The Constitution of India’s Fourteenth Amendment, officially known as The Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962, made Pondicherry (now Puducherry) the ninth Union territory of India and granted Parliament the power to enact legislation creating legislatures and councils of ministers for the union territories of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry.

When India and France ratified the Treaty of Cession on August 16, 1962, the French colonies of Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahé, and Yanam became parts of the Indian Union. On December 28, 1962, the 14th Amendment became operative.

Revisions to the constitution:

The amendment’s Section 2 changed Article 81(1)(b) of the Constitution to increase the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats for MPs from Union territories from 20 to 25, allowing the representation of the Union territory of Pondicherry. With effect from August 16, 1962, Pondicherry’s territories are now listed in the First Schedule of the Constitution. One Rajya Sabha seat was added for Pondicherry as part of an amendment to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution.

The inclusion of a new article 239A into the Constitution granted Parliament the power to enact laws creating legislatures and councils of ministers for the union territories of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu, and Pondicherry. Any statute approved for this reason would not be regarded as a constitutional amendment for article 368, according to section 4 of the amendment. To provide the President with the authority to “establish rules for the peace, progress, and good governance” of the territory, article 240, clause (1) of the Constitution was amended to include the Union territory of Pondicherry. However, as of the date set for the first meeting of anybody established under the new Article 239A to serve as the Legislature for the Union territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, or Pondicherry, the President would no longer be able to issue rules.

Proposal and implementation:

On August 30, 1962, Bill No. 86 of 1962, the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Bill, was presented to the Lok Sabha. It was put out by Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then-minister of home affairs, and aimed to change Articles 81 and 240 as well as the First and Fourth Schedules of the Constitution. Additionally, a new article 239A was proposed for the Constitution. The following is the complete language of the statement of objects and reasons that is annexed to the bill:

The French settlements of Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe, and Yanam became a territory of the Indian Union on August 16, 1962, after the ratification of the Treaty of Cession by the governments of India and France. This bill calls for the inclusion of these regions as a “Pondicherry”-designated Union territory in the Constitution. Twenty MPs are allowed to represent the Union territories in the House of the People under article 81(1)(b) of the Constitution. This upper limit has already been achieved. To offer Pondicherry immediate representation in the House of the People and to account for potential unforeseen circumstances, the bill proposes to raise this number to twenty-five. The Bill also establishes the territory’s participation in the Council of States.

It is proposed to establish legislatures and councils of ministers in Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu, and Pondicherry, all of which are union territories, largely on the model of the scheme that was in place in some of the Part C States before the reorganisation of the States. The Bill aims to give Parliament the requisite legislative authority to adopt legislation for this purpose through the creation of a new article 239A that broadly adheres to the terms of article 240 as it was before the reorganisation of the States.

The Lok Sabha debated and approved the measure on September 4, 1962, after making certain changes. On September 7, 1962, the Rajya Sabha discussed and approved the measure that had already been approved by the Lok Sabha. On September 4 and 7, 1962, respectively, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha accepted Bill’s original versions of clauses 1, 2, 3, and 5 to 7. The Bill’s clause 4 aimed to add a new article 239A to the Constitution, giving Parliament the authority to enact legislation creating legislatures and councils of ministers for certain Union territories. To remove the terms “nominated or” from clause 1(a) of the new article 239A, Hari Vishnu Kamath proposed an amendment to clause 4 in the Lok Sabha. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adopted the revised Clause 4. The amendment had the result that the Union territories’ legislatures could not be entirely nominated bodies.

On December 28, 1962, the legislation was signed by the president of the time, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and it also went into effect on that day. On December 29, 1962, The Gazette of India published a notification on it.

Ratification:

As required by Clause (2) of Article 368’s requirements, the Act was passed in conformity with those provisions and approved by the legislatures of half the states. The following is a list of state legislatures that approved the amendment:

• Andhra Pradesh
• Jammu & Kashmir
• Kerala
• Madras
• Maharashtra
• Mysore
• East Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Uttar Pradesh
• West Bengal

Did not ratify:

• Assam
• Bihar
• Gujarat
• Madhya Pradesh
• Odisha

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_of_India#cite_note-Constitution_Amendment_in_India-3

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