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Home (https://www.insightsonindia.com/) » Indian Polity (https://www.insightsonindia.com/polity/) » Salient

Indian Constitution 
Features of the Representation of People’s Act.
Functions And
Responsibilities Of The
Salient Features of the Representation of People’s Act.
Union And The States,
Issues And Challenges
Pertaining To The Federal
Structure, Devolution Of Introduction:
Powers And Finances Up To
Constitution allows Parliament to make provisions in all matters relating to elections to the
Local Levels And
Parliament and State Legislatures. In exercise of this power, the Parliament has enacted laws like
Challenges Therein. 
Representation of the People Act 1950 (RPA Act 1950), Representation of the People Act 1951 (RPA

Separation Of Powers Act 1951).

Between Various Organs
Dispute Redressal
Mechanisms And
The Representation of The People Act, 1950:

Institutions.  An Act to provide for the allocation of seats in, and the delimitation of constituencies for the purpose
of elections to, the House of the People and the Legislatures of States, the qualifications of voters at
Comparison Of The Indian
such elections, the preparation of electoral rolls, the manner of filling seats in the Council of States to
Constitutional Scheme
be filled by representatives of Union territories, and matters connected therewith.
With That Of Other
Countries. 

Parliament And State

Legislatures 

Structure, Organization
And Functioning Of The 

Salient Features Of The

Representation Of People’s
Act. 

Appointment To Various
Constitutional Posts,
Powers, Functions And
(https://www.insightsonindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/representation.png)
Responsibilities Of Various
Constitutional Bodies.  Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act, 1950

Statutory, Regulatory And

Various Quasi-Judicial · Lays down procedures for delimitation of constituencies.
Bodies.  · Provides for the allocation of seats in the House of the People and in
the Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils of States.

· Lays procedure for the preparation of electoral rolls and the manner
of filling seats.
Key Provisions
· Lays down the qualification of voters.
 · The President of India has been conferred the power to amend orders
delimiting constituencies, only after consulting the ECI.

· In Lok Sabha, there is a reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes.
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Delimiting · The ECI has the power to determine the constituencies to be reserved
Constituencies for scheduled tribes in the states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and
Tripura.

Allocation of
As far as possible, every state gets representation in the Lok
seats
Sabha in proportion to its population as per census figures.

The 1950 Act permits the registration of persons in electoral rolls who
are ordinarily resident n a constituency and persons holding:

· Service qualification such as a member of armed forces, member of

the armed police force of a state, serving outside the state, or central
government employees posted outside India.

Electoral Rolls · Certain offices in India declared by the President in consultation with
ECI.

· The wives of such persons are also deemed to be ordinarily residing in

India. There is a proposal for making some provisions gender-neutral by
replacing the term ‘wife’ with ‘spouse’.
 Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)

Each state to have a CEO nominated or designated by the ECI

in consultation with the state government to supervise the election
work in the State/ UTs.
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The ECI also nominates or designates an officer of the state as
the District Election Officer (DEO)in consultation with the state
government
The DEO works under the overall superintendence and control of
the CEO.

Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)

· The ERO is responsible for the preparation of the electoral roll for
each constituency (parliamentary/assembly).

· An appeal against the order of the ERO during the update of the
electoral rolls now lies with District Magistrate.

Returning Officer (RO):

Electoral Officers
RO is responsible for the conduct of the election in a
constituency and returns an elected candidate.

The ECI nominates or designates an officer of the government or

local authority as the RO in consultation with the state
government.

Power to make rules under the act is conferred to the

Central government, which can exercise this power in consultation with
Power to make
the ECI.
rules
o The Civil Courts have also been barred to question the legality of any
action of the ERO regarding revision of electoral rolls.

Voting Rights
In 2010, voting rights were extended to citizens of India living abroad.
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Salient Features of the Representation of People Act 1951

The Representation of the People Act, 1951 is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the
conduct of election 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.

