Article 152

Part VI of the Constitution lays down the standard structure of State governments (Governors, State legislatures, State judiciaries, etc.). When the Constitution was adopted in 1950, Jammu and Kashmir had a special constitutional relationship with India under Article 370, with its own separate constitution-making process and limited application of the Indian Constitution. Article 152 was inserted to make clear that the general 'State' machinery described in Part VI was not automatically meant to apply to Jammu and Kashmir, since its governance framework was being worked out separately.

Courts historically read Article 152 together with Article 370, treating Jammu and Kashmir as a special category exempt from many standard 'State' provisions unless a specific order extended them. After Parliament abrogated Article 370's special status in August 2019 and passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the region was reorganised into two Union Territories (Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh). Since Jammu and Kashmir is no longer a 'State' under Article 1, the practical relevance of Article 152's exclusion has largely faded, though the text itself has not been formally repealed. The Supreme Court's 2023 judgment in *In Re: Article 370* upheld the constitutional validity of these 2019 changes.

• Myth: Article 152 still actively excludes Jammu and Kashmir from State-related constitutional provisions today.
  Fact: Since the 2019 reorganisation, Jammu and Kashmir is a Union Territory, not a State, so the exclusion in Article 152 has become largely redundant in practice, even though the text has not been formally deleted.
• Myth: Article 152 itself grants Jammu and Kashmir special autonomy.
  Fact: The special autonomy came from Article 370 (now abrogated); Article 152 was only a definitional clause clarifying the word 'State' in Part VI.