Article 239A and Union Territories With Legislatures: Puducherry, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh

Article 239A and Union Territories With Legislatures

Article 239A: Legislature and Council of Ministers for a Union Territory

Under Article 239A, Parliament may, by an ordinary law, create a legislature, a Council of Ministers, or both, for a Union Territory. The legislature may be wholly elected or partly nominated and partly elected. It was added by the 14th Amendment in 1962. Until 1987 it covered Goa, Daman and Diu, and Pondicherry; since then it names only Puducherry.

Two features make the Article flexible. A law made under it is not an amendment of the Constitution for the purposes of Article 368, so Parliament can shape or change a Union Territory's legislature by a simple majority. And the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 applied the Article to the new Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from 31 October 2019.

Delhi follows a different route. Its Assembly rests on Article 239AA, written into the Constitution by the 69th Amendment, and is explained in the article on the Union Territories of India and Delhi. Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir, by contrast, have Assemblies that exist because Parliament has chosen to create them by law.

How Many Union Territories Have Legislative Assembly Powers: Three Compared

Of India's eight Union Territories, only three have a Legislative Assembly: Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir. The three differ in the source of their Assembly, its size and its limits, so the comparison is worth learning as a whole.

In all three, Parliament keeps its power to make laws on any subject for the territory, and a law of Parliament prevails over a law of the Assembly. That is the line that separates even the strongest Union Territory from a State, as the article on the Seventh Schedule explains.

Puducherry: From French India to an Elected Assembly

Puducherry Union Territory: French Rule, Merger and Four Districts

The Puducherry union territory is made up of four districts that are not connected to one another: Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. Puducherry and Karaikal are enclaves of Tamil Nadu, Yanam is an enclave in Andhra Pradesh, and Mahe is bordered by Kerala. All four were settlements of French India.

• 1674: The French East India Company set up a trading centre at Pondicherry, later its chief settlement in India.
• 1693 to 1699: The Dutch captured Pondicherry in 1693 and returned it to France in 1699.
• 1720s to 1738: The French acquired Mahe in the 1720s, Yanam in 1731 and Karaikal in 1738.
• 1761 to 1763: The British captured Pondicherry in 1761 and returned it under the Treaty of Paris (1763).
• 1 November 1954: The four enclaves were transferred to India on a de facto basis.
• 16 August 1962: India and France exchanged the instruments of ratification of the treaty of cession, and France ceded full sovereignty.

The territory kept the name Pondicherry until the Pondicherry (Alteration of Name) Act, 2006. Its courts have been under the Madras High Court since 6 November 1962.

Puducherry Legislative Assembly Under the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963

Parliament used Article 239A to enact the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, on 10 May 1963; it came into force on 1 July 1963. On that day the old Representative Assembly of French times became the Legislative Assembly of Pondicherry, so the first Assembly was formed without an election. Elections have been held since 1964.

• Composition: Not more than 30 elected members and not more than 3 members nominated by the Union Government; 5 elected seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes.
• Nominated members: They enjoy the same powers as elected members.
• Executive: The President appoints the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister; the other ministers are appointed on the Chief Minister’s advice.
• Law-making: The Assembly can make laws on any subject in the State List and the Concurrent List, while Parliament keeps its own power over the same subjects.

Two safety valves stay with the Union. When the Assembly is dissolved or suspended, the President can make regulations for Puducherry under Article 240, with the force of an Act of Parliament. And under Article 239B the Lieutenant Governor can issue an ordinance when the Assembly is not in session, but only on the President's instructions.

Jammu and Kashmir: From Article 370 to a Union Territory

Article 370 and Its Abrogation in August 2019

Until 2019, Article 370 sat in Part XXI of the Constitution, titled 'Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions', under the marginal note 'Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir'. It empowered the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir to recommend how far the Indian Constitution should apply to the State, and the 1954 Presidential Order followed its recommendations.

The State's Constituent Assembly dissolved itself on 25 January 1957 without recommending the abrogation or amendment of Article 370, and the Article came to be treated as permanent. Article 35A, added in 1954, let the State legislature define its 'permanent residents' and their privileges in property, settlement and employment.

