Legislature: (Dis)Qualifications

[Arts. 102, 103, 191, 192, 324; Tenth Schedule]

 Constitutional Provisions
• Parliamentary qualifications and disqualifications; [Arts. 84 & 102]
• State legislature qualifications and disqualifications; [Arts 173 & 191]
• Role of the Election Commission of India; [Arts. 103, 192 & 324]
 The Election Commission of India vs. Dr. Subramanian Swamy [SC 1996]
 Legal nature of EC’s opinion;
 Rule against bias and doctrine of necessity;
• Office of profit as ground for disqualification;
 Jaya Bachchan vs. UoI [SC 2006]
 De jure or de facto nature of the office of profit;
• Statutory disqualification: criminal conviction [Representation of Peoples Act, 1951]
 BR Kapur vs. State of Tamil Nadu [SC 2001]
 Attribute of legislative control over executive government [Arts. 75 & 164]
 Lily Thomas vs. UoI [SC 2013]
 Different consequence of criminal conviction for sitting and contesting candidates [RoPA 1951, S. 8(4)]
 Anti-Defection Law
• Tenth Schedule [52nd Constitutional Amendment 1985]
• Sanctity of political parties in a highly multi-party democracy;
• Two conceptions of defection [Para 2]
• Kihoto Hollohan vs. Zachilhu [SC 1993]
 Conflict between defection and legislative privileges of individual representative under Arts. 105 &
194;
 Speaker’s authority under Para 6 as an exception to role of EC under Art. 103;
 Ouster clause [Para 7]
• Exceptions to anti-defection law:
 Merger of political parties [Para 4]
 Presiding officers of the legislative houses: Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Deputy Chairman etc. [Para 5]
• G. Vishwanathan vs. Hon’ble Speaker, TN Legislative Assembly [SC 1996]
 Expulsion or disciplinary action as defection?
 Three categories of legislative members: elected, independent and nominated;