In this article, we will discuss the Indian Union and its territories ie Part 1 of the Constitution in a simple and easy way and try to understand its various important aspects.

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Of course! India is a country, but if we look at it from the point of view of the constitution, then many other aspects come to the fore, let us know-

| Union of India

This article discusses Part 1 of the Constitution. If the question is directly asked what Part 1 of the Constitution of India is about, then we will say that it is about the description of India, such as – What is India?, What is the Indian Union? Who has the power to form and take over new states? e.t.c. 

There are a total of 4 articles in this part of the constitution – Articles 1, 2, 3 and 4. So let us see in turn what are the provisions in the four articles?

Article 1

There are a total of three provisions under Article 1, its first provision says that “India that is Bharat shall be Union of states”.

In the first provision there are two important words India i.e. Bharat and Union of States . 

The question may come in your mind that why is India written in the constitution that means only India or why only Bharat is not written. 

Actually the reason for this is ideological difference. When the constitution was being framed, some people in the Constituent Assembly who gave more importance to the traditionalist ideology; Wanted to name the country Bharat because this name represented our rich tradition.

At the same time, people of some progressive ideology wanted to name the country as India because according to them, this name was a symbol of a new and modern India.

HV Kamath, a member of the Constituent Assembly, was in favor of keeping the main name of the country as India. At the same time, another member of the Constituent Assembly, Seth Govind Das, citing Vedas and Puranas, & tried to establish that this country has always been known as Bharat. He recommended the use of “bharat known as india in foreign country” in place of India that is Bharat.

There was a lot of debate on this issue, finally it was decided to vote and in this voting it was decided in favor of those who were in favor of India. And that is why in Article 1 ‘ India that is Bharat’ is written. Remember here that the word Hindustan is not used in the Constitution. 

Meaning of ‘ Union of States ‘

If we want to understand the Union in the easiest language, then we can say that a political system where there is a government at two levels and there is a division of powers between the two. In this sense, India is a union. But the most important thing here is that the federal system of India is slightly different from the US federal system. Explaining how different it is, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar said the following two things,

First – the Indian Union is not the result of any agreement between the states like the American Federation. This means that the states have not made India together, but India was already there and the states have joined it. That is why India is not the United States of India.

Second – Indian states have no right to secede from the Indian Union. Meaning that no matter how much a state tries to separate – the constitution does not allow them to be separated. Whereas the states of the US Federation can do so if they want.

Talking about the second provision of Article 1 , it states that the States and their territories shall be those specified in Schedule 1. That is to say that all the states and union territories are actually India and it is written in Schedule 1. If you want information on all the states and union territories, you should go through Schedule 1. 

Now talking about the third provision of Article 1, it says that the territory of India includes all the states and union territories, but those areas will also become part of India which will be acquired by the Government of India at any time. 

In other words, it is not necessary that India should be visible in future as it is seen today. If the Government of India acquires any new land, then that too will become a part of India and the map will change accordingly. For example, Goa was not a part of the Indian Union at the time of independence, but later it has been included in the Indian Union. 

Who has the power to include this, Article 2 is about this, so now we will understand Article 2….

Article 2 – Accession or establishment of new states

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

It mainly has two implications –

First , Parliament has been given the power to allow new states to enter the Indian Union. But under this power, the same state can be entered into India which is already in existence.

And second – Parliament can form new states. But under this power that state can be entered into India which is not already in existence.

Overall, Article 2 deals with the entry and formation of states which are not part of the Indian Union. For example you can take Goa which was earlier under the jurisdiction of Portugal but was included in India in 1961.

That is, only Parliament can enter or constitute new states in India by making laws. As the Parliament granted the status of a state to Goa, if Parliament wanted it could merge it with Maharashtra or Karnataka. 

How can this still be done? Article 3 is about that.

Article 3 – Creation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing states

Article 3 says mainly five things. 

First – Parliament can by law create a new state by separating some part of it from the state, or by joining two or more states or by merging some part of it.

Second – Parliament can increase the area of ​​a state.
Third – Parliament can reduce the area of ​​a state.
Fourth – Parliament can change the boundaries of a state.
Fifth – Parliament can change the name of a state.

Remember here that this article deals with the interior of India. That is, it works on all the states and union territories described in Schedule 1. Whereas Article 2 was for the states outside India.

Overall, if Article 3 is put in one line, then Parliament can re-determine the political map of India according to it . For example, Telangana was formed out of Andhra Pradesh as a new state in 2014. 

But this work cannot be done by the Parliament of its own mind, rather the ordinance related to such changes has to be approved by the President before introducing it in the Parliament. And the President sends that ordinance to the legislature of the concerned state so that what those people have to say about it can be known.

But if suppose that the legislature of the state in which this change is to take place does not approve it, then what will happen? Nothing will happen because the provision clearly says that the Parliament is not bound to accept the opinion of that State. This means that if the Parliament thinks that the map of a state has to be changed, then they can do so easily.

What does it mean to do it easily? Its meaning becomes clear from Article 4.

Remember here the third provision of this which says that “Parliament can reduce any territory”. There was a lot of controversy about this; Which is famous as the Berubari case.

Article 4 

It simply says that all the changes made under Articles 2 and 3 will not be considered as amendments under Article 368 of the Constitution. 

There are two things here, firstly, the change has been said under Article 2 and 3 and the second thing is Article 368.

So what is Article 1 is only about the details of India, no change can be made with the help of it. That is why there is only article 2 and 3 with the help of which changes can be brought in the map of India.

Secondly, Article 368 is for amending the Constitution, if any kind of amendment is made under Article 368, then a special majority is required in it.

Article 4 clearly states that changes made through Articles 2 and 3 will not be considered under Article 368. This means that such a law can be passed by simple majority and simple legislative process. That’s why it’s so easy. Click here to know more about Article 368 .

| Closing Remarks

We saw Article 1, Article 2 and Article 3 all three but found nowhere in them that India can give its share of territory to any other country or not. I am reminding this thing because in the Nehru-Noon agreement , it was said to give a place named Berubari to India and Pakistan, due to which a dispute arose whether the Government of India has this power under which they can give their land to any other country. . This dispute is popularly known as the Berubari case . What it is, it will be understood at a leisurely pace in this article.

Quiz Indian Union (Constitution Part 1)- Free [Hindi]

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भारतीय संघ एवं उसका क्षेत्र अभ्यास प्रश्न
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References,
Constitution Part 1↗️
Part I of the Constitution of India Wikipedia↗️
Schedule 1 of the COI
Indian Polity – M. Laxmikant