86540
Lawyers Network
103860
Users
630
Cities Serving
114
Law Schools Network
59824
NORTH EASTERN AREAS (REORGANISATION) ACT, 1971
81 of 1971
30th December, 1971
On 3rd September, 1970 it was announced in Parliament that Government had decided, in principle, to grant Statehood to Manipur and Tripura. Later, a similar announcement was made in respect of the autonomous State of Meghalaya. On further consideration Government have come to the conclusion that the Mizo District of Assam and the North-East Frontier Agency should also be separated from the State of Assam and made into Union territories to be known as Mizoram andArunachal Pradesh, respectively. 2. The Bill seeks to establish the new States of Manipur and Tripura and form the new State of Meghalaya and the new Union territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh by reorganisation of the existing State of Assam. The Bill also seeks to define the territories of the new States and Union territories and makes the necessary supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions regarding representation in Parliament and in the Legislative Assemblies of the Stales and other matters. The Bill further provides for the constitution of a common High Court for all the States in the north-eastern region and a Common Bar Council. The common High Court will also have jurisdiction in the new Union territories. 3. As required by the proviso to article 3 of the Constitution, this Bill was referred by the President to the Legislature of the State of Assam for expression of its views. 4. The notes on clauses explain in detail the various provisions of the Bill.-Gaz. of India, 9-12-1971, Pt. II, S. 2, Ext., p. l012. II Amending Act 8 of 1974.- As a result of reorganisation of the north-eastern region with effect from the 21st January, 1972, the Assam State Electricity Board and the Assam State Warehousing Corporation existing in the then State of Assam became inter-State Corporations. Under section 53of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971 these two bodies continue to function in all the areas in which they were functioning at the time of reorganisation of the State of Assam i.e., the present State of Assam. State ofMeghalaya and Union territory of Mizoram. Provision was made in that section to the effect that these bodies would cease to function and stand dissolved on the expiry of a period of two years from the date of reorganisation or such earlier date as the Central Government may, by order, appoint. It was expected that the Governments of the emerging new units would evolve within this period appropriate schemes for the establishment of joint or separate bodies to take over the functions of the two inter-State bodies. However, due to pressure of diverse problems w"hich the new administrative units had to face, the necessary schemes could not be formulated in time. Sub-section (3) ofsection 53of the Act was, therefore, amended by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) (Amendment) Ordinance, 1974 (I of 1974) to extend the period specified therein to three years. 2. This Bill seeks to replace the aforesaid Ordinance.- Gaz, of India, 21-2-1974, Pt. II, S. 2, Ext., p. 2. III Amending Act 3 of 1975.- As a result of reorganisation of the north-eastern region with effect from the 21st January, 1972, the Assam State Electricity Board and the Assam State Warehousing Corporation existing in the composite State of Assam became inter-State bodies corporated in terms ofsection 53of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971 and have continued to function as such in all the territories which comprised the composite State of Assam, i.e., the present State of Assam, the State of Meghalaya and the Union territory of Mizoram. Under the provisions of sub-section (3) ofsection 53of the Act, these bodies were to cease to function and stand dissolved on the expiry of a period of three years from the date of reorganisation, i.e., on the 20th January, 1975, or such earlier date as the Central Government may, by order appoint. It was expected that the successor States would be able to evolve within this period appropriate schemes for the functions of the two inter-State bodies being taken over by the new inter-State bodies of their own. Necessary arranagements with regard to the taking over of the functions of the Inter-State Assam State Warehousing Corporation having been made the Corporation has been dissolved as from the 21st January, 1975 by an Order issued by the Central Government. With regard to the Inter-State Assam State Electricity Board, however, agreement between the Governments of the States of Assam and Meghalaya could be reached only on the 19th January, 1975 and due to the non-availability of all the necessary details immediately and because Mizoram which is a necessary party had also to be consulted, a brief extension of the period of functioning of the inter-State body by two months was found necessary. Accordingly, sub-section (3) ofsection 53of the Act was amended by the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Amendment Ordinance, 1975 (2 of 1975) to achieve this object. 2. The Bill seeks to replace the aforesaid Ordinance.- Gaz. of India, 10-3-1975, Pt. II, S. 2, Ext., p. 198.
