Note –
- Articles 1 to 4 under Part I of the Constitution deal with the Union and its territory.
Article 1: Name and Territory of the Union
- Article 1 describes India, that is, Bharat as a ‘Union of States’ rather than a ‘Federation of States’.
- As per Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the phrase ‘Union of States’ has been preferred to ‘Federation of States’ for two reasons-
- The Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement among the states like the American Federation.
- The states have no right to secede from the federation.
- India is referred to as an indestructible union of destructible states because states can be divided based on administrative convenience.
- According to Article 1, the territory of India can be classified into three categories:
- Territories of the states
- Union territories
- Territories that may be acquired by the Government of India at any time.
- The ‘Territory of India’ is a wider expression than the ‘Union of India’ because the latter includes only states while the former includes not only the states, but also union territories and territories that may be acquired by the Government of India at any future time.