The State of Nagaland Act, 1962 (Act No. 27 of 1962) is a central Act of Parliament that provided the legal framework for the formation of the State of Nagaland. It was enacted on September 4, 1962, and led to Nagaland becoming the 16th State of India on December 1, 1963.
The Act's origin lies in the need to resolve the long-standing nationalist movements and demands for political autonomy among the Naga tribes, whose territory was previously the Naga Hills-Tuensang Area, a Part B Tribal Area within the State of Assam. The problem it solved was the administrative and political integration of this area into the Indian Union as a full-fledged state, following the 16-Point Agreement signed in 1960 between the Government of India and the Naga People's Convention (NPC).
The Act's key mechanism is outlined in Section 3, which formally provided for the formation of the new State of Nagaland, comprising the territories of the Naga Hills-Tuensang Area, which ceased to be part of Assam. It also made provisions for the establishment of a Legislative Assembly (Section 11), representation in the Parliament (Sections 6 and 9), and the creation of a common High Court for Assam and Nagaland (Section 13).
The Act is intrinsically connected to the Constitution (Thirteenth Amendment) Act, 1962, which inserted Article 371A into the Constitution. This Article grants special provisions to Nagaland, stipulating that no Act of Parliament concerning Naga religious or social practices, customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources, shall apply to the state unless the Nagaland Legislative Assembly decides otherwise. The Act also required amendments to the First and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution (Sections 4 and 5). The core provisions of the Act remain in force, as it is the foundational statute for Nagaland's statehood.