Salient features of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951

People are the supreme power in the democratic country. Accordingly the People of India solemnly resolved that India is a democratic country. As we know that the India is a largest democracy in the world. The term Democracy mentioned in the Preamble of the constitution of India in the broader sense embracing not only political democracy but also social, economic and inclusive democracy.The Indian constitution provides for the representative parliamentary democracy under which the Executive is responsible for legislature for all its policies and actions.

Universal adult franchise, Periodic elections, rule of Law, Independence of judiciary and absence of discrimination on certain grounds are the manifestation of the democratic character of the Indian polity.

An Act to provide for the conduct of elections of the Houses of Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with such elections.

According to the PART XV Article 324 of the Constitution of India Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission. The Election Commission is a constitutional body which can superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President held under this Constitution.The Election Commission shall have the power to regulate its own procedure for smooth conducting of elections in the country.

According to Article 327 Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures. The Parliament has enacted a laws relating to the Elections in India.

- Representation of Peoples Act 1950.
- Representation of Peoples Act 1951.
- Delimitation Commission Act of 1952.
- The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959
- Representation of Peoples Amendment Act 2010.
- The Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2013
- The Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Amendment Act, 2013

Representation of Peoples Act 1950 (RPA Act 1950) provides for the following
- Qualification of voters.
- Preparation of electoral rolls.
- Delimitation of constituencies.
- Allocation of seats in the Parliament and state legislatures.

The Representation of Peoples Act 1951 is an act enacted by the Indian provincial parliament before first general elections. The People’s Representation act provides for the actual conduct of elections in India. The act also deals with details like qualification and disqualification of members of both houses of Parliament (Loksabha and Rajyasabha) and the state legislatures (State Legislative Assembly and State Legislative Council).
Salient features
- Conducting of elections in the country.
- Administrative machinery for conducting elections.
- Poll. (Fixing time for poll)
- Election offences.
- Election disputes.
- By-elections.
- Registration of political parties.
- Elector: It is a person whose name is on the electoral list.
- Voter: who is eligible for voting but may not be on the electoral list.
- Election means an election to fill a seat or seats in either House of Parliament or in the House or either House of the Legislature of a State other than the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
- The act, since is pivotal in preventing criminals being elected as representatives, is always quoted by Supreme Court and High Court in various judgments
- July 10, 2013: Supreme Court struck down Section 8(4) of the Representation of People’s (RP) Act
- Right to vote
- To check/To break the Corrupt practices
- Disqualifications for Membership
Features
- Special procedure at elections in constituencies where seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes
- Disqualification on ground of corrupt practicesor disloyalty
- He must be a member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe in any state or union territory, if he wants to contest a seat reserved for them.
- However, a member of scheduled castes or scheduled tribes can also contest a seat not reserved for them
- Any association or body of individual citizens of India calling itself a political party and intending to avail itself of the provisions of this
Part shall make an application to the Election Commission for its registration as a political party
- No political party shall be eligible to accept any contribution from any foreign source
- Declaration of donation received by the political parties
- The Central Government may power to make rules after consulting the Election Commission

The Parliament has laid down the following additional disqualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951)
- He must not have been found guilty of certain election offences or corrupt practices in the elections.
- He must not have been convicted for any offence resulting in imprisonment for two or more years. But, the detention of a person under a preventive detention law is not a disqualification.

- He must not have failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within the time.
- He must not have any interest in government contracts, works or services.
- He must not be a director or managing agent nor hold an office of profit in a corporation in which the government has at least 25 per cent share.
- He must not have been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the State.
- He must not have been convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offence of bribery.

The Representation of Peoples Act 1951: Section 8 deals with
Disqualification of representatives on conviction for certain offences. This section states that:

- A person convicted of an offence punishable under certain acts of Indian Penal Code, Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002 etc. shall be disqualified, where the convicted person is sentenced to — (i) only fine, for a period of six years from the date of such conviction; (ii) imprisonment, from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.

- A person convicted for the contravention of—(a) any law providing for the prevention of hoarding or profiteering; or (b) any law relating to the adulteration of food or drugs; or (c) any provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

- A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two years [other than any offence referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2)] shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of six years since his release.

