CURRENT AFFAIRS | 1 JUNE 2026
A diplomatic row has erupted after Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah, the former Mayor of Kathmandu elected in 2025, publicly claimed that India had encroached on Nepalese territory. As Shirish B Pradhan reported from Kathmandu in The Indian Express on 31 May 2026, the dispute centres on three Himalayan tracts in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand — Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura — which Nepal officially marked as its own through the 8th Constitutional Amendment in May 2020.
At the heart of the dispute lies the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, signed between the British East India Company and Nepal after the Anglo-Nepalese War. The treaty fixed the boundary along the Kali River (called Mahakali in Nepal) — but the parties disagree on the river’s source. Nepal argues Kali originates at Limpiyadhura (which would make Kalapani Nepalese); India places the source further east. For CLAT 2027, this is a multi-layer cluster — international treaty law, the uti possidetis principle, Articles 1-4 on Indian territory, Article 253 on treaty implementation, and the famous Berubari Union reference on cession of territory.
Constitutional & International Law Framework
- Articles 1-4 — Territory of India; admission, establishment, alteration of areas, boundaries or names of States.
- Article 253 — Parliament’s power to enact treaty-implementation legislation.
- Berubari Union, In re (1960) — SC held cession of Indian territory to a foreign State requires a constitutional amendment under Article 368, not a mere parliamentary law under Article 3.
- Sugauli Treaty, 1816 — Anglo-Nepalese boundary settlement after Anglo-Nepalese War; defines Kali River as the border.
- India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1950 — Open border, reciprocal citizens’ rights.
- Uti possidetis juris — Customary international-law principle preserving colonial boundaries at independence.
CLAT Legal Aptitude Angle
CLAT often frames boundary disputes as principle-and-fact problems. A typical question: “India and country X dispute a tract A based on differing readings of a colonial-era treaty. Country X enacts a constitutional amendment claiming A. By what process can India cede A to X under its own Constitution?”
Per the Berubari Union (1960) reference, cession requires a constitutional amendment under Article 368, since Article 3 only permits alteration of internal State boundaries — not transfer of Indian territory to a foreign State. Pair this with the uti possidetis juris doctrine and Article 253’s role in implementing any settlement treaty.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Disputed tracts | Kalapani, Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura |
| Indian district | Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand |
| Nepali province | Sudurpaschim |
| Key treaty | Sugauli Treaty, 1816 |
| Boundary river | Kali (India) / Mahakali (Nepal) |
| Lipulekh Pass | 17,500 ft, India-Nepal-China trijunction; Kailash Mansarovar route |
| India-Nepal open border | 1,751 km |
Mnemonic & Key Cases
Mnemonic — “K-L-L Sugauli-1816”: Kalapani + Lipulekh + Limpiyadhura + Sugauli Treaty of 1816.
- Berubari Union, In re (1960) — cession to foreign State requires constitutional amendment.
- Maganbhai Ishwarbhai Patel v Union of India (1969) — boundary identification (vs cession) may be done by executive action.
- India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1950) — backdrop for citizenship-and-border framework.
- Eminent Persons Group Report (2018) — Nepal-India boundary review (yet to be accepted).
Practice Quiz — 10 CLAT-Style Questions
Click an option to reveal the answer and explanation.
