Part XXI which was titled “Temporary and Transitional provisions” when the Constitution was adopted in 1950, the Chapter heading was substituted by its present form – “Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions” – by the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1962.[1]
Article 369 entrusted Parliament, for a period of five years from the commencement of the Constitution the authority to make laws with certain specific matters as if they were enumerated in the Concurrent List. These matters were:
a. Trade and commerce within a State in and the production, supply and distribution of identified commodities including foodstuffs, cattle fodder, coal, iron, steel and mica, raw cotton, cotton seed, paper, and cotton and woollen textiles; and
b. Offences dealing with the above matters and the jurisdiction and powers of all courts except the Supreme Court together with the imposition of fees.
Article 371 stipulated temporary provisions with respect to Part B States, providing that for a period of ten years from the commencement of the Constitution (a period which could be extended or shortened by Parliament), the Government of a Part B State would be under the general control of and would have to comply with the directions issued by the President.
Article 372 provided for the continuation of all laws in force in the territory of India at the commencement of the Constitution until altered or repealed by a competent legislature. The President was also empowered to make adaptations and modifications to the law including both repeal and amendment to bring such laws in conformity with the Constitution. Originally this period for making adaptations and modifications was two years but was substituted by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act 1951 to three years.
Article 373 contained transitional provisions pertaining to preventive detention. Clause (7) of Article 22 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to prescribe by law the circumstances under which and the cases in which a person may be detained for a period of more than three months under a law providing for preventive detention and the maximum period for which a person may be detained.
Article 373 contained provisions which would operate until a provision was made by Parliament under clause (7) of Article 22 or for a period of one year from the commencement of the Constitution whichever was earlier. For that period, it was stipulated that the reference to Parliament in clauses (4) and (7) of Article 22 would be substituted by a reference to the President and a reference to a law enacted by Parliament would be substituted by a reference to an order made by the President.
Article 374 provided that the judges of the Federal Court, who held office before the commencement of the Constitution would unless they elected otherwise become judges of the Supreme Court on the commencement of the Constitution and cases pending before the Federal Court would be transferred to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
Article 375 stipulated that all courts, authorities and officers would continue to function under the Constitution.
Article 376 provided for the continuation of judges appointed to the High Courts before the commencement of the Constitution.
In a similar manner, Article 377 and Article 378 provided for the continuation of the Auditor General of India and Members of the Public Service Commission for the Dominion of India who held office immediately before the commencement of the Constitution.
Article 379 contained provisions for a provisional Parliament until both Houses of Parliament were duly constituted and summoned for meeting for the first session under the provisions of the Constitution. In terms of clause (1), the Constituent Assembly for the Dominion of India immediately before the commencement of the Constitution was to function as the provisional Parliament and was entrusted with all the powers conferred by the Constitution to Parliament.
Article 380 provided that until a President was elected in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 1 of Part V of the Constitution, the person elected as President by the Constituent Assembly of the Dominion of India shall function as the President of India.
Article 381, empowered the President to appoint Members of the Council of Ministers and until then all persons who were holding office as Ministers for the Dominion of India before the commencement of the Constitution were to continue to hold that office.
Article 382 contained provisions for provisional legislatures for the States in Part A in terms of which the legislatures which were functioning immediately before the Constitution in the provinces were to exercise their powers and functions until the duly constituted legislature was summoned to meet for the first session under the provisions of the Constitution.
Article 383 contained provisions for the Governors of the Provinces in terms of which persons who were functioning as Governors at the commencement of the Constitution in a corresponding Part A State would continue until a Governor was appointed.
Article 384 contained provisions for the Council of Ministers and the continuance of those who were functioning at the adoption of the Constitution.
Corresponding provisions for the continuance of provisional legislatures in Part B States, and the Council of Ministers in those States were made in Articles 385 and 386.
Article 387 contained provisions for the determination of the population for the purposes of holding elections under the Constitution for a period of three years from the commencement of the Constitution under Orders of the President.
Article 388 made provisions for the filling up of casual vacancies in the provisional Parliament and provisional Legislatures of the States.
Article 389 incorporated provisions in regard to Bills which were pending in the Legislature of the Dominion of India or in the Legislature of any Province or Indian State so that they could be taken up by the corresponding Legislature.