An Act to provide for the establishment of the States of Manipur and Tripura and to provide for the formation of the State of Meghalaya and of the Union Territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh by reorganisation of the existing State of Assam and for matters connected therewith. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Twenty-second Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
SECTION 01: SHORT TITLE
This Act may be called The North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.
SECTION 02: DEFINITIONS
- In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Administrator" means the administrator of a Union territory appointed by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution;
(b) "appointed day" means the day which the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint;2 (c) "article" means an article of the Constitution;
(d) "common High Court" means the Gauhati High Court (the High Court of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura) referred to in clause (b) of sub-section (1) ofsection 28-;
(e) "Election Commission" means the Election Commission appointed by the President under Article 324;
(f) "existing State of Assam" means the State of Assam as existing immediately before the appointed day;
(g) "law" includes any enactment, ordinance, regulation, order, bye-law, rule, scheme, notification or other instrument having, immediately before the appointed day, the force of law in the whole or any part of the existing State of Assam or the autonomous State of Meghalaya or the Union territory of Manipur or the Union territory of Tripura, as the case may be;
(h) "sitting member", in relation to either House of Parliament or the Legislative Assembly of the existing State of Assam, means a person who, immediately before the appointed day, is a member of that House or that Assembly;
(i) "successor State", in relation to the existing State of Assam, means the State of Assam or Meghalaya, and includes also the Union in relation to the Union territory of Mizoram;
(j) "treasury" includes a sub-treasury.
SECTION 03: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF MANIPUR
On and from the appointed day3there shall be established a new State, to be known as the State of Manipur, comprising the territories which immediately before that day were comprised in the Union territory of Manipur.
SECTION 04: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF TRIPURA
On and from the appointed day4there shall be established a new State, to be known as the State of Tripura, comprising the territories which immediately before that day were comprised in the Union territory of Tripura.
SECTION 05: FORMATION OF THE STATE OF MEGHALAYA
- On and from the appointed day5there shall be formed a new State, to be known as the State of Meghalaya, comprising -
(a) the territories which immediately before that day were comprised in the autonomous State of Meghalaya formed undersection 3-of theAssam Reorganisation (Meghalaya) Act, 1969-; and
(b) so much of the territories comprised within the cantonment and municipality of Shillong as did not form part of that autonomous State, and thereupon the said territories shall cease to form part of the existing State of Assam.
SECTION 06: FORMATION OF THE UNION TERRITORY OF MIZORAM
On and from the appointed day6there shall be formed a new Union territory, to be known as the Union territory of Mizoram, comprising the territories which immediately before that day were comprised in the Mizo District in the existing State of Assam and thereupon the said territories shall cease to form part of the existing State of Assam.
SECTION 07: FORMATION OF THE UNION TERRITORY OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
On and from the appointed day7there shall be formed a new Union territory, to be known as the Union territory of Arunachal Pradesh, comprising the territories which immediately before that day were comprised in the tribal areas specified in Part B of the table appended to paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (but excluding the areas covered by notification No. TAD/R/35/50/109, dated the 23rd February, 1951 issued by the Governor of Assam under the proviso to sub-paragraph (3) of the said paragraph 20) and known as the North-East Frontier Agency and thereupon the said territories shall cease to form part of the existing State of Assam.
SECTION 08: TERRITORIES OF THE STATE OF ASSAM
On and from the appointed day8the State of Assam shall comprise the territories of the existing State of Assam other than those specified insections 5-, 6 and 7.
SECTION 09: AMENDMENT OF FIRST SCHEDULE TO THE CONSTITUTION
- On and from the appointed day, in the First Schedule to the Constitution,-
(a) under the heading "I. THE STATES",-
(i) in the paragraph relating to the territories of the State of Assam, the
following shall be added at the end, namely :- "and the territories specified insections 5-,6-and7-of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971";
(ii) after entry 18, the following entries shall be inserted, namely :- "19. Manipur - The territory which immediately before the commencement of this Constitution was being administered as if it were a Chief Commissioner's Province under the name of Manipur. 20. Tripura - The territory which immediately before the commencement of this Constitution was being administered as if it were a Chief Commissioner's Province under the name of Tripura. 21. Meghalaya - The territories specified insection 5-of the NorthEastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.";
(b) under the heading ''II. THE UNION TERRITORIES",-
(i) entries 2 and 3 shall be omitted and entries 4 to 9 shall be re-numbered as entries 2 to 7 respectively;
(iii) after entry 7 as so re-numbered, the following entries shall be inserted, namely :- "8. Mizoram - The territories specified insection 6-of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971 9. Arunachal Pradesh-The territories specified insection 7-of the North-Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 1971.".