• 5 August 2019: Constitution Order 272 applied all the provisions of the Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir; the Rajya Sabha passed the resolution and the reorganisation Bill.
• 6 August 2019: The Lok Sabha passed both, and the President issued Constitution Order 273, under which Article 370 ceased to apply.
• 9 August 2019: The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 received the President’s assent.

Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019: Two Union Territories

The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 divided the State into two Union Territories from 31 October 2019. Section 3 formed the Union Territory of Ladakh, 'without Legislature', from the Kargil and Leh districts; section 4 formed the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, 'with Legislature', from the rest of the State.

• Legislature: Article 239A, as it applies to Puducherry, applies to Jammu and Kashmir (section 13); the old Legislative Council was abolished (section 57).
• Parliament: Jammu and Kashmir keeps 4 Rajya Sabha seats; in the Lok Sabha it has 5 seats and Ladakh 1.
• High Court: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir became the common High Court for both Union Territories, with its costs shared by population.
• Failure of machinery: Section 73 lets the President suspend the Act in Jammu and Kashmir on the Lieutenant Governor’s report or otherwise, much like Article 356 for a State.

With the whole Constitution now applying, several national provisions reached Jammu and Kashmir for the first time. The 73rd and 74th Amendments on panchayats and municipalities became applicable, and the Right to Education was implemented; new domicile rules also followed. The State's own constitution was declared redundant by the Supreme Court in 2023.

NCERT's Class 11 textbook sums up the result in one line: the State was bifurcated into two Union Territories. What makes the case unusual is the direction of change, since earlier reorganisations had turned Union Territories into States, as the history of the Union Territories shows.

Is Jammu and Kashmir a Union Territory: Assembly Seats and Members

Yes: Jammu and Kashmir is today a Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly, and statehood has not yet been restored. The 2019 Act fixed 107 seats to be filled by direct election; an amendment of December 2023 raised this to 114. Of these, 24 seats stay vacant for the areas under Pakistan's occupation and are not counted in the Assembly's total.

• Elected seats: The 2022 delimitation gave 90 seats to be filled, 43 in the Jammu division and 47 in the Kashmir division; 7 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 9 for Scheduled Tribes.
• Nominated members: The Lieutenant Governor may nominate 2 women if women are not adequately represented, up to 2 Kashmiri Migrants (one a woman), and 1 displaced person from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
• Term: Five years, down from six before 2019.
• Women’s reservation: One-third of the seats, to take effect after a delimitation based on the first census after the 2023 amendment.

The first election to the Union Territory's Assembly was held in September and October 2024. An alliance led by the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference formed the first government, with Omar Abdullah as Chief Minister.

Powers of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and the Lieutenant Governor

Under section 32 of the Act, the Assembly can make laws on any matter in the State List, except public order and police, and on the Concurrent List, so far as they apply to Union Territories. Parliament's power to legislate for the territory is untouched. A Bill on taxation or on money from the Consolidated Fund can be introduced only on the Lieutenant Governor's recommendation.

A Council of Ministers of not more than 10 per cent of the Assembly, headed by the Chief Minister, aids and advises the Lieutenant Governor on matters within the Assembly's powers. Unlike in Delhi and Puducherry, the Lieutenant Governor appoints the Chief Minister, and the ministers hold office at the Lieutenant Governor's pleasure while remaining collectively responsible to the Assembly.

• Outside the Assembly’s powers: The Lieutenant Governor acts in his or her discretion.
• All India Services and the Anti Corruption Bureau: Also matters of discretion.
• Final say: If a question arises whether a matter is one of discretion, the Lieutenant Governor’s decision is final.

Supreme Court on Article 370 and Restoration of Statehood (2023)

On 11 December 2023 a five-judge Constitution Bench upheld the ending of Article 370. Its main conclusions are the ones examiners draw on.

