Union territory

Also called: UT · Topic: State Government: Governor, Chief Minister, State Legislature and Union Territories · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The State, the Government, and You"; Class 10, Ch 2 "Federalism"; Class 11, Ch 7 "Federalism"

Meaning

A Union territory (UT) is an area that the Union (Central) government governs directly. Under Article 239, the President runs it through an Administrator whom the President appoints. Only three of the eight UTs (Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir) have elected legislatures.

UTs matter because they show where Indian federalism (sharing power between the Centre and the units) gives way to direct central rule. They also raise a recurring question: how much say do the people of a UT really have over the government that rules them?

Explanation

Why UTs exist

• A state has its own elected government. A UT does not, or has only a weaker one. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) runs it on behalf of the Centre.
• Usual reasons for making an area a UT:
• Too small to be a state, or cannot be merged with a neighbour. Some have a separate colonial history, such as Puducherry, or Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
• Strategic island groups: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
• National capital: Delhi.
• Security or special reasons: Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh, made UTs in 2019.

How a UT is run

• The President is the formal head of every UT (Art. 239).
• The President acts through an Administrator, an agent of the President, not an elected head.

• The President also chooses the Administrator's title.

• Two titles are used:

• Lieutenant Governor (LG): in Delhi, Puducherry, J&K, Ladakh, and Andaman and Nicobar.

• Administrator: in Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (DNH&DD), and Lakshadweep.

• A Governor of a neighbouring state can be made Administrator.

• That Governor then acts independently of his own state's council of ministers. The state cabinet's advice does not apply to UT work.

• Example: the Governor of Punjab is the Administrator of Chandigarh.

• Accountability flows upward. UT officials answer to the MHA, not to local voters.

Two types of UT

UT	Legislature?	Head's title
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	No	Lieutenant Governor
Chandigarh	No	Administrator (the Governor of Punjab)
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	No	Administrator
Delhi	Yes	Lieutenant Governor
Jammu and Kashmir	Yes	Lieutenant Governor
Ladakh	No	Lieutenant Governor
Lakshadweep	No	Administrator
Puducherry	Yes	Lieutenant Governor

• UTs without a legislature (5): people elect only their MP. Daily rule rests with the appointed Administrator or LG.
• UTs with a legislature (3): there is an elected House and a council of ministers, but power is shared with the LG.
• Delhi has its own special arrangement under Art. 239AA.

Limits on UT legislatures

• A UT legislature is created by Parliament through ordinary law (Art. 239A). A state legislature, by contrast, comes directly from the Constitution.
• Parliament can still make laws on any subject for a UT, even one with a legislature.
• Nominated members (chosen by the Centre, not elected) can change the result of votes in a small House.
• The LG often controls police, services and land. This narrows what the elected ministers can actually do.

In the Constitution and practice

Where it sits

• Part VIII, Arts. 239-241.
• Art. 239: the President administers each UT through an Administrator.
• Art. 239A (14th Amendment, 1962): Parliament may create a legislature and a council of ministers for certain UTs.
• The Government of Union Territories Act 1963 was passed under it. It gave Puducherry a House of 30 elected and 3 nominated members.

• J&K's legislature comes from the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, not from the 1963 Act.

• Art. 239B (27th Amendment, 1971): the Administrator of a UT with a legislature can issue an ordinance (a temporary law made by the executive), but only when the legislature is not in session.

• An ordinance has the same force as an Act of the UT legislature.

• Art. 240: the President can make regulations (laws made directly by the President) for certain UTs.

• A regulation has the same force as an Act of Parliament and can even amend or repeal such an Act for that UT.

• It covers Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, DNH&DD [3] and Puducherry. For Puducherry, it applies only when the legislature is dissolved or suspended.

• Art. 241: Parliament can create a High Court for a UT, or place the UT under a nearby state's High Court.

• Delhi has its own High Court.
• J&K and Ladakh share a common High Court.
• The other UTs come under neighbouring state High Courts.

How UTs evolved

• 1950: the Constitution grouped states into Parts A, B, C and D.
• Part C states were former Chief Commissioners' provinces.

• The Part D territory was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

• 7th Amendment (1956): carried out the States Reorganisation. It ended the A/B/C/D system and created two kinds of unit, states and UTs.

• Many UTs later became states: Himachal Pradesh (1971); Manipur and Tripura (1972); Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa (1987).
• 31 October 2019: the state of J&K was split into two UTs, J&K and Ladakh, by the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019.
• 26 January 2020: Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu were merged into one UT by the DNH&DD (Merger of Union Territories) Act 2019 [3].
• The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 26 November 2019. The Lok Sabha passed it on 27 November 2019 and the Rajya Sabha on 3 December 2019 [3].
• The Act also amended Art. 240(1). It replaced entry (c) with "Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu" and deleted entry (d) [3].

