The Union Territories

Delhi has its own elected government, its own Chief Minister, its own Legislative Assembly. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that government controlled its own administrative staff. Parliament overturned that within months. Delhi is a Union Territory, not a state, and that one fact explains why Parliament could do it.

1States vs Union Territories: The Basic Framework

1.1What is a Union Territory, and how is it different from a state?

• India’s territory is divided into states and Union Territories, under Article 1 of the Constitution.
• A state runs itself through its own elected government. A Union Territory is administered directly by the President, through an Administrator, not by a state-style government of its own.
• Part VIII of the Constitution, Articles 239 to 241, governs how every Union Territory is run.

1.2When did India’s modern UT category come into being?

• The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 created the modern Union Territory category. It replaced the earlier, more awkward Part C and Part D states the Constitution had started out with.

1.3How many UTs does India have, and which ones elect their own government?

• India currently has 8 Union Territories. They are Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
• Three of these, Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir, have their own elected Legislative Assembly. The rest are run directly through an Administrator or Lieutenant Governor, with no legislature of their own.

2Who Actually Runs a Union Territory

2.1Who runs a UT that has no legislature of its own?

• Article 239 lets the President appoint an Administrator for each Union Territory. In several, this Administrator is titled Lieutenant Governor instead.
• A related power sits right next door: Article 241 lets Parliament set up a High Court for any Union Territory.

2.2Why does Chandigarh share its Administrator with Punjab?

• Chandigarh has no separate Administrator of its own. Since 1 June 1984, the Governor of Punjab has held that role ex officio, on top of their own state office. Think of it as one person wearing two hats at once, not two separate jobs.

2.3What special legislative power does Puducherry have?

• Article 239A lets Parliament create a legislature or council of ministers for Puducherry, by ordinary law. That’s why Puducherry, unlike most Union Territories, has its own elected Legislative Assembly and Chief Minister.
• Puducherry isn’t one contiguous territory, either. It comprises four separate former French colonies: Puducherry and Karaikal on the Bay of Bengal, Mahe on the Arabian Sea coast, and Yanam further north.
• Each region is surrounded by a different state, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh respectively. That’s a direct legacy of exactly which pockets of land France held onto until 1954.

2.4How did Article 240 get used on Ladakh in 2025?

• Article 240 lets the President make regulations for peace and good government in Union Territories that have no legislature of their own.
• In 2019, Ladakh was brought under this same power, through the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, not by amending Article 240 itself.
• On 3 June 2025, the Centre used it to notify an 85% Scheduled Tribe job reservation and a 15-year domicile rule for Ladakh.

3Delhi and J&K: The Two UTs With Real Power

3.1What did the 69th Amendment actually give Delhi?

• The 69th Amendment, in 1991, added Article 239AA, giving Delhi its own special constitutional status as the National Capital Territory, with an elected Legislative Assembly and Council of Ministers.
• The limits were built in from the start. Delhi’s Legislative Assembly cannot make laws on police, public order, or land. Those subjects stay with the Union.

3.2Who really controls transfers and postings in Delhi?

• A 2023 law created the National Capital Civil Service Authority. The Chief Minister chairs it, with Delhi’s Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary as its other two members.
• The Authority only recommends transfers, postings, and disciplinary action on officials. The Lieutenant Governor holds the final say, including sole discretion to override its recommendations.

3.3How does J&K’s assembly compare to Delhi’s?

• Jammu and Kashmir’s UT Legislative Assembly can make laws on any State List subject, except police and public order. That’s a broader remit than Delhi’s assembly, which is also barred from legislating on land.
• Parliament, meanwhile, retains the power to legislate for J&K on any matter at all, State List included. It holds no such power over ordinary states.

3.4How did the 2019 Reorganisation Act split J&K into two?

• The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act split the former state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, with a legislature, and Ladakh, without one.

4Where the Limits Show Up

4.1What did the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on Delhi’s services actually say, and what happened next?

• The Supreme Court ruled that Delhi’s elected government controlled administrative “services.” Parliament responded within months, passing a law returning that control to the Lieutenant Governor instead.
• A court ruling followed by a legislative override shows Delhi’s government still works under Parliament’s authority, not full state-like autonomy. That’s true even though Delhi is the UT with the most elected power of all.

4.2What did UPSC Mains 2025 ask about this?

• UPSC CSM 2025 GS Paper II asked candidates to discuss the nature of the J&K Legislative Assembly after the 2019 Reorganisation Act. It also asked them to briefly describe its powers and functions.
• This article’s own comparison in card 3.3 answers exactly that.

4.3What happened when Lakshadweep’s Administrator tried to legislate in 2021?

• In early 2021, Lakshadweep’s Administrator proposed a preventive-detention law and restrictions on cattle slaughter and beef. He also proposed a development authority empowered to relocate residents for town planning.
• Local political leaders, several state Chief Ministers, and residents objected strongly, arguing the changes threatened the islands’ way of life without local consultation. The administration defended the proposals as modernisation.
• The episode shows how much power a Union Territory Administrator can exercise. It also shows how contested that power becomes when a territory has no elected legislature to check it.