Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of India

The Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Act, 1961
Parliament of India
  • An Act further to amend the Constitution of India.
Citation10th Amendment
Territorial extentIndia
Passed byLok Sabha
Passed14 August 1961
Passed byRajya Sabha
Passed16 August 1961
Assented to16 August 1961
Commenced11 August 1961
Legislative history
First chamber: Lok Sabha
Bill titleConstitution (Tenth Amendment) Bill, 1961
Introduced byLaxmi Menon
Introduced11 August 1961
Summary
Incorporated Dadra and Nagar Haveli as the seventh Union territory of India
Status: In force

The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution (Tenth Amendment) Act, 1961, incorporated Dadra and Nagar Haveli as the seventh Union territory of India, by amending the First Schedule to the Constitution. It also amended clause (1) of article 240 of the Constitution to include therein the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in order to enable the President to "make regulations for the peace, progress and good government of the territory". The 10th Amendment retroactively came into effect on 11 August 1961.

Indian forces took control of Goa, Daman and Diu in 1961, and KG Badlani, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) was designated Prime Minister of Free Dadra and Nagar Haveli for one day, so that, as head of state, he could sign an agreement with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to merge Dadra and Nagar Haveli formally with the Republic of India. On 31 December 1974, a treaty was signed between India and Portugal recognising India's sovereignty over Goa, Daman, Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.[1]