• No sovereignty: Jammu and Kashmir kept no element of sovereignty after the Instrument of Accession; Article 370 was a feature of asymmetric federalism, not sovereignty.
• Temporary provision: Its history and its place in Part XXI show that Article 370 was temporary, and the President’s power under Article 370(3) survived the Constituent Assembly’s dissolution.
• The orders: Using Article 367 to amend Article 370 through Constitution Order 272 was invalid, but applying all of the Constitution through it was valid, and Constitution Order 273 was valid.
• Ladakh: Carving out a Union Territory from a State is permitted by Article 3(a) with Explanation I.

The Court did not decide whether Parliament can turn a whole State into Union Territories, because the Solicitor General stated that statehood would be restored. It directed elections to the Assembly by 30 September 2024 and restoration of statehood 'at the earliest and as soon as possible'. The elections were held within that time; statehood is still awaited.

Ladakh Union Territory Without a Legislature

Is Ladakh a Union Territory: Administration Without a Legislature

Yes: the Ladakh union territory was formed on 31 October 2019 from the Kargil and Leh districts, and it has no Legislative Assembly. The President administers it through a Lieutenant Governor appointed under Article 239, and may make regulations for it under Article 240, which can repeal or amend an Act of Parliament as it applies there.

• Local self-government: Two elected Autonomous Hill Development Councils, for Leh and for Kargil, work with village panchayats on development, health, education, land use and local taxation.
• Representation: One Lok Sabha seat and no Rajya Sabha seat.
• Size: The largest Union Territory by area, and the second least populous.
• Map: An order of 2019 defines Leh district to include the 1947 areas of Gilgit, Gilgit Wazarat, Chilhas and the Tribal Territory, so India’s official map shows these within Ladakh.

The absence of a legislature is exactly what drives Ladakh's politics today. Laws for Ladakh are made by Parliament or by presidential regulation, and local leaders have asked for constitutional safeguards of a kind the hill councils cannot give.

Ladakh Sixth Schedule Demand and the High-Powered Committee

The Sixth Schedule applies, under Article 244(2), to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, where autonomous district councils give Scheduled Tribes a measure of self-government; the Fifth Schedule gives a weaker form of protection to tribal areas elsewhere. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes recommended on 11 September 2019 that Ladakh be brought under it, noting that the Scheduled Tribes form a large majority of the region's population.

• Devolution: Democratic devolution of powers.
• Culture: Preserving and promoting the region’s distinct culture.
• Land: Protecting agrarian rights, including rights on land.
• Funds: Greater transfers for faster development.

The Ministry of Home Affairs set up a High-Powered Committee, chaired by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, to talk with the Apex Body Leh and the Kargil Democratic Alliance. Its mandate covers culture and language, land and jobs, the hill councils and constitutional safeguards. The Union has reported that the talks raised reservation for Ladakh's Scheduled Tribes from 45 to 84 per cent, gave women one-third of seats in the councils and made Bhoti and Purgi official languages.

The demand for the Sixth Schedule and statehood continued. A hunger strike from 10 September 2025 was followed by violence in Leh on 24 September 2025 and the detention of Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act, which the Union revoked on 14 March 2026, saying it remained committed to dialogue through the committee.

Sources and Further Reading

• Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice: The Constitution of India
• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (Act 34 of 2019), gazette text
• Gazette of India: The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Act, 2023
• Gazette of India: The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Act, 2023
• Supreme Court of India: In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution, 11 December 2023
• Ministry of Home Affairs: Maps of the newly formed Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, November 2019
• PIB: NCST recommends including the Union Territory of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, 11 September 2019
• PIB: Meeting of the High Powered Committee for Ladakh, 4 December 2023
• PIB: Press release on Ladakh, 24 September 2025
• PIB: Government remains committed to dialogue in Ladakh, 14 March 2026
• NCERT: Indian Constitution at Work, Class 11, Chapter 7, Federalism
• Wikipedia: Puducherry Legislative Assembly
• Wikipedia: History of Puducherry
• Wikipedia: Puducherry (union territory)
• Wikipedia: Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly
• Wikipedia: Article 370 of the Constitution of India
• Wikipedia: Revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir
• Wikipedia: Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)
• Wikipedia: Ladakh
• Wikipedia: Sixth Schedule to the Constitution of India