Focus

Highlights

1. 1.

   What does Article 2 of the Constitution of India say?

   Article 2 says: “Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit.” However, Parliament cannot establish a new union territory by passing a law; that can only be done through a constitutional amendment. States like Sikkim (previously not within India) became a part of the country under Article 2.

2. 2.

   What was the Constituent Assembly’s debate on Article 2?

   Article 2 was not deliberated on much because the Constituent Assembly agreed that given India’s size and diversity, a central authority was needed to hold together the country’s administrative structure and prevent it from disintegrating. So the centre was given the power to ‘admit and establish’ new states.

3. 3.

   Which changes to Article 2 were proposed during the debate?

   During the debate, Assembly member Naziruddin Ahmad argued that Articles 2 and 3 overlapped to a large extent and must be amalgamated. He proposed that Articles 2 and 3 be substituted with Article 2. Assembly member H.V. Kamath proposed that instead of the word ‘Parliament’, Article 2 must use the ‘Parliament of the Union’ to make it absolutely clear which parliament was being referred to. 

4. 4.

   Did the Constituent Assembly accept any of these amendments?

   None of these amendments were accepted and the Draft Article 2 was made part of the Constitution without any changes.

   
   

   Focus and Factoids by Pratik Dixit.