An Administrator appointed under Article 239, and the Bombay High Court's jurisdiction over Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

Background

Article 239 of the Constitution provides that, save as otherwise provided by Parliament by law, every union territory shall be administered by the President acting, to such extent as he thinks fit, through an administrator to be appointed by him with such designation as he may specify. Article 239 also allows the President to appoint the Governor of a State as the administrator of an adjoining union territory, and a Governor so appointed exercises those functions independently of his Council of Ministers. The Dadra and Nagar Haveli Act, 1961 defines the Administrator of the territory as the Administrator appointed by the President under article 239 of the Constitution. Section 3 of that Act provided that there shall be allotted one seat to the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli in the House of the People. Section 11, headed Extension of the jurisdiction of Bombay High Court to Dadra and Nagar Haveli, provided that from a date notified by the Central Government the jurisdiction of the High Court at Bombay shall extend to Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Under Section 4 the Varishta Panchayat could discuss and make recommendations to the Administrator on general policy and schemes of development, but its functions were advisory only. When the merger of the two union territories was taken up, the Minister of State for Home Affairs told the Lok Sabha that both the Lok Sabha seats would remain intact and that the merged entity would be governed under the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court.