THE LEGISLATURE

1.Introduction

India is a federal state and the Constitution of India provides for a legislature each for the Union and in States. Two out of seven Union Territories are having a legislative assembly. These are the National Capital Territory of Delhi and Puducherry (Earlier name was Pondicherry).

Parliament comprises of the President and two Houses of Parliament. All States do not have both legislative assemblies and a legislative council but major States do have both a legislative assembly and a legislative council. Thus, by and large the structures of legislature at Union and in States have identical provisions. The State of Jammu and Kashmir has its own Constitution and all central laws do not automatically apply to the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Number of States since independence have increased mainly due to reorganization of States first in 1956 on linguistic lines and subsequent reorganization of States took place for creating smaller States. Major States in recent years have been bifurcated e.g. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh and new States created are Uttaranchal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telegana. All States in north east which earlier part of Assam were and north east frontier agency are now States e.g. Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Sikkim. Sikkim was first admitted as associate state and later on became a full fledged state of Union of India. In 1960, Goa, Daman and Diu became part of India first as Union Territories and Subsequently Go attained full statehood whereas Daman and Diu remains a union territory. The other unions Territories are Chandigarh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep and Minicoy Island. The administration of a union territory vests with Lt Governor and the President has power to promulgate regulations for the peace, order and good governance of a union territory (Article 240 of the Constitution).

(A) Parliament

79. Constitution of Parliament: There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People.

81. Composition of the House of the People:

(1) Subject to the provisions of Article 331, the House of the People shall consist of –

(a) Not more than five hundred and thirty members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the States,

(b) not more than twenty members to represent the union Territories, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide.

(2)For the purposes of sub-clause (a) of clause (1) – (a) there shall be allotted to each state a number of seats in the House of the people in such manner that the ration between that number and the population of the state is, so far as practicable, the same for all States; and

(b) Each state shall be divided into territorial constituencies in such manner that the ration between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it is, so far as practicable, the same throughout the state: provided that the provisions of sub-clause (a) of this clause shall not be applicable for the purpose of allotment of seats in the house of the people to any state so long as the population of that state does not exceed six millions.

(3) In this Article, the expression “population” means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published, provided that the reference in this clause to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published shall, be constructed:

(i) for the purpose of sub-clause (a)of clause (2) and the proviso to that clause, as a reference to the 1971 census: and (ii) for the purposes of sub-clause (b)of clause (2) as a reference to the 2001 census.

82.Re-adjustment after census:

Upon the completion of each census, the allocation of seats in the house of the people to the States and the division of each State into territorial constituencies shall be readjusted by such authority and in such manner as the Parliament may by law determine:

Provided that such readjustment shall take effect from such date as the President may, by order , specify and until such readjustment takes effect , any election to the house may be held on the basis of the territorial constituencies existing before such readjustment :provided also that until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust –(i) the allocation of seats in the house of people to the States as readjusted on the basis of the 1971 census: and (ii) the division of each State into territorial constituencies as may be readjusted on the basis of the 2001 census, under this Article

COMMENTS

Article 81 as originally enacted provided that each Parliamentary constituency shall have a population of 7.5 lakhs. However, Article 81 of the Constitution was amended soon after the Constitution came into force and more prominently by the Constitution (forty-second amendment) Act 1976.The constitution. By the Constitution (forty-second amendment)Act 1976 declared a freeze on number of seats each State has in the house of the people and, thus total number of seats in the house of the people remains five hundred and thirty from major States, although the population in those states has trebled during the last 40 years.

Article 82 of the constitution provides for delimitation of territorial constitution after every 10 years. The first delimitation of constituencies was undertaken based upon a presidential notification. Thereafter, The Parliament enacted Delimitation Acts in 1952, 1962, 1972 and in 2002 respectively. As Stated above that by constitution (Forty-second amendment) Act, 1976 the delimitation of the constitution was frozen for a period of 30 years. Based upon the Delimitation Act, 2002 the territorial constituencies were readjusted by Justice Kuldeep singh. The next delimitation of constituencies shall be undertaken after the year 2026 as the number of seats as well as the readjustment of seats has been frozen by the Constitution (Eighty-Seventh Amendment) Act,2003.