The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is a legislative proposal (Bill) that seeks to amend three separate Acts governing Union Territories. Its origin lies in the government's objective to facilitate the holding of simultaneous elections for the House of the People (Lok Sabha) and the Legislative Assemblies of Union Territories.
The Bill proposes consequential amendments to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The core mechanism involves amending Section 5 of the 1963 Act and corresponding sections in the other two Acts. The key provision stipulates that the term of a Union Territory Legislative Assembly, constituted after a specified date, shall come to an end upon the expiry of the full term of the House of the People, notwithstanding its usual five-year term. This mechanism is designed to align the election cycles of the UT Assemblies with the Lok Sabha.
This Bill connects directly to the broader concept of simultaneous elections in India. A very recent change to the base legislation is the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act No. 39 of 2023), which received Presidential assent on December 20, 2023. This 2023 Act inserted new Sections 3A and 3B into the 1963 Act to reserve as nearly as one-third of the total seats for women in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly, including seats reserved for Scheduled Castes. This reservation, which was a consequence of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, will take effect after a delimitation exercise following the first census after the Act's commencement and will last for fifteen years.