Key instances

• Puducherry (2016-21): conflict between the LG and the elected government.
• The LG and the Congress-led government clashed repeatedly over files, appointments and welfare schemes.
• In 2018, the Centre nominated 3 MLAs who were BJP functionaries without consulting the UT government [4]. The Madras High Court upheld the nominations [4].

• In K. Lakshminarayanan v. Union of India (2018), a three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court held the following [4]:

  • The Centre does not need to consult the UT government before nominating members [4].
  • The 1963 Act makes no difference between elected and nominated MLAs, so nominated MLAs have equal voting rights, including on no-confidence motions [4].

• J&K: a UT with a legislature.

• After the 2022 delimitation (redrawing of constituency boundaries), the Assembly has 90 elected seats.
• The J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Act 2023 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 26 July 2023 [2] and passed in December 2023, along with the J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill 2023 [2][6].
  • It lets the LG nominate up to 2 Kashmiri migrants, one of whom must be a woman [2].
  • It also lets the LG nominate 1 person displaced from Pakistan-occupied J&K (PoJK) [2].
• July 2024: amended Transaction of Business Rules (rules that decide which authority handles which file) require the LG's approval for police, public order, the All-India Services, prosecution sanctions and the Advocate-General.
• The first UT Assembly election was held in September-October 2024.

• In In re Article 370 (2023), the Supreme Court recorded the Centre's assurance that statehood would be restored "at the earliest". Statehood is still pending (verify current).

• Ladakh: a UT without a legislature.

• An LG runs it. Local self-rule works through the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil.
• In August 2024, the MHA approved 5 new districts: Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang [5].
• Local groups demand Sixth Schedule status (tribal self-rule through autonomous district councils), statehood, protection for land and jobs, and a separate Public Service Commission.

• In 2025, Art. 240 regulations covered reservation, domicile and official languages. In September 2025, protests in Leh turned violent (verify current).

• Lakshadweep (2021): the Administrator issued draft regulations on a development authority with wide powers over land, anti-social activities, cattle preservation and panchayat eligibility. They drew strong local protests.

Don't confuse with

• State: a state's legislature and government come directly from the Constitution, and the Centre cannot override its laws on State List subjects. A UT's legislature is created by Parliament by ordinary law (Art. 239A), and Parliament can make laws on any subject for it.
• Governor vs. Lieutenant Governor: a Governor heads a state and usually acts on the advice of the state's ministers. An LG is the President's Administrator for a UT and is an agent of the Centre.
• Delhi (Art. 239AA) vs. other UTs with legislatures: Delhi's arrangement is written directly into the Constitution as a special article. Puducherry's comes from the 1963 Act and J&K's from the 2019 Reorganisation Act.
• Art. 239B ordinance vs. Art. 240 regulation: an ordinance is made by the Administrator of a UT with a legislature while the House is not sitting. A regulation is made by the President for UTs without a working legislature, and it has the force of an Act of Parliament.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 239A ↔ 14th Amendment (1962): Parliament may create UT legislatures. Art. 239B ↔ 27th Amendment (1971): the Administrator's ordinance power.
• Art. 240 regulations cover A&N Islands, Lakshadweep, DNH&DD and Puducherry, but Puducherry only when its legislature is dissolved or suspended. Delhi and Chandigarh are not on the list.
• Trap: of the 8 UTs, only 3 (Delhi, Puducherry, J&K) have legislatures. Ladakh has none.
• Neighbouring Governor as Administrator acts without the state ministers' advice. Example: the Punjab Governor runs Chandigarh.
• K. Lakshminarayanan v. UoI (2018): the Centre may nominate Puducherry MLAs without consulting the UT government, and nominated MLAs can vote on no-confidence motions [4].
• DNH&DD merger took effect on 26 January 2020 under the 2019 Merger Act, which also amended Art. 240(1) [3]. UTs that became states: HP (1971); Manipur and Tripura (1972); Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa (1987).

Mains Points

• Democratic deficit vs. national interest. A democratic deficit is the gap between the people's say and the power actually used over them.
• Direct central rule makes sense for strategic islands and the national capital.

• In populated UTs, it weakens self-government. The Lakshminarayanan (2018) nominations [4], J&K's 2024 business rules and Lakshadweep's 2021 draft regulations all show elected or local voices being sidelined.

• Unclear sharing of power in UTs with legislatures.

• Unclear lines between the LG and the ministers lead to deadlock, as in Puducherry in 2016-21.

• Reform ideas: set out in law the subjects reserved for the LG, require consultation before MLAs are nominated, and require public consultation and advisory-council review before Art. 240 regulations are made.

• J&K and Ladakh as tests of federalism.

• Turning a state into a UT raises questions of legitimacy.
• Statehood is still pending despite the Centre's assurance in In re Article 370 (2023), so there is a case for a time-bound restoration.
• Ladakh's 2025 protests for the Sixth Schedule and statehood show that local demands for self-rule have not been met.

Related concepts

• Administrator of a Union territory
• Lieutenant Governor
• Union territory legislature

Read more

• Union territories: Arts. 239-241 and their administration