SECTION 10: AMENDMENT OF FOURTH SCHEDULE TO THE CONSTITUTION
- On and from the appointed day9, in the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution, in the Table,-
(a) for entries 19 to 22, the following shall be substituted, namely :-"19. Manipur ... 1 20. Tripura ... 1 21. Meghalaya ... 1 22. Delhi ... 3 23. Pondicherry ... 1 24. Mizoram ... 1 25. Arunachal Pradesh ... 1";
(b) for the Figures "228", figures "231" shall be substituted.
SECTION 11: ALLOCATION OF SITTING MEMBERS REPRESENTING THE EXISTING UNION TERRITORIES OF MANIPUR AND TRIPURA
On and from the appointed day the sitting members of the Council of States representing the existing-Union territories of Manipur and Tripura shall be deemed to have been duly elected under clause (4) of article 80 to fill the seat allotted to each of the States of Manipur and Tripura respectively in that Council and the term of office of such sitting members shall remain, unaltered.
SECTION 12: ELECTION TO TILL THE SEATS ALLOTTED TO THE STATE OF MEGHALAYA AND THE UNION TERRITORIES OF MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH
As soon as may be after the appointed day10steps shall be taken to fill the seats in the Council of States allotted to the State of Meghalaya and the Union territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
SECTION 13: AMENDMENT OF SECTION 27A OF ACT 43 OF 1950
On and from the appointed day, insection 27A-of theRepresentation of the People Act, 1950-,-
(a) in sub-section (1), for the words "For the purpose of filling any seat," the words, brackets and figure, "Subject to the provisions of sub-section (5) for the purpose of filling any seat" shall be substituted;
(b) in sub-section (4), for the words "The electoral college for each of the Union territories of Manipur, Tripura and Pondicherry," the words "The electoral college for the Union territory of Pondicherry" shall be substituted;
(c) after sub-section (4), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely :- "5. The seat allotted in the Council of States to each of the Union territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh shall be filled by a person nominated by the President in this behalf."
SECTION 14: ALLOCATION OF SEATS IN THE EXISTING HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE
(1) On and from the appointed day and until the dissolution of the existing House of the People, the allocation of seats to the States of Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya and the Union territories of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh in the House of the People and the number of seats, if any, to be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and for the Scheduled Tribes of each State and Union territory shall be as specified in the Table below and the First Schedule to the Representation of the People Act, 1950, shall be deemed to have been amended accordingly.THE TABLE
________________________________________________________________________ Name of the State/Union territory Number of seats in the existing House of the People ____________________________________________________________________________ Total Reserved for Reserved for the the Scheduled Scheduled Castes Tribes ____________________________________________________________________________
1 2 3 4
____________________________________________________________________________ I. STATES: 1. Assam ... ... 14 1 2 2. Manipur ... ... 2 ... 1 3. Tripura ... ...
Meghalaya ... ... 2 ... 2 II. UNION TERRITORIES: 1.
Mizoram ... ... 1 ... 1 2. Arunachal Pradesh... ... 1 ... 1
(2) On and from the appointed day and until the dissolution of the existing House of the People, Part A of Schedule II to the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1966 shall stand amended as directed in the First Schedule.
SECTION 15: PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES OF THE STATES OF MANIPUR AND TRIPURA AND PROVISION AS TO SITTING MEMBERS
(1) On and from the appointed day and until the dissolution of the existing House of the People,-
(a) the two parliamentary constituencies of the existing Union territory of Manipur shall be deemed to be the two parliamentary constituencies of the State of Manipur; and
(b) the two parliamentary constituencies of the existing Union territory of Tripura shall be deemed to be the two parliamentary constituencies of the State of Tripura, and the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1966 shall be construed accordingly.
(2) Every sitting member of the House of the People representing a parliamentary constituency which on the appointed day, by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (1), becomes a parliamentary constituency of the State of Manipur or Tripura, as the case may be, shall as from that day, be deemed to have been elected under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 81 to the House of the People from that constituency.
