Puducherry's assembly has the same constitutional status and powers as a state legislature.

It's a Union territory legislature created by Parliament's ordinary law under Article 239A; its powers exist only as far as that law grants, and Parliament can change or override them.

Since this law can change constitutional-type arrangements, it must go through the special Article 368 amendment process.

Clause (2) specifically says such laws are NOT treated as constitutional amendments, even if they have that effect, so the simpler ordinary lawmaking process applies.

The Constitution of India

Article 239A

Creation of local Legislatures or Council of Ministers or both for certain Union territories

(1) Parliament may by law create for the Union territory of Puducherry —§

(a) a body, whether elected or partly nominated and partly elected, to function as a Legislature for the Union territory, or§

(b) a Council of Ministers,§

or both with such constitution, powers and functions, in each case, as may be specified in the law.§

(2) Any such law as is referred to in clause (1) shall not be deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of article 368 notwithstanding that it contains any provision which amends or has the effect of amending this Constitution§

Why this exists

Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry), a former French colonial territory, merged with India in stages (de facto in 1954, de jure in 1962). Unlike states, Union territories are normally governed directly by the central government. But Puducherry's distinct identity and public demand led Parliament to want a local, elected government for it. Article 239A, inserted by the Constitution (Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962, gave Parliament a flexible tool to create such a legislature and council of ministers through ordinary legislation — avoiding the need to amend the Constitution itself every time. Parliament used this power to enact the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, which established Puducherry's Legislative Assembly and Council of Ministers.

How courts read it

There isn't a landmark Supreme Court ruling interpreting Article 239A itself in great depth, but courts have repeatedly emphasized that a Union territory legislature created under it is not the same as a state legislature under Part VI of the Constitution — its powers exist only to the extent Parliament's law grants them, and Parliament can always override or amend that law. In disputes between Puducherry's elected government and its Lieutenant Governor over decision-making authority, courts have drawn on reasoning from the Supreme Court's Government of NCT of Delhi v. Union of India (2018) judgment (which interprets the similarly structured Article 239AA for Delhi), extending its logic on cooperative federalism and the limited but real space for an elected government to function, while confirming the Union territory's subordinate constitutional status.

Common misconceptions

Myth: Puducherry's assembly has the same constitutional status and powers as a state legislature.
Fact: It's a Union territory legislature created by Parliament's ordinary law under Article 239A; its powers exist only as far as that law grants, and Parliament can change or override them.
Myth: Since this law can change constitutional-type arrangements, it must go through the special Article 368 amendment process.
Fact: Clause (2) specifically says such laws are NOT treated as constitutional amendments, even if they have that effect, so the simpler ordinary lawmaking process applies.