Qualification And Disqualification Of Members Of Parliament
How to Become MP in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?
The Constitution establishes the following requirements for selection as a member of Parliament:
1. He must be an Indian citizen.
2. He must take and sign an oath or affirmation in front of a person authorised by the election commission to do so. He swears in his oath or affirmation.
• To have complete trust in and allegiance to the Indian Constitution.
• To protect India's sovereignty and territorial integrity
3. In the case of the Rajya Sabha, he must be at least 30 years old, and in the case of the Lok Sabha, he must be at least 25 years old.
4. He must meet additional requirements set down by Parliament.
In the Representation of Peoples Act, Parliament established the following additional criteria (1951):
1. He needs to be a registered voter in a parliamentary constituency. The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha are also affected by this. In 2003, the requirement that a candidate contesting a RajyaSabha election from a given state be a registered voter in that state was abolished. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the change in 2006.
2. If somebody wants to run for a seat designated for them, he must be a member of a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe in any state or union territory. A member of a scheduled caste or tribe, on the other hand, can contest a seat that is not designated for them.
What Can Lead to the Disqualification of a Member of Either House of Parliament?
A person shall be disqualified from being elected as a Member of Parliament if he or she:
1. If he occupies a lucrative position in the federal or state government (except that of a minister or anyother office exempted by Parliament).
2. If he is found to be mentally ill by a court of law.
3. If he is an insolvent who has not been discharged.
4. If he is not an Indian citizen, has deliberately accepted the citizenship of another country, or has pledged allegiance to another country; and
5. If he is barred from doing so by a law enacted by Parliament.
In the Representation of People Act (1951), Parliament established the following additional disqualifications:
• He must not have been convicted of any election-related offences or election-related corruption.
• He must not have been convicted of any crime that resulted in a sentence of two or more years in jail. A person's detention under a preventive detention statute, however, does not disqualify them.
• He couldn't have missed the deadline for filing an election expense report.
• He must have no financial or other vested interest in government contracts, works, or services.
• He may not serve as a director, managing agent, or in a profit-making office in a corporation in which the government owns at least a 25% stake.
• He must not have been fired from the government for corruption or state treachery.
• He must not have been convicted of inciting hatred between groups or of bribery.
• He must not have received any punishment for preaching and practising social crimes like untouchability, dowry, and sati.
The president's decision is final on whether a member is subject to any of the foregoing disqualifications. He should, however, seek the advice of the election commission and act appropriately.
Disqualification Due to Defection
A person is also prohibited from being a Member of Parliament if he is disqualified on the basis of defection under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule, according to the Constitution. Under the defection statute, a member is disqualified:
1. If he voluntarily withdraws from the political party on whose ticket he was elected to the House of Representatives;
2. If he votes or abstains from voting in the House in defiance of his political party's directives;
3. If any member of the legislature who was elected independently joins a political party; and
4. If a nominated person joins a political party after the six-month period has expired.
The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha decide on the subject of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule (and not by the president of India). The Supreme Court determined in 1992 that the Chairman/decision Speaker's on this matter is amenable to judicial review.
What is the Vacation of Seat in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?
A Member of Parliament vacates his seat in the following circumstances.
1. Dual Membership:
No one can serve in both Houses of Parliament at the same time. As a result, the Representation of People Act (1951) stipulates:
(a) If a person is elected to both Houses of Parliament, he shall notify the other House within 10 days of his election. In the absence of such notification, his Rajya Sabha seat becomes vacant.
(b) If a member of one House is elected to the other, that member's seat in the first House becomes vacant.
(c) If a person is elected to two House seats, he should take up one of them. Otherwise, both seats will be empty.
A person cannot, for example, serve in both the Parliament and the state legislature at the same time. If a person is elected to Parliament, he must resign his membership in the state legislature within 14 days or his seat in Parliament will become empty.
2. Disqualification:
A Member of Parliament's seat becomes vacant if he or she is subject to any of the Constitution's disqualifications. The disqualification for defection under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution is also included in this list of disqualifications.
3. Resignation:
A member may resign his or her place in the Rajya Sabha or the Lok Sabha by writing to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, as the case may be. When a resignation is accepted, the seat becomes vacant. The Chair-man/Speaker, on the other hand, may refuse to accept the resignation if he believes it is neither voluntary or genuine.
4. Absence:
A House can declare a member's seat empty if he fails to attend all of its meetings for sixty days without permission. No consideration shall be taken of any period during which the House is prorogued or adjourned for more than four consecutive days in determining the sixty-day period.
5. Other Scenarios:
A member of Parliament must quit his or her seat for the following reasons:
a) If the court declares his election null and void;
b) If the House of Commons expels him;
c) If he is elected President or Vice-President of the United States; and
d) If he is appointed to the governorship of a state.
If an unqualified person is elected to Parliament, there is no method in the Constitution to declare the election void. The Representation of the People Act (1951) addresses this issue, allowing the high court to declare an election unlawful if an unqualified candidate is elected. In this case, the aggrieved party might appeal to the Supreme Court against the high court's decision.