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.:

1. That the Indian federation is not the result of an agreement between the units it constituted of and
2. That the component units have no freedom to secede from the Union so created.[2]

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.[3] In a case[4] the Supreme Court has 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 represent their 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 relating to 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 formed States in India under the ambit of the Indian Constitution.

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, incidents and 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 Union Territory.

Article 3 of the Constitution of India reads as: Parliament may by law

1. Form a new state by separation of territory from any state or by uniting two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state;
2. Increase the area of any state;
3. Diminish the area of any State;
4. Alter the boundaries of any state;
5. Alter the name if any State

There is a provisio clause attached to Article 3. The clause provides that any legislation 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 legislature are first acquired on its area, boundary or name being affected thereby.

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 the President, 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 of capitals, 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.[1]

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.[2] This means, even if 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.[3] 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.[4]

It should be noted that in the provisio 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 of the 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 Council of States.

Article 4 of the Constitution of India reads as:

1. Any law referred to in Article 2 or Article 3 shall contain such provisions for the amendment 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 as to representation in Parliament and in the Legislature or Legislatures of the State or States affected by such law) as Parliament may deem necessary.
    
2. 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 the same came into force on 1st November, 1956.

Some of the recent and notable examples of newly created States in India on the basis of The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 includes:

1. The State of Andhra Pradesh was the first State to be created, post Independence, on a linguistic basis out of Telugu speaking regions of Madras State. It was created in the year 1953. Telangana was a region within Andhra Pradesh 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.[1]
    
2. 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.
    
3. 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.[2]
    
4. The former State of Jammu and Kashmir was officially created into a Union Territory on 31 October, 2019 by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation 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 Ladakh.

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 these aspects. 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.

References:

1. Prof. Narendra Kumar, Constitutional Law of India, 41, (2014)
2. Id.
3. Mr. Suvir Raghuvansh, Creation of new States in India, (2016), available at https://docs.manupatra.in/newsline/articles/Upload/E6D33255-8F9C-4F9E-B3F9-7359D9D25FE9.pdf
4. Raja Ram Pal V Hon'ble Speaker, (2007) 3 SCC 184
5. J. Venkatesan, what it takes to form a new State, (15-11-2011) available on https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/news/national/what-it-takes-to-form-a-new-state/article2630885.ece/amp/
6. Prof. Narendra Kumar, Indian Constitutional Law, 48, (2014)
7. Venkatesh, what it takes to form a new State, (15-11-2011)
8. Babulal Parate V State of Bombay, 1960 AIR SC 51
9. Sudhir Vyankatesh Wanmali, Andhra Pradesh, available at https://www.britannica.com/place/Andhra-Pradesh
10. State Profile, Telangana State Portal, www.telangana.gov.in