Which Article of the Constitution restrict a Member of Parliament to hold the office of profit ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — C, Article 102 (1) (a). Article 102(1) opens by saying that a person shall be disqualified 'for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament', and then lists the grounds in lettered sub-clauses. The first of them is the office-of-profit bar, and the Constitution's own words are these: '(a) if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder'. That sentence does two things at once, and both are examinable. It imposes the bar, and in the same breath it authorises Parliament to carve out exceptions by statute — which is exactly why the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 exists and why holding certain public positions does not in fact cost a member the seat. Two further features of the article are worth carrying. The Explanation to clause (1) provides that a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit 'by reason only that he is a Minister either for the Union or for such State' — which is how ministers, who hold salaried government offices in any plain reading, remain members of the House. And clause (2), inserted by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985 with effect from 1 March 1985, adds disqualification under the Tenth Schedule as a wholly separate head. Note finally that Article 102 says only what disqualifies; who decides is Article 103, under which the question is referred to the President, whose decision is final, and who must first obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and act according to it.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Article 102 (1) (b) — the unsoundness-of-mind ground. Its text is 'if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court', and the second half matters as much as the first: an assertion or a medical opinion is not enough, because a court of competent jurisdiction must have made the declaration. Being first in the option list and second in the Constitution, it collects candidates who remember the article but not the ordering of its clauses.  (b) Article 102 (1) (c) — the insolvency ground, in the Constitution's words 'if he is an undischarged insolvent'. The word 'undischarged' is doing the work: a person who has been through insolvency and has been discharged is not caught by it. This is a real disqualification and a real clause of Article 102, but it has nothing to do with holding an office under the Government.  (d) Article 102 (1) (d) — the citizenship and allegiance ground: 'if he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgment of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State'. Coming late in the lettered list, it attracts anyone who guesses that the office-of-profit bar must come at the end. It comes first.

Concept: The Constitution builds legislator disqualification as a matched pair of provisions, one for the Union and one for the States, and the numbers are worth learning together because examiners swap them. Article 102 governs membership of either House of Parliament; Article 191 is the identical provision, in almost identical words, for the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council of a State. The grounds in both are the same five: office of profit, unsoundness of mind declared by a court, undischarged insolvency, lack of Indian citizenship or allegiance to a foreign State, and — as a catch-all in sub-clause (e) — disqualification 'by or under any law made by Parliament', which is the doorway through which the Representation of the People Act, 1951 brings in conviction-based disqualification. Who adjudicates is set out separately and differs by level: under Article 103 the President decides for Parliament, and under Article 192 the Governor decides for a State legislature, each acting on the opinion of the Election Commission. Defection is the exception to that scheme — a Tenth Schedule disqualification is decided not by the President or the Governor but by the presiding officer of the House. One more point that examiners like: the phrase 'office of profit' is nowhere defined in the Constitution, and the tests courts apply look at whether the Government appoints the holder, can remove them, pays them, and whether the post carries real functions or patronage.

State PCS 2024 Q16 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2024 Q16 — Polity & Governance PYQ with Answer