Indian Politics Questions

Disqualification of MP's and MLA's on the ground of holding office of profit is a controversial topic of nation-wide debate. It began with the disqualification of Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan from Rajya Sabha on March 17, 2006 with retrospective effect from July 14, 2004.There are separate provisions of disqualification for the Members of Parliament and MLAs. Our constitution clearly mentions that the Parliament has the power to make a law in respect to the issue of qualification and disqualification of the membership in case:

(i) He holds any office of profit under the Government of India or of any state, other than an office declared by a law of Parliament not to disqualify its holder.

(ii) He is of unsound mind and stand so declared by a competent court.

(iii) He is an undischarged insolvent.

(iv) He is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign state, or is under any acknowledgement or allegiance or adherence to a foreign state, and

(v) It is he so disqualified by or under any law of Parliament. It applies to the case of 'defection' as prescribed in tenth schedule.

The Supreme Court has struck down the words “adult male” from the pertinent provision in the DV Act to lay down that a woman can also file a complaint against another woman, accusing her of domestic violence.

Besides  some  federal  features,the Constitution of India also has some unitary  features  as  well.  All  States have  no  equal  representation  in the  Rajya  Sabha,because  in  India the states are given representation in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of population.  Hence,  the  number  of representatives  varies  from  state to    state, for    instance,    Uttar Pradesh  has  31  members  whereas Tripura  has  only  1  member.This principle    is    considered    as    a safeguard    for    smaller    states.States  in  India  also  have  no  right to territorial integrity. The Parliament  can  change  the  area,boundaries  or  name  of  any  state by unilateral action, So the consent of   a   State   is   not   required   for altering  its  boundaries,Moreover,despite dual Polity,the Constitution  of  India  adopted  the system  of Single citizenship.There is  only  Indian  citizenship  and  no separate state citizenship.