It was introduced in Parliament by law minister Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The Act was enacted by the
provisional parliament under Article 327 of Indian Constitution, before the first general election.

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 · Conduct of elections of the Houses of Parliament and to the
House or Houses of the Legislature of each State.

· Details about the structure of administrative machinery for

the conduct of elections.
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· Qualifications and disqualifications for membership of those
houses.

RPA act provides for · 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 act, a person shall not be qualified to be chosen

to fill a seat in the Lok Sabha unless:

· He is a member of any Scheduled Caste of any state and is an

elector for any Parliamentary constituency; in the case of a seat
reserved for the Scheduled Castes in any State.
Qualification for
· He is a member of any Scheduled Tribe of any state and is an
membership of the Lok
elector for any Parliamentary constituency in the case of a seat
Sabha reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

· He is an elector for any Parliamentary constituency; in case

of any other seat.

Qualification for
membership of the Rajya
A person shall not be qualified to be chosen as a representative
Sabha
of any State or Union territory in the Rajya Sabha unless he is an
elector for a Parliamentary constituency.

· Found guilty of election offences/corrupt practices.

· Conviction for any offence resulting in imprisonment for 2

or more years. Conviction for promoting enmity between
different groups.

· Failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within

time.

· Having interest in government contracts, works or services.

· If dismissed from government service for corruption or dis-

Disqualifications loyalty to the state.

· If punished for practising and preaching social crimes like

sati, untouchability, etc.
 · Any form of gratification for electors for voting or refraining
from voting, and to the candidates for withdrawing or not
withdrawing nomination is considered as a corrupt practice.

· It includes any direct or indirect interference with the free

(https://www.insightsonindia.com) exercise of any electoral right by the candidate or his election
agent.

· Appeal to vote or refrain from voting on the ground of his

religion, race, caste, community or language, etc.

· The promotion of feelings of enmity or hatred between

different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion,
race, caste, community, or language.

· The propagation of the practice or the commission of sati or

its glorification.

· The publication of any false statement of fact in relation to

the personal character or conduct of any candidate.
Election offence covered
· Booth capturing by a candidate or his agent or other person.
under RPA
· Obtaining any assistance from any person in the service of
the Government for the furtherance of the prospects of that
candidate’s election

According to the section 77 of RPA, 1951, every candidate

contesting in election to the House of the People or to the
Legislative Assembly of a State, shall, either by himself or by his
election agent, keep a separate and correct account of all
expenditure in connection with the election incurred or
Election expenses
authorized by him or by his election agent.

Every association or body in order to become a political party

must be registered with the ECI whose decision regarding
registration will be final.

Registered political parties, in course of time, can get

recognition as ‘State Party’ or National Party’.

Provisions Related to Change in name and address of a registered political

Political Parties party must be communicated to the ECI.

The ECI cannot derecognise a party.

 · 48 hours before the polling ends or concludes, displaying of
any election matter by television or similar apparatus in a
constituency is prohibited.

· Section 126 is not applicable to the print media, news

Section 126 of the RPA,
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1951
· Section 126A prohibits the conduct of exit
poll and dissemination of its results during the period mentioned.

Voluntary contributions by any person or company within

India ( other than a government company) can be accepted
by the registered political party.
A company can donate any amount of money to any
political party.

There is no obligation of the company to report such

donations in its profit and loss account.

It is mandatory for the political parties to submit to the

ECI a list of donations they received above Rs. 2,000.

Political parties cannot receive more than Rs 2000

Voluntary Contributions as cash donations.

Now, political parties are eligible to accept contributions

from foreign companies defined under the Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.

· Individuals contesting elections have to file

an affidavit, declaring their criminal records, assets & liabilities
and educational qualification.

· After getting elected, MPs are required to file a declaration

of assets and liabilities with the Speaker of Lok Sabha and the
Declaration of Assets and
Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
Liabilities
· These declarations have to be made by MPs within 90
days of taking their seats in Parliament.

