the present
time)
Panth-Piploda (Now part of Madhya Pradesh)
Punjab (Split into two parts between India and Pakistan) Sindh (Joined Pakistan after
Independence)
United Provinces (It is Uttar Pradesh in the present time)2

Princely States
After independence of India from the British Rule, the 584 princely states either joined the
Indian Union or Pakistan.
Sikkim was the last princely state to join the Indian Union in 1975.

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 INDIANS STATES AT THE TIME OF INDEPENDENCE

At the time of Independence on 15 August 1947, India had following 12 states:

 Assam
 Bihar
 Bombay
 Bengal
 Central India
 Central Provinces
 Madras
 Mysore
 Orissa
 Punjab
 Rajputana
 United Provinces

By the time India became a sovereign democratic republic on 26 January 1950, states like
Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Manipur and Tripurahad also joined the Indian Union.

INDIAN STATES AFTER INDEPENDENCE3

India is also known as a Union of States. Article 1(1) of the Constitution of India declares that
India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. In describing India as a Union of States, the
Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly followed the language of the Preamble of the
British North America Act, 1867.[1] Explaining the significance of the expression Union
instead of the expression Federation, Dr. B.R Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting
Committee, said that the word was adopted to indicate two things, viz.:That the Indian
federation is not the result of an agreement between the units it constituted of and That the
component units have no freedom to secede from the Union socreated.

The same was done with the intention to create and preserve the federal structure of India. The
authors of the Indian Constitution, unlike the current generation of Indians, did not believe that
the states, districts and mandals within India are static, unchanging, and permanent. They had
the maturity to accept that States would evolve and change, and hence made provisions for the
creation of new States in Indian Union.
In a case the Supreme Courthas held that India adopted a 'loose federal structure', which is an
indestructible Union of destructible Units.
Therefore, the States form an integral part of India as a Union. They representtheir unique
identities and ultimately play a vital role in securing and preserving the Federal Structure in
India as also set out by the Constitution.

In this Article, I shall be discussing about the Constitutional provisions relatingto the creation of
new States in India, the procedure for their creation as prescribed in the Constitution, as well as
some examples of the newly formedStates in India under the ambit of the Indian Constitution.

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 CREATION OF NEW STATES IN INDIA : CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

In India, new states are created following the provisions as prescribed under Articles 2, 3 and 4
of the Constitution of India.

Article 2 is titled as: Admission and establishment of new states.

Article 3 is titles as: Formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of
existing states.

Article 4 is titled as: Laws made under articles 2 and 3 to provide for the amendment of the
First and the Fourth Schedules and supplemental, incidentsand consequential matters.

We shall be discussing the above provisions in depth in this present Article. Creation Of New
States In India: The Constitutional Procedure As given above, new States in India are created
under the provisions of Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Indian Constitution.

Article 2 of the Constitution of India vests in the Indian Parliament the exclusive power to
admit or establish new states into the Indian Union on such terms and conditions as the
Parliament may provide for. This authority is with the Indian Parliament only and the State
legislatures have no power to frame laws on this subject matter.

Article 2 reads as: Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new states on such
terms and conditions as it thinks fit.

Article 3 of the Constitution of India dives and defines further and authorises the Indian
Parliament to form new states; alter the area, boundaries or names of existing states by
legislation. The parliament, under this Article, is empowered to form a new state by separating
a territory from any state or by uniting states or parts of States or by uniting any territory to a
part of any state. It is also empowered to increase or diminish the area of any state or to alter the
boundaries or the name of any state. It should be noted that in clauses from (a) to (e) under
Article 3, the expression 'State' includes a UnionTerritory.

Article 3 of the Constitution of India reads as: Parliament may by law Form a new state by
separation of territory from any state or by uniting two ormore 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;Alter the name if any State

There is a provisio clause attached to Article 3. The clause provides that anylegislation framed
upon the provisions of Article 3 shall not be introduced in either House of the Indian
Parliament, except when it is firstly recommended by the President of India for the same
purpose.

This clause further provides that where such legislation affects the area, boundary or the name
of any existing State, then such a legislation shall not be introduced in either House of the
Parliament unless, when first referred by the President to such State legislature affected, views
of such State legislatureare first acquired on its area, boundary or name being affected thereby.

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It is to be noted that such views by the State legislature shall be communicated to the
Parliament within such time period as the President of India may specify in such reference or
within such time period as the President may allow. If the Centre accepts the State's
recommendation, a bill can be introduced in either House of Parliament on the recommendation
of thePresident, which in fact means the recommendation of the Union government.

