The North East: Articles 371A to 371J and the Sixth Schedule
Chapter Fifty-Two
Syllabus topic 2, "Federalism". Named in MU's February 2026 question: "Sixth Schedule special provisions for north east states and other states".
Pages 273 to 277 of 780
In one line
Four north eastern States contain districts that govern themselves through elected councils with law-making, executive and judicial powers, and several north eastern States have constitutional protections that no Act of Parliament can override without their own Assembly's consent.
In the wording a student can write in an exam: article 244(2) provides that the Sixth Schedule shall apply to the administration of the tribal areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The Schedule creates autonomous districts and autonomous regions, each with a District Council or Regional Council of not more than thirty members, mostly elected, with power to make laws on land, forests other than reserved forests, canal water, shifting cultivation, village administration, inheritance, marriage and divorce and social customs; to constitute village and district councils for the trial of certain suits and offences; to assess and collect land revenue and levy certain taxes; and to receive shares of royalties. In addition articles 371A to 371H give special protections to Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
The Sixth Schedule, paragraph by paragraph
Paragraph 1 provides for the tribal areas in each of the four States to be autonomous districts, and permits the Governor to create, alter or unite them, and to define their boundaries.
Paragraph 2 constitutes a District Council for each autonomous district, of not more than thirty members, of whom not more than four are nominated by the Governor and the rest elected on the basis of adult suffrage, with a Regional Council for each autonomous region.
Paragraph 3 is the legislative power. A District or Regional Council may make laws with respect to the allotment, occupation, use or setting apart of land other than reserved forest; the management of any forest not being a reserved forest; the use of any canal or watercourse for agriculture; the regulation of jhum or other forms of shifting cultivation; the establishment of village or town committees and their powers; village or town administration including village or town police and public health and sanitation; the appointment or succession of Chiefs or Headmen; inheritance of property; marriage and divorce; and social customs. All such laws require the Governor's assent.
Paragraph 4 is the judicial power. The Council may constitute village councils or courts for the trial of suits and cases between parties all of whom belong to Scheduled Tribes within the district, and may appoint suitable persons to be members of those courts and officers for their administration.
Paragraph 6 permits a Council to establish primary schools, dispensaries, markets, ferries, fisheries, roads and waterways, and to make regulations for them.
Paragraph 8 gives the Council power to assess and collect land revenue and to levy taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments, on animals, vehicles and boats, on the entry of goods into a market, for the maintenance of schools and dispensaries and roads, and tolls.
The North East: Articles 371A to 371J and the Sixth Schedule
Paragraph 9 entitles the Council to a share of royalties from licences or leases for the extraction of minerals within the district.
Paragraph 12 and 12A deal with the application of Acts of Parliament and of the State Legislature to autonomous districts, and paragraph 12A gives the District Council's law precedence in certain matters in Meghalaya.
So a District Council is a fourth level of government, below the Union and the State and distinct from the panchayats of Part IX, and article 243M excludes the Sixth Schedule areas from Part IX for that reason.
The 371 series in the north east
Article 371A, Nagaland. Notwithstanding anything in the Constitution, no Act of Parliament in respect of religious or social practices of the Nagas, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources, shall apply to the State of Nagaland unless the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland by a resolution so decides. The Governor has special responsibility for law and order so long as internal disturbances continue in the Naga Hills-Tuensang Area, and there is provision for a regional council for the Tuensang district.
This is the strongest special provision in the Constitution, because it makes the application of an Act of Parliament conditional on a State Assembly's resolution.
Article 371B, Assam. The President may provide for the constitution and functions of a committee of the Legislative Assembly consisting of members elected from the tribal areas.
Article 371C, Manipur. The President may provide for a committee of the Assembly consisting of members elected from the Hill Areas, for the modification of the Governor's rules of business, and for the Governor's special responsibility for their proper functioning.
Article 371F, Sikkim. The special provisions on its admission in 1975, including the number of Assembly seats, the protection of the different sections of the population, the Governor's special responsibility for peace and for an equitable arrangement for social and economic advancement, and the continuance of pre-existing laws.
Article 371G, Mizoram. In the same terms as article 371A, protecting Mizo religious or social practices, customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving Mizo customary law, and ownership and transfer of land, from an Act of Parliament unless the Assembly so resolves.
Article 371H, Arunachal Pradesh. The Governor has special responsibility for law and order and shall, after consulting the Council of Ministers, exercise his individual judgment on the action to be taken.
And article 244A, Assam. Parliament may by law form within Assam an autonomous State comprising the tribal areas, with its own Legislature or Council of Ministers, which is a provision for a State inside a State that has never been used.
The North East: Articles 371A to 371J and the Sixth Schedule
A worked example
Parliament enacts a law providing that all agricultural land in India shall be held on a uniform tenure and that existing customary tenures shall cease. How does it apply in Nagaland, in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, and in Maharashtra?
In Maharashtra it applies subject to competence. Land is Entry 18 of List II, so the real question is whether Parliament could pass such a law at all; if it could, it applies.
In Nagaland it does not apply at all unless the Assembly says so. Article 371A(1)(a)(iv) covers ownership and transfer of land and its resources, and no Act of Parliament in respect of it applies unless the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland by resolution so decides. The Assembly's resolution is a condition of application, not a formality.
In the Khasi Hills the question is different again. That is an autonomous district under the Sixth Schedule, and paragraph 3(1)(a) gives the District Council power to make laws on the allotment, occupation and use of land other than reserved forest. Paragraph 12A gives the District Council's law precedence over a State law in Meghalaya in certain matters, and paragraph 12 governs the application of Acts of Parliament to the district.
