Which of the following statements are correct ? 1. There are seven Union…
2013
Which of the following statements are correct ?
1. There are seven Union Territories in India.
2. Two Union Territories have Legislative Assemblies
3. One Union Territory has a High Court.
4. One Union Territory is the capital of two States.
Select the correct answer from the codes given below :
Answer: D. 1, 2, 3 and 4 — Concept — how a Union Territory is governed A Union Territory is an area administered directly by the President through an Administrator under Article 239,…
- A.
1 and 3 only
- B.
2 and 4 only
- C.
2, 3 and 4 only
- D.
1, 2, 3 and 4
Attempted by 14 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept — how a Union Territory is governed
A Union Territory is an area administered directly by the President through an Administrator under Article 239, and the territories themselves are listed in the First Schedule of the Constitution. Parliament may create a legislature for a Union Territory under Article 239A, and for Delhi under Article 239AA, and it may constitute a High Court for a Union Territory under Article 241. Separately, a city that lies within a Union Territory may still be designated the capital of neighbouring States by a reorganisation law, because a State capital is fixed by statute and does not have to lie inside that State.
Application — the position at the December 2013 examination
Number of Union Territories: in 2013 the First Schedule listed seven — Delhi (National Capital Territory), Puducherry, Chandigarh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
Legislative Assemblies: Puducherry received a legislature under Article 239A through the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, and Delhi received one under Article 239AA inserted by the 69th Constitutional Amendment, 1991 — two Union Territories in all.
High Court: acting under Article 241, Parliament constituted the Delhi High Court in 1966. It was the only High Court belonging to a Union Territory; every other Union Territory was placed under the jurisdiction of a neighbouring State's High Court.
Capital of two States: Chandigarh, made a Union Territory by the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, is the capital of both Punjab and Haryana.
Cross-check — each statement against its constitutional hook
Statement | Constitutional hook | Position in 2013 |
|---|---|---|
Seven Union Territories | First Schedule | Seven were listed |
Two have Legislative Assemblies | Articles 239A and 239AA | Puducherry and Delhi |
One has a High Court | Article 241 | Delhi High Court alone |
One is the capital of two States | Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 | Chandigarh, for Punjab and Haryana |
Every one of the four statements holds, so the code that takes in all of them — 1, 2, 3 and 4 — is the correct answer.
Note on the present position
This is a December 2013 question and is answered on the law as it stood then. After the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 and the merger of Dadra and Nagar Haveli with Daman and Diu in 2020, India has eight Union Territories; three of them — Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir — have Legislative Assemblies, and besides the Delhi High Court there is now the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, a common High Court serving those two Union Territories.