COUNCIL OF STATES: ELECTION

Introduction

Council of States commonly known as the Rajya Sabha is the upper house of parliament which consists of 245 members out of which 233 members represent the states while the rest of 12 members are nominated by the Hon’ble President of India having special knowledge or practical experience in the specific field like literature, Science, Art and Social Service. The allocation of seats in Council of States (Rajya Sabha) is provided in the fourth schedule according to which the seat allocation is based on the proportion of the population.

 History

The “Council of States” which is also known as Rajya Sabha or the second chamber of Indian Parliament was constituted in the year 1952. The Government of India Act, 1919 provided for the creation of “Council of State” and Governor – General was the ex-officio president of the then Council of State. The Government of India Act 1935 hardly made any changes in the composition of the Rajya Sabha. The minimum age of thirty years was fixed for the members of the Council of States. The element of dignity and prestige was added to the council of state (Rajya Sabha) by making the Vice- President of India ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha who presides over its sitting. The first Vice-President of India and the first chairman of Council of State was Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.

 Eligibility to become a member of the Council of States

As per article 84 of the constitution of India a person must be eligible for the membership of the council of states with the following qualifications:

·       He must be citizen of India;

·       He must have completed the age of 30 years;

·       He must make and subscribe before some person authorized in that behalf by the election commission an oath or affirmation for the purpose set out in third schedule of the constitution of India;

·       He must possess such other qualifications as prescribed by the parliament by law.

 Disqualification

As per article 102 of the constitution of India a person shall be disqualified for being a member of either house of parliament:-

·       If he holds any office of profit under the government of India;

·       If he is of unsound mind and declared by the competent court;

·       If he is an undischarged insolvent;

·       If he is not citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of foreign state or under any kind of acknowledgement of foreign state;

·       If he is disqualified under any law by the parliament of India.

 Duration

As per article 83 the Rajya Sabha is a permanent (continuously existing) body which is not a subject of dissolution. However, one-third of its members retires biennially i.e. after every second year which is replaced by the new members. The tenure of every member is six years.

 Presiding Officers – Chairman and Deputy Chairman

As per article 89 of the Constitution of India the Vice-President of India is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha. In addition to this, the house also elects a Deputy Chairman from amongst of its members.

As per article 90 of the constitution of India a Deputy Chairman shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the Rajya Sabha. He may also resign his office by writing to the chairman and removed by a resolution of the council passed by a majority of all the then member present but such a resolution can be moved by the giving at least 14 days notice.

As per article 91 of the constitution of India the Deputy Chairman presides over when the Vice-President is absent and acting as the Vice-President or discharging the function of the president. If the office of the Deputy Chairman is also vacant then duties shall be performed by the member of Rajya Sabha as the president may appoint for that purpose. The Chairman presides over the sittings of the House and in absence the Deputy Chairman Presides. As presiding officer, the responsibility of the chairman is to maintain order and decorum of the house and conduct the proceedings in accordance with the rules.

 Powers of Rajya Sabha

Legislative power

In the matter of ordinary bills Rajya Sabha is co-equal of Loksabha. This bill passes through various stages like first reading, second reading, committee stages and report stages. An ordinary bill can be introduced in any house but must be approved by the both houses of parliament. In the case of deadlock between the two houses of parliament on the question of an ordinary bill, the president may summon a joint-sitting of the two houses of parliament for resolving the deadlock. If the bill is passed in the joint-sitting then it is sent to the president for his assent and then becomes the law. This joint sitting is presided by the speaker of the Lok Sabha.

 Constituent power

In the matter of the amendment Rajya Sabha enjoys equal power with the Lok Sabha. A proposal for amendment can be introduced in any house but must be approved by the both houses of parliament. Both the houses of the parliament can amend the constitution by passing an amendment bill with two-third majority in each house.

