Focus

{"id":5788,"__component":"library.focus","Focus":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The Constituent\nAssembly drafted the Constitution of India from 1946-1950. It sat for the first\ntime on December 9, 1946, and in two years and 11 months, it met for 11\nsessions spread over 165 days. On November 26, 1949, the Assembly adopted the\nConstitution, which came into effect on January 26, 1950.</p>\n\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">Dr.\nRajendra Prasad was the chairman of the Assembly and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar was the\nchairman of the Drafting Committee. A majority of the Assembly’s deliberations\nwere debates on the Draft Constitution, which was presented for discussion on\nNovember 4, 1948. Over the next year, Assembly members debated each clause in\ndetail and proposed amendments that were either adopted or rejected by a\nmajority vote.</p>\n\nThe Assembly debated <a href=\"http://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/coi-4March2016.pdf\">Article\n2</a> on November 17, 1948. The Article states that Parliament can\nestablish a new state (but not a new union territory) by passing a law. However,\nthe Supreme Court of India in the ‘R.C. Poudyal and Another v. Union of India’\ncase of 1993 maintained that the words “on such terms and conditions as it\nthinks fit” in Article 2 did not give Parliament unfettered powers to establish\nnew states. The “terms and conditions,” the court said, must be consistent with\nthe foundational principles of the Constitution."}

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.