SECTION 16: PROVISION AS TO SITTING MEMBERS REPRESENTING CACHAR AND DHUBRI PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES IN THE HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE AND THE ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE FROM DIPHU PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY
(1) The sitting member of the House of the People representing the Cachar parliamentary constituency which on the appointed day, by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (2) ofsection 14-, stands altered shall, as from that day, be deemed to have been elected under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 81 to the House of the People from that constituency as so altered.
(2) The sitting member of the House of the People representing the Dhubri parliamentary constituency which on the appointed day. by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (2) ofsection 14-, stands altered shall, as from that day, be deemed to have been elected under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 81 to the House of the People from that constituency as so altered.
(3) As soon as may be after the appointed day election shall be held to the House of the People to elect a representative from the Diphu parliamentary constituency as if the seat of the member elected to the House of the People from that constituency has become vacant and the provisions ofsection 149 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951-shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to such election.
SECTION 17: PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCIES OF THE STATE OF MEGHALAYA AND PROVISION AS TO SITTING MEMBER REPRESENTING THE AUTONOMOUS DISTRICTS PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY IN THE HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE AND ELECTION OF REPRESENTATIVE FROM TURA PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY
(1) There shall be two parliamentary constituencies in the State of Meghalaya to be called the Shillong parliamentary constituency and the Tura parliamentary constituency.
(2) The area falling within the Garo Hills district as it exists immediately before the appointed day shall form the Tura parliamentary constituency and the remaining area in the State of Meghalaya shall form the Shillong parliamentary constituency and the said two parliamentary constituencies shall be deemed to have been delimited accordingly.
(3) The sitting member of the House of the People representing immediately before the appointed day the Autonomous District parliamentary constituency shall, as from that day, be deemed to have been elected under sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of article 81 to the House of the People from the Shillong parliamentary constituency.
(4) As soon as may be after the appointed day election shall be held to the House of the People to elect a representative from the Tura parliamentary constituency as if the seat of the member elected to the House of the People from that constituency has become vacant and the provisions ofsection 149 of the Representation of the People Act. 1951-shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to such election.
SECTION 18: PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY OF THE UNION TERRITORY OF MIZORAM
The whole of the Union territory of Mizoram shall form one parliamentary constituency to be called the Mizoram parliamentary constituency and as soon as may be after the appointed day election shall be held to the House of the People to elect a representative from that constituency, as if the seat of the member elected to the House of the People from that constituency has become vacant and the provisions ofsection 149 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951-shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to such election.
SECTION 19: PROVISION AS TO THE MEMBER TO REPRESENT ARUNACHAL PRADESH IN THE HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE
The sitting member nominated to fill the seat allotted in the House of the People to the Tribal Areas of Assam specified in Part B of the Table appended to paragraph 20 of the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, known as the North-East Frontier Agency, shall, and from the appointed day, be deemed to have been nominated to fill the seat allotted to the Union territory of Arunachal Pradesh in the House of the People.
SECTION 20: ALLOCATION OF SEATS IN THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES
(1) On and from the appointed day, the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam, to be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies, shall be reduced from one hundred and twenty-six to one hundred and fourteen; and every sitting member of that Legislative Assembly representing a constituency which ceases to be a constituency in the State of Assam by virtue of the provisions of sub-section (5) shall, as from the appointed day, cease to be a member of that Legislative Assembly.
(2) The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Manipur, to be constituted at any time after the appointed day, to be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies shall be sixty, out of which one seat shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and nineteen seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Tripura, to be constituted at any time after the appointed day to be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies shall be sixty, out of which six seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and nineteen seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
(4) The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Meghalaya, to be constituted at any time after the appointed day, to be filled by persons chosen bydirect election from territorial constituencies shall be sixty out of which fifty seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
(5) On and from the appointed day. Part B of Schedule II to the Delimination of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1966 shall stand amended as directed in the First Schedule.
SECTION 21: AMENDMENT OF SECOND SCHEDULE TO ACT 43 OF 1950
(1) In the Second Schedule to the Representation of the People Act. (i) under the heading "I. STATES ::-
(a) in item 2 relating to Assam, for the figures "126," the figures " 114" shall be substituted;
(b) after item 17 and the entries relating thereto, the following shall be inserted, namely :- "18. Manipur ...60 1 19 19. Tripura ...60 6 19 20. Meghalaya ...60 ... 50";
(ii) under the heading "II. UNION TERRITORIES
86540
103860
630
114
59824