RAS question
Which Article empowers Parliament to form new States by separation of territory from any State or by uniting two or more States?
Correct answer: (D) Article 3.
Article 3 of the Constitution of India empowers Parliament to form a new State by separating territory from any State or by uniting two or more States or parts of States.
Explanation
Article 3 is the operative provision for reorganising existing States. It authorises Parliament, by law, to form a new State by separating territory from any State, by uniting two or more States or parts of States, or by uniting territory to a part of a State. The same article also covers increasing or diminishing a State's area, altering its boundaries, and changing its name. The procedural check is limited: a Bill for this purpose needs the President's recommendation and, where it affects a State's area, boundaries, or name, the President must refer it to that State Legislature for its views before the specified period expires. This consultation does not bind Parliament.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Article 2 concerns the admission or establishment of new States, while the question asks about forming new States from the territory of existing States.
- (B) Article 5 is in the citizenship part and deals with citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution, not territorial reorganisation.
- (C) Article 4 supports laws made under Articles 2 and 3 by allowing necessary amendments to the First and Fourth Schedules and related consequential provisions, but it is not the primary power to form new States.
Concept
This tests Part I of the Constitution, especially the Union's power over State boundaries and names. It recurs in RAS because State reorganisation links constitutional text with federalism and centre-State relations.