The Supreme Court said that as per the Indian Constitution the power to convert an existing State into one or more Union Territories (UT) is the power of enacting a law that is empowered with the parliament.
A bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice AS Oka made this note while they were going through the judgment that dismissed the petition challenging notifications for the delimitation of assembly constituencies in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
The court noted that on a conjoint reading of Articles 3,4 and 239A, they find that:- a) Parliament by making a law can convert an existing State into one or more Union territories.
Article 3 of the Constitution states that parliament may by law form new States and alter areas, boundaries or names of the existing States. It also adds that this power extends to UTs.
The Court also highlights Article 4 (2) which says that no law made by Article 3 would be considered an amendment to the Constitution for the purposes of Article 368.
The bench said that if parliament creates a body of legislature for Union territories of Puducherry and J&K which may have amended certain parts of the Constitution, it would not be considered an amendment to the Constitution for purposes of Article 368.
The Apex Court dismissed the argument of the petitioners regarding the violation of provisions which are contained in Article 170 (3), telling clearly that it does not deal with the legislatures of UTs at all.
Articles 239A and 239AA which are included in Part VIII of the Constitution are the Articles that deal with the creation of a body to function as legislature and Council of Ministers for certain Union Territories.
The Apex Court said that as per Section 13 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, Article 239A became applicable to the UT and as per Article 239A (2), law contemplated under the provision would not be viewed as an amendment to the Constitution for purposes of Article 368.
The Court said that was precisely the reason that the parliament was empowered to create a body of legislature for Union territories of Puducherry and J&K.
The Court added that with respect to delimitation exercise cannot the states of north-East like Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland cannot be compared to that of the newly-created UT of J&K.