The example shows the two mechanisms doing different work. Article 371A operates on the APPLICATION of a Union law to a State. The Sixth Schedule operates by giving a sub-State body its own legislative power over the same subject. A candidate who says only "the north east has special provisions" has not distinguished them.
The case
Asymmetry of this kind is not sovereignty, and the Supreme Court has said so. In In re Article 370 of the Constitution, decided on 11 December 2023. Facts. Challenges to the Constitutional Orders of August 2019 and to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. Held. The State of Jammu and Kashmir retained no element of internal sovereignty after the Instrument of Accession and the Proclamation of 25 November 1949, and that article 370 was a feature of asymmetric federalism and not of sovereignty; and that the views of a State legislature under the first proviso to article 3 are recommendatory. Why it matters here is the analogy and its limit. Articles 371A and 371G are asymmetry of the same kind, and on this reasoning they confer protection rather than sovereignty; but unlike article 370 they are not in Part XXI, carry no marginal note calling them temporary, and contain no mechanism for ceasing to operate, so the argument that they are transitional does not run.
The North East: Articles 371A to 371J and the Sixth Schedule
Distinctions
| The Sixth Schedule | Articles 371A and 371G | |
|---|---|---|
| Operates at the level of | A district inside a State | The State itself |
| Mechanism | Confers legislative, executive, judicial and taxing power on an elected Council | Makes an Act of Parliament inapplicable unless the State Assembly resolves |
| Where | Tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram | Nagaland and Mizoram |
| Subjects | Land other than reserved forest, non-reserved forests, canal water, shifting cultivation, village administration, inheritance, marriage and divorce, social customs | Religious and social practices, customary law and procedure, administration of justice according to customary law, ownership and transfer of land and its resources |
| Relationship with Part IX | Excluded from it by article 243M | Not applicable |
| Article | State | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| 371A | Nagaland | Union law inapplicable on four subjects without an Assembly resolution; the Governor's responsibility for law and order; a regional council for Tuensang |
| 371B | Assam | A committee of the Assembly of members from the tribal areas |
| 371C | Manipur | A committee for the Hill Areas and the Governor's special responsibility |
| 371F | Sikkim | Admission terms, seat protection, and the Governor's responsibility for peace and equitable advancement |
| 371G | Mizoram | The same protection as article 371A |
| 371H | Arunachal Pradesh | The Governor's individual judgment on law and order |
| 244A | Assam | Power in Parliament to form an autonomous State within Assam, never used |
What it does NOT mean
It does not mean these States are outside the Constitution. Every one of these provisions is in the Constitution and amendable under article 368 subject to the basic structure.
It does not mean a District Council is a State. It is a body created by the Sixth Schedule, its laws require the Governor's assent, and it exercises powers the Schedule gives it.
It does not mean the Sixth Schedule applies throughout the north east. It applies to the tribal areas of four States only, by article 244(2); the other north eastern States are covered, if at all, by the 371 series.
And it does not mean article 371A is a veto over Parliament. Parliament may legislate; the Act simply does not apply to Nagaland on those four subjects unless the Assembly resolves that it should.
Quick revision
Article 244(2): the Sixth Schedule applies to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The Schedule: autonomous districts and regions with District and Regional Councils of not more than thirty members, mostly elected; paragraph 3 gives legislative power over land other than reserved forest, non-reserved forests, canal water, shifting cultivation, village administration, appointment of Chiefs, inheritance, marriage and divorce and social customs, subject to the Governor's assent; paragraph 4 gives judicial power through village councils and courts; paragraphs 6, 8 and 9 give power over schools, dispensaries and markets, taxation, and a share of mineral royalties; paragraph 12 and 12A govern the application of Union and State Acts. Article 243M excludes these areas from Part IX. Articles 371A Nagaland and 371G Mizoram: no Act of Parliament on religious or social practices, customary law and procedure, administration of justice by customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources applies unless the State Assembly so resolves. Article 371B Assam, 371C Manipur, 371F Sikkim, 371H Arunachal Pradesh. Article 244A: an autonomous State within Assam, never used.
The North East: Articles 371A to 371J and the Sixth Schedule
Test yourself
1. To which States does the Sixth Schedule apply, and under what article? To the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, under article 244(2).
2. Name four subjects on which a District Council may make laws. The allotment, occupation and use of land other than reserved forest; the management of a forest not being a reserved forest; the regulation of shifting cultivation; and inheritance of property, marriage and divorce and social customs.
3. What is unusual about article 371A? That no Act of Parliament in respect of Naga religious or social practices, Naga customary law and procedure, the administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, or ownership and transfer of land and its resources applies to Nagaland unless the Legislative Assembly of Nagaland by a resolution so decides.
4. Distinguish the mechanism of the Sixth Schedule from that of article 371A. The Sixth Schedule confers legislative, judicial and taxing power on an elected Council inside a State. Article 371A leaves the power where it is and makes the application of a Union law to the State conditional on the State Assembly's resolution.
5. Why are the Sixth Schedule areas excluded from Part IX? Because article 243M excludes them: they already have an elected body with wider powers than a panchayat, so applying the panchayat provisions would duplicate and confuse the arrangement.
6. Is article 371A temporary in the way article 370 was? No. Article 370 sat in Part XXI, was headed "Temporary provisions", and contained a mechanism in clause (3) for ceasing to operate. Articles 371A and 371G have none of those features, so the argument that they are transitional does not run.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.