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The Representation of the People Act

  • Post author By augu
  • Post date September 21, 2023

Introduction

The holding of free and fair elections is the sine-qua-non of democracy. To ensure the conduct of elections in free, fair and in an impartial manner, the constitution-makers incorporated Part XV (Articles 324-329) in the constitution and empowered Parliament to make laws to regulate the electoral process. The Election Commission of India (ECI) is the watchdog of free and fair elections in the country and Article 324 of the Constitution provides for its establishment. In this context, the Parliament has enacted the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1950 and Representation of the People Act,1951.

Article 325 of the constitution ensures universal suffrage and provides that no person be ineligible for inclusion in, or to claim to be included in a special, electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex. This make the necessecity to come up with the acts to regulate elections in India. The ECI as an independent constitutional authority was therefore brought into force from November 26th, 1949.

Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1950

  • Lays down procedures for delimitation of constituencies.
  • 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.
  • Lays down the qualification of voters.

The First Schedule: Allocation of seats in the House of the People
The Second Schedule: Total number of seats in the Legislative Assemblies
The Third Schedule: Allocation of seats in the Legislative Councils
The Fourth Schedule: Local authorities for purposes of elections to Legislative Councils

Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951

  • It regulates the actual conduct of elections and by-elections.
  • It provides administrative machinery for conducting elections.
  • It deals with the registration of political parties.
  • It specifies the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of the Houses.
  • It provides provisions to curb corrupt practices and other offences.
  • It lays down the procedure for settling doubts and disputes arising out of elections.
  • Article 324: Superintendence, direction and control of elections to be vested in an Election Commission
  • Article 325: No person to be ineligible for inclusion in, or to claim to be included in a special, electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste or sex
  • Article 326: Elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assemblies of States to be on the basis of adult suffrage
  • Article 327: Power of Parliament to make provision with respect to elections to Legislatures
  • Article 328: Power of Legislature of a State to make provision with respect to elections to such Legislature
  • Article 329: Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters

The Constitution (Nineteenth Amendment) Act, 1966, nullified the tribunals in India and instead gave the authority to the High Court to hear the trial of election petitions. The abolition of tribunals and the restoring of their powers to the High Court proved to be a turning point in the matters having a connection with elections in India. This made the High Court superior and their hold stronger. It also amended Article 324, subclause (1) and accordingly the Election Commission is given the authority to supervise, direct, and oversee elections.The Representation of the People Act of 1951 was also modified and it rendered the electoral tribunals’ appointment and authority null and void. A special provision concerning the ability to appoint election tribunals for the adjudication of uncertainties and issues coming out of or concerning elections to Parliament and the Legislatures of States was eliminated.

The Constitution (Forty-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, repealed Article 19 (1) (f) and also took out Article 31(1) has been taken out of Part III and made a separate Article 300A in Chapter IV of Part XII. This amendment may have taken away the scope of speedy remedy under Article 32 for the violation of Right to Property because it is no more a Fundamental Right. Making it a legal right under the Constitution serves two purposes: Firstly, it gives emphasis to the value of socialism included in the preamble and secondly, in doing so, it conformed to the doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution.

The Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988, reduced the voting age for elections for Indian citizens from 21 years to 18 years. The voting age for an Indian citizen was decided as 21 years on the basis of adult suffrage. In simple words, any person below the age of 21 was not allowed to cast a vote in the elections for the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assembly of each State. With the introduction of this Amendment, a chance was given to unrepresented youths to express their views and emotions out in the open, thus inspiring them to participate in the political process.