Article 190 lists the grounds on which a member's seat in a State Legislature becomes vacant, from dual membership to disqualification.
At a glance
Article 190 lists the grounds on which a State Legislature member's seat becomes vacant.
Article 190(1): no person may be a member of both Houses of the same State Legislature at once.
Keeps membership of a State Legislature aligned with the one-mandate principle and current eligibility rules.
Vacation of seats in State Legislature is governed by Article 190 of the Constitution, which sets out the circumstances in which a member of a State Legislature must give up his or her seat — ranging from holding a seat in two Houses at once to becoming subject to disqualification.
Constitutional Basis: Article 190
Article 190 opens with a clear rule against dual membership: "no person shall be a member of both Houses of the Legislature of a State," and the State Legislature is required to make a law providing for the vacation of a seat in one House or the other where a person is chosen to both. The article goes on to bar membership of more than one state's legislature at the same time, and to list disqualification as a further ground on which a sitting member's seat falls vacant.
No Person May Sit in Both Houses of the Same State
Where a state has a bicameral legislature — an Assembly and a Council — Article 190(1) forbids the same person from holding a seat in both simultaneously. If someone is chosen a member of both, the law made by the State Legislature determines which seat the person must vacate, so that the individual ultimately sits in only one House.
No Person May Sit in the Legislatures of Two States
Article 190(2) extends the same logic across states: no person may be a member of the Legislatures of two or more states listed in the First Schedule at the same time. If a person is chosen to the Legislatures of more than one such state, that person's seat in all of those Legislatures becomes vacant at the end of a period fixed under rules made by the President — unless the person has already resigned the seat in the Legislatures of all but one state before that period expires.
Vacation on Disqualification
Under Article 190(3)(a), if a member of a House of a State Legislature becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clause (1) or clause (2) of Article 191 — the provision that lists disqualifying conditions such as holding an office of profit, being of unsound mind, being an undischarged insolvent, not being a citizen of India, or being disqualified under any law made by Parliament — that member's seat becomes vacant. In addition to disqualification, a member's seat is also understood to become vacant on resignation addressed to the presiding officer, and where a member remains absent from all sittings of the House for a prolonged period without the House's permission — the same general structure that applies to Parliament under the corresponding Article 101.
Why These Rules Exist
The bar on dual membership — whether of two Houses in the same state or of two different states' Legislatures — reflects the basic representative principle that a legislator holds a single mandate from a single constituency at a time. Vacation on disqualification, in turn, ensures that a House does not continue to include a member who has become ineligible to sit, keeping the composition of the Legislature aligned with the Constitution's eligibility rules at all times.
Comparable Provision at the Union Level
| Aspect | State Legislature | Parliament (analogous) |
|---|---|---|
| Governing provision | Article 190 | Article 101 |
| Bar on dual membership of both Houses | Article 190(1) | Article 101(1) |
| Bar on membership across jurisdictions | No person a member of two States' Legislatures — Article 190(2) | No person a member of both Parliament and a State Legislature — Article 101(2) |
| Vacation on disqualification | Article 190(3)(a), referencing Article 191 | Article 101(3)(a), referencing Article 102 |
UPSC Relevance
Prelims
- Article 190 and its bar on a person simultaneously holding a seat in both Houses of the same State Legislature.
- The rule against being a member of the Legislatures of two or more states at once, and the role of Presidential rules in fixing the time limit.
- The link between Article 190(3) and the disqualifications listed in Article 191.
Mains
- The constitutional rationale for preventing dual membership of legislative bodies and how it reinforces the principle of one mandate per representative.
- The relationship between vacation of seats (Article 190) and disqualification for membership (Article 191) as two distinct but connected mechanisms for regulating who may sit in a State Legislature.
FAQ
Q1. Which article deals with vacation of seats in a State Legislature? Article 190 lays down the grounds — dual membership of both Houses of the same state, membership of more than one state's Legislature, and disqualification under Article 191 — on which a member's seat becomes vacant.
Q2. Can a person be a member of both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council of the same state at once? No. Article 190(1) prohibits this, and the state's law determines which seat such a person must vacate.
Q3. What happens if a person is elected to the Legislatures of two different states? Under Article 190(2), that person's seat in the Legislatures of all such states becomes vacant after a period fixed by Presidential rules, unless the person has already resigned from all but one before then.
Q4. Does disqualification under Article 191 automatically vacate a member's seat? Yes. Article 190(3)(a) provides that a member's seat becomes vacant on becoming subject to a disqualification mentioned in Article 191(1) or (2).
Q5. Is Article 190 similar to any provision for Parliament? Yes. Article 101 performs the equivalent function for members of Parliament, barring dual membership and linking vacation of seats to disqualification under Article 102.
Quick Revision
- Article 190(1): no dual membership of both Houses of the same State Legislature.
- Article 190(2): no person may sit in the Legislatures of two or more states at once.
- Article 190(3)(a): seat vacated on disqualification under Article 191(1)/(2).
- Article 190 for states mirrors Article 101 for Parliament.
Sources
Further Reference
For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:
- M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
- D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
- The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.
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Constitutional provisions
No person shall be a member of both Houses of a State Legislature at once.
No person shall be a member of the Legislatures of two or more states; seat vacated in all after a period fixed by Presidential rules.
Seat vacated on becoming subject to disqualification under Article 191(1) or (2).
Lists the disqualifications for membership of a State Legislature referenced by Article 190(3).