- Notwithstanding anything 8[in sub-section (1), sub-section (2) or sub-section (3)] a disqualification under either subsection shall not, in the case of a person who on the date of the conviction is a member of Parliament or the Legislature of a State, take effect until three months have elapsed from that date or, if within that period an appeal or application for revision is brought in respect of the conviction or the sentence, until that appeal or application is disposed of by the court.

The SC Judgment
The controversial Section 8(4) clause of the Representation of Peoples Act which was struck down by the Supreme Court calling the Act ultra-vires of the Constitution and providing for disqualification of MPs/MLAs on the day of their conviction.

Declarations

75A. Declaration of assets and liabilities.—(1) every elected candidate for a House of Parliament shall, within ninety days from the date on which he makes and subscribes an oath or affirmation, according to the form set out for the purpose in the third Schedule to the Constitution, for taking his seat in either House of Parliament, furnish the information, relating to Assets And Liabilities.

- “Immovable property” means the land and includes any building or other structure attached to the land or permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the land;

- “Movable property” means any other property which is not the immovable property and includes corporeal and incorporeal property of every description;

The Expenditure limits are decided under representation of people’s act 1951=> conduct of election rules, 1961.
The Expenditure limits are decided by Representation of People’s Act 1951=> section 34/1/b.

Chawkidar case
Regarding 62(5), Patna High court give its decision in 2004 in Chief Election Commissioner v. Jan Chawkidar case that “when a person in custody was disqualified to vote he/she was also disqualified from contesting the elections”.

HC gave its decision that person convicted is not eligible for Voting and accordingly is not an “elector” and is, therefore, not qualified to contest elections to the House of People or the Legislative Assembly of a State because of the provisions in Sections 4 and 5 of the 1951 Act.

Amendment
Even if a person is prohibited from voting due to being in police custody or in jail, as long as his name is entered on the electoral roll he shall not cease to be an elector. This implies that he can file nomination for an election.

The definition of “disqualified” in the Act has been amended. Currently, the definition of disqualified means disqualified for either being chosen as or being a Member of Parliament or a State Legislature. The amendment adds a ground to the definition that the disqualification has to be due to conviction for certain specified offences and can be on no other ground. Conviction for one of these offences would result in the person’s name being removed from the electoral roll and he would cease to be an elector.

On July 10, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that a person, who is in jail or in police custody, cannot contest elections to legislative bodies. The RPA, 1951 states that any contestant to an election to legislative bodies has to be an “elector”, i.e., his name should be on the electoral roll and he is not subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in Section 16 of the Representation of People Act, 1950. Among other things, that section disqualifies anyone from being on the electoral roll if he is disqualified from voting under the provisions of any law relating to corrupt practices and other offences in relation to elections. RPA, 1951 talks that anyone in prison or on the lawful custody of the police (other than preventive detention) is not entitled to vote.

The Supreme Court concluded that a person in jail or police custody is not entitled to vote, and therefore, is not an elector, and thus, cannot contest elections.

An Act further to amended the Representation of the People Act, 1951(The Representation of the People (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2013) came in to force on the 10th day of July, 2013. In section 7, in clause (b), after the words "or Legislative Council of a State", the words "under the provisions of this Chapter, and on no other ground" shall be inserted. A person whose name has been entered in the electoral roll shall not cease to be an elector.

The parliament (prevention of disqualification) amendment act, 2013 come into force on the 19th day of February, 2004. It has mentioned about the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes constituted under clause (1) of article 338 of the Constitution; the National Commission for the Scheduled Tribes constituted under clause (1) of article 338A of the Constitution.

The writer is Director Sadhguru IAS Academy

Election Expenditure limits

State LokSabha VidhanSabha
Large states: MP, UP, WB etc. 70 lakh 28 lakh
North East & hill states 53 lakh 20 lakh
(incl.Goa& other small states)

Deposit amount for LokSabha elections

Category LokSabha (Rs.) VidhanSabha (Rs.)
Gen/OBC 25,000 10,000
SC/ST= 12,500 5,000i
50% less than above.

T Anand