 Financial power

In the matter of money bills, Lok Sabha enjoys a pre-eminent position and Rajya Sabha is a weak house. This bill deals with imposition and abolition of tax. A money bill cannot be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. It has no power to reject or amend it. A money bill can only be passed by the Lok Sabha then it is sent to the Rajya Sabha for its consideration. The Rajya Sabha can detail a bill only for 14 days and if fails to pass the bill within 14 days then the bill is deemed to be  passed by both the houses of the parliament. It depends upon the Lok Sabha to accept or reject the amendment in the bill proposed by the Rajya Sabha.

 Exclusive power

In the financial and legislative spheres Rajya Sabha enjoys equal power with the Lok Sabha while in other spheres it has been given exclusive powers which are not available to the Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha has two special powers

Ø  Union-States Relations:-

 As per article 249 of the constitution of India the Rajya Sabha can empower parliament to make legislation with respect to any matter enumerated in the state list by passing a resolution by two-thirds majority that it is necessary or expedient to do so in national interest. Initially, such a resolution is valid for a period of one year but can be further extended for a year at a time. The union government cannot make a law on a matter enumerated in the state list without any prior authority of Rajya Sabha.

Ø  Creation of all-India Services

As per article 312 of the constitution of India the Rajya Sabha can empower parliament to create new All-India Services which is common to both Union and States. It can empower parliament by passing a resolution of two-third majority.

 Council of States: Election

The fourth schedule of the Constitution deals with allocation for seats to the State and Union Territories in Rajya Sabha on the basis of the population of each state. The Representative of the states and of Union Territories is elected by the method of indirect election. The Representative of states is elected by the member of the elected member of the legislative assembly in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV). The representatives from the Union Territories are chosen by the parliament by law. As per section 154 of the Representation of the people act 1951, elected member shall hold office for a period of six years. These elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

Election to the Council of States: Procedure illustrated with an example

The Rajya Sabha seat for each state is fixed as per schedule four of the constitution of India. Elections to one-third of these seats conducted after every two years. Let us understand with the help of an example:-

Where there is election for 4 seats. There are only two parties in the legislative assembly. The Party A has 100 seats and party B has 40 seats and both parties can nominate four candidates each for the four Rajya Sabha seats.

Quotient= (Total number of seats/No. of seats contested+1) +1

                        (140/4+1)+1

                        = (140/5) +1

                        =28+1

=29

In the illustrated case, a candidate requires 29 votes to win. On the other hand party A can get 3 members elected and party B can get elected only one member.

Part A 100/29=3

Party B 40/29=1

Judicial Interpretation

 Representation of the people (Amendment) act 2002

This was the Judgment of three member bench which ordered candidates who are contesting elections to declare their assets and all criminal cases that are pending against them at the time of filing of nominations.

 Case laws

People’s Union of Civil liberties v. Union of India, (2013) 10 SCC 1

In this case the apex court recognized the right to negative vote for the electorate and stated that the voters will now have a “None of the above option” if they feel that the candidates does not deserve a vote.

The Supreme Court ruled the option of NOTA in all the ballot systems. NOTA (none of the above) are known as the voter’s choice to reject all the candidates by saying that I don’t like any of the contesting candidates and don’t want to vote for any of them”. NOTA is an option for the voter’s to express their unhappiness with all the candidates. If any person votes for NOTA then it will be considered as an invalid vote. However, only a separate count will be maintained for the number.

 Conclusion

On the basis of my personal experience I would like to conclude that in the financial sphere Raya Sabha enjoys inferior position than the Lok Sabha which is absolutely unfair. Both of them should be placed on equal footing. The Joint sitting of both the houses are held when there is a dispute regarding any legislation which is absolutely uncommon. However, the strength of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) members are half the members of the House of the People (Lok Sabha) which also leads to inferiority.

As far as I am concerned in the present system there is no use of NOTA and people are not aware about this option in the rural areas. The election commission must take initiatives for advertisement of this option so that people can reject their candidates in the rural areas. This type of initiatives will be proved helpful for conducting fair election if they are well aware of the recent developments.