Article 390 contained provisions in regard to money which had been received and raised for expenditure which was incurred between the commencement of the Constitution and the 31st day of March 1950.
Article 391 provided that if between the passing of the Constitution and its commencement any action was taken by the President under the Government of India Act 1935 which required an amendment of the First or the Fourth Schedules, the President was empowered to do so237.
Article 392 empowered the President to issue orders directing that the Constitution would be subject to such adaptations whether by modification, addition and omission for the purpose of removing difficulties particularly in relation to the transition from the Government of India Act 1935 to the provisions of the Constitution. This power was to be exercised until the first meeting of Parliament.
The above-mentioned provisions were temporary or, as the case may be, transitional. They were designed to be temporary either with reference to time (a stipulated number of years) or with reference to the occurrence of an event (for example, the first meeting of the duly constituted-elected legislature). The provisions were transitional so as to facilitate the transfer of power from the institutions of governance which were functioning under the Government of India Act 1935 to the duly constituted institutions which would take over after the commencement of the Constitution.
To facilitate a seamless transfer of power, the Constitution contained provisions, as we have seen, for the Constituent Assembly to function as the Parliament until Parliament met for the first time upon its constitution after the adoption of the Constitution. These temporary and transitional provisions included the appointment of the President of India through a process of election by the Constituent Assembly, the continuance of the Council of Ministers at the Centre and in the States and for the continuance of the provisional legislatures until elections were held.
The temporary and transitional provisions were gradually phased out after the commencement of the Constitution, by repeal. The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956 which came into force on 1 November 1956, repealed Article 371 and Articles 379 to 391.
Amended Provisions
The expansion of the ambit of Part XXI to cover special provisions took place with the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1962 with effect from 1 December 1963. Over a period of time, Part XXI was amended so as to incorporate special provisions in respect of the States and the Union Territories.
In 1956, Article 371 was substituted by the Seventh Amendment to facilitate special provisions being made for the States of Andhra Pradesh or Punjab in terms of the constitution and functions of the Regional Committees of the Legislative Assemblies of the States and for special responsibilities of the Governor in order to secure the proper functioning of the Regional Committees.
Punjab was omitted from the ambit of Article 371 on 1 November 1966 and clause (1) as it originally stood was also omitted by the Thirty-Second Amendment on 1 July 1974.
- With the reorganization of the States in 1956, Article 371 was amended by the Seventh Amendment so as to incorporate special provisions for the States of Maharashtra and Gujarat.
- Article 371-A was inserted by the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution on 1 December 1963 to incorporate special provisions with respect to the State of Nagaland.
- Article 371-B was introduced by way of the Twenty-Second Amendment of the Constitution on 25 September 1969 to make special provisions for the State of Assam.
- Article 371-C for the State of Manipur,
- Article 371-D for the State of Andhra Pradesh and later Telangana (following the Reorganization Act 2014),
- Article 371-F for the State of Sikkim,
- Article 371-G for the State of Mizoram,
- Article 371-H for the State of Arunachal Pradesh,
- Article 371-I for the State of Goa and
- Article 371-J for the State of Karnataka were brought in by constitutional amendments progressively:
a. Article 371-C – special provisions for Manipur – the Twenty-seventh Amendment with effect from 15 February 1972;
b. Article 371-D – special provisions for Andhra Pradesh – the Thirty-second Amendment with effect from 1 July 1974;
c. Article 371-D – special provisions for the reorganized States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana – the Thirty-second Amendment with effect from 2 June 2014;
d. Article 371-F – special provisions for Sikkim – the Thirty-sixth Amendment with effect from 26 April 1975;
e. Article 371-G – special provisions for Mizoram – the Fifty-third Amendment with effect from 20 February 1987;
f. Article 371-H – special provisions for the State of Arunachal Pradesh – the Fifty-fifth Amendment with effect from 20 February 1987;
g. Article 371-I – special provisions for Goa – the Fifty-sixth Amendment with effect from 30 May 1987; and
h. Article 371-J – special provisions for the State of Karnataka – the Ninety-Eighth Amendment with effect from 1 October 2013.
Reference
Re: article 370 of the constitution, 2023
[1] The Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act 1962 came into force on 1 December 1963’ “Thirteenth
Amendment.