Disqualification of representatives on conviction for certain offences

Section 8 deals with Disqualification of representatives on conviction for certain offences. The
various sub-clauses include

8 ( 1 ):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.

8 (2): 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.

8 (3): 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.

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A fourth subsection, i.e., 8 (4 ) was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2013 (Lily Thomas
case). This subsection had provisions for convicted lawmakers to retain their seats if they filed
an appeal within 3 months of their conviction.

In 2013, the Patna High Court also debarred persons in judicial or police custody from
contesting elections.

Recent amendments to RP act

Insertion of section 126A which banned publishing exit polls till the time of elections were
over.

Section 8(4) which allowed convicted MPs, MLAs to stand for elections by filing a complaint
was repealed. It is a step towards decriminalising politics.

Insertion of Section 62(2), which allowed a person post detention to contest elections as he
is no longer ceased to be an elector as his name is included in the electoral roll.

Recent amendment included Section 20A of RPA, which now allows NRI to vote from their
current residence via postal ballot system.

SC has asked EC to introduce NOTA button. Now instead of boycotting elections, voters can
practice their right to reject.

Challenges:

False Disclosures: Even after the provision of the declaration of assets and liabilities in the
RPA act, candidates do not disclose all the assets and provide wrong and incomplete
information regarding their assets, liabilities, and income and educational qualifications.

The Bureaucratization of Politics: In spite of the inclusion of several provisions aimed at

making the ECI as an independent body,it is still dependent on the Union for financial
matters that paves the way for political parties to manage to get the officers in their favour
through money and muscle power.

Dual Responsibility of the ECI: The ECI does not have independent staff of its own so
whenever elections take place, it has to depend upon staff of Central and State Governments
hence the dual responsibility of the administrative staff, to the government for ordinary
administration and to the ECI for electoral administration is not conducive to the impartial and
efficient functioning of the Commission.

Misuse of Government Machinery: The RPAs lack clear provisions and guidelines on the
matters related to the misuse of official machinery that gives an unfair advantage to the ruling
party at the time of elections and leads to the misuse of public funds for furthering the
prospects of candidates of a particular party.

Way Forward:

Restriction on Opinion Polls: By an amendment made to the RPA 1951, conducting and
publishing results of exit polls have been prohibited.

There should be a similar prohibition or restriction on opinion polls also as several

manipulated opinion polls could impact the voting pattern.
 False Declaration as Offense: The RPA ,1951 should be amended to include all the
items related to the election disclosure in the affidavit and making false declarations in
connection with the election to be an offence.

Independent ECI: In order to curb the practice of bureaucratization of politics and to secure
complete independence of the Election Commission, its expenditure should be charged on the
Consolidated Fund of India.
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De-listing of Valid Electorates: Parliament must pass a law dealing with the serious problem
of delisting of valid electors from electoral rolls because illiterate electorate residing in far
villages cannot watch over the publication of electorate lists.

State Funding of Elections: To minimise the role of money in elections, provisions should be
made for state funding of elections.
2nd ARC recommended for partial state funding of elections
Indrajeet Gupta Committee (1998) recommended to cut down on 'illegitimate and excessive funding' of election
this costs.
National Election Fund should be created this was
recommended by T.S Krishna Murthy ex ECI
Practice Question:

On what grounds a people’s representative can be disqualified under the Representation of However Fiscal and Macroeconmic stability needs to be
looked after, morever it would be challenging affair, as
Peoples Act, 1951? explain and also present the remedies available to such persons against his misuse of such funding could not be taken into account.
disqualification. (250 words) Yearly auditing, creation of a regulatory authority for
expenses and strictly focusing the current restrictions should
Compare and contrast the provisions under Representation of People’s Act, 1951 with that of be focused upon. limiting the use of black money in
elections is a must.
the provisions related to elections in the Constitution of India. (250 words)

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