Admission or establishment of new States
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part I, Article 2
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
- Not yet reviewed
AI-assisted source comparisons are noted with the citations below; the check date remains pending until a human confirms the link. The report link opens your email app; you choose whether to send it.
1. In One Sentence
Empowers Parliament to admit into the Indian Union, or establish as new States, external territories that were not previously part of India.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 2 gives Parliament the power to admit new states into the Indian Union or establish brand new states from outside the existing borders of India, on such terms and conditions as Parliament thinks fit.
Constitutional scholars draw a clear distinction between Article 2 and Article 3: Article 2 deals with admitting or establishing states that were not part of India before, whereas Article 3 deals with rearranging, splitting, or renaming states that already exist within India.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
In 1975, the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim sought closer integration with India.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Relates exclusively to the admission or creation of states from territories not originally part of India.
- Parliamentary prerogative: The power to determine "terms and conditions" is broad, but must conform to the basic democratic structure of the Constitution.
- Does not cover internal reorganization: Altering boundaries of existing Indian states is governed separately by Article 3.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part I, Article 2 • Human source-link check pending
Official consolidated text of the Constitution published by the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice.
- •Lok Sabha Secretariat (Parliament of India / Lok Sabha Secretariat) • Volume VII, 17 November 1948 • Human source-link check pending
Official verbatim record of Constituent Assembly proceedings published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.