Before drafting the Bill, it is open to the Centre to appoint a Commission to fix boundaries and
for Sharing waters, providing other guarantees and location ofcapitals, High Courts and all other
requirements of the States to be formed. It is only on receipt of a report of the Commission that
the President may recommend a Bill, on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers.

However, the Parliament is not bound to accept or act upon the views of the State legislature,
even if such views are received in time. This means, evenif there is opposition to the referred
Bill, or such reference is not responded to within the prescribed time, or when such a Bill is
approved, the a President can go ahead with formation of a new State. Period within which the
State Legislature must express its views has to be specified by the President; but the President
may extend the period so specified.

If, however, the period specified or extended expires and no views of the State Legislature are
received, the Second condition laid down in the provisio is fulfilled in spite of the fact that the
views of the State legislature have not been expressed. The intention seems to be to give an
opportunity to the State Legislature to express its views within the time allowed; if the State
Legislature fails to avail itself of that opportunity, such failure does not invalidate the
introduction of the bill.

It should be noted that in the proviso clause attached to Article 3, the Expression State does not
include a Union Territory.

The provisio clause reads as: 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 names 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 further period as the President may allow and the period so specified or
allowed has expired.

Article 4 of the Indian Constitution reflects a mandatory direction to the Parliament while
framing a legislation under Article 2 and 3. It directs the Parliament to frame a legislation
which bears within it certain provisions providing for the amendment of the First Schedule and
the Fourth Schedule ofthe Constitution of India in order to giving affect to such legislation.

Such a law may also contain such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions,
including provisions relating to the distribution of representation in the Parliament and in the
legislatures of the States, as the Parliament may deem necessary. Further, this Article clearly
bars the jurisdiction of the Parliament to frame a legislation intending to be an amendment of
the Constitution for the purposes of Article 368.
 The First Schedule of the Indian Constitution enlists the names of the States and the Union
Territories which are included in the expression 'Union of States'. The Fourth Schedule
prescribes the allocation of seats in the Councilof States.

Article 4 of the Constitution of India reads as:

Any law referred to in Article 2 or Article 3 shall contain such provisions for theamendment 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 asto representation in Parliament and in the Legislature or Legislatures of
the State or States affected by such law) as Parliament may deem necessary.

No such law as aforesaid shall be deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the
purposes of Article 368.
Therefore, the procedure discussed above is how States in India are created.

Some Notable Examples Of Newly Created States In India

Since the enforcement of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956 in India, a major reformation of
the boundaries of the Indian States and the Union Territories, several States were created on the
basis of linguistic lines. The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was enacted on 31st August, 1956
and thesame came into force on 1st November, 1956.

Some of the recent and notable examples of newly created States in India onthe basis of The
States Reorganisation Act, 1956 includes: The State of Andhra Pradesh was the first State to be
created, post Independence, on a linguistic basis out of Telugu speaking regions of MadrasState.
It was created in the year 1953.
Telangana was a region within AndhraPradesh for almost six decades, but in 2014 it was carved
off to form a separate State. The Capital of both Andhra and Telangana is Hyderabad, in West
Central Telangana.

The Union Territory of Puducherry ( earlier Pondicherry) was formed out of the four former
French colonies in India; namely Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. It was created in the
year 1962.

The State of Telangana was officially formed on June 2, 2014. Telangana region was part of the
Hyderabad State from September 17th , 1948 to November 1st, 1956, until it was merged with
Andhra State to form the Andhra pradesh State. After decades of movement for a separate state,
Telangana was created by passing the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Act in both the
Houses of the Parliament.

The former State of Jammu and Kashmir was officially created into a Union Territory on 31
October, 2019 by the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act,2019, which was passed by both
the Houses of the Parliament of India in August 2019. This Act resulted into the re constitution
of the former State of J&K into two Union Territories i.e Union Territory of J&K and Union
Territory of 5Ladakh.

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 CONCLUSION

India, a Union of States, has a federal structure and being so it is counted in as one of the Basic
Structure of the Indian Constitution. India being rich in diversity, cultures and languages, it is
abundantly necessary to preserve theseaspects. The Constitution makers also envisaged this and
therefore, provisions like Article 2, 3 and 4 were incorporated as an important part of Indian
Federalism.

In this respect, new States are created in India on the basis of these criteria to strengthen and
preserve the States unique cultures and languages or scripts. This is one of the ways through
which not only the uniqueness of India is protected but also its cultures, traditions and dialects

Reference

1. “Introduction to the Constitution of India” by DD Basu.

2. “Outlines of Indian Legal and Constitutional History” by MP Jain.
3. A Constitutional History of India:1600-1935 Arthur Berriedale Keith
4. https://www.clearias.com/historical-background-of-indian-constitution/
5. https://www.clearias.com/historical-background-of-indian-constitution/