To provide for Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers for the National Capital Territory of Delhi and other connected matters.
Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991
Act No. 1 of 1992
[2nd January, 1992]
An Act of supplement the provisions of the Constitution relating to the Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers for the National Capital Territory of Delhi and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-second year of the Republic of India as follows—
Part I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title and commencement.
1. Short title and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, appoint:
Provided that different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and any reference in any such provision to the commencement of this Act shall be construed as a reference to the coming into force of that provision.
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Other Contents of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 |
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Sections 1 to 20 |
2. Definitions.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
(a) “article” means an article of the Constitution.
(b) “assembly constituency” means a constituency provided under this Act, for the purpose of elections to the Legislative Assembly.
(c) “Capital” means the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
(d) “Election Commission” means the Election Commission referred to in Article 324.
(e) “Legislative Assembly” means the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
(f) “Scheduled Castes” in relation to the Capital, means such castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within such castes, races or tribes as are deemed under Article 341 to be Scheduled Castes in relation to the Capital.
Part II
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
3. Legislative Assembly and its composition.
3. Legislative Assembly and its composition.—(1) The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly to be filled by persons chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies shall be seventy.
(2) For the purpose of elections to the Legislative Assembly, the Capital shall be divided into single member assembly constituencies in accordance with the provisions of Part III in such manner that the population of each of the constituencies shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the Capital.
(3) Seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes in the Legislative Assembly, and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats in the assembly as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the Capital bears to the total population of the Capital and the provisions of Article 334 shall apply to such reservations.
Explanation.—In this section, the expression “population” means the population as ascertained in the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published:
[i][Provided that the reference in this Explanation to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published shall, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published, be construed as a reference to the 2001 census.]
[ii][Provided further that any readjustment in the division of the Capital into territorial constituencies by the Delimitation Commission under the Delimitation Act, 2002 (33 of 2002) on the basis of 2001 census shall take effect from such date as the Central Government may, by order, published in the Official Gazette, specify and until such readjustment takes effect, any election to the Legislative Assembly may be held on the basis of the territorial constituencies existing before such readjustment.]
4. Qualifications for membership of Legislative Assembly.
4. Qualifications for membership of Legislative Assembly.—A person shall not be qualified to the chosen to fill a seat in the Legislative Assembly unless he—
(a) is a citizen of India and makes and subscribes before some person authorised in that behalf by the Election Commission an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Schedule.
(b) is not less than twenty-five years of age; and
(c) possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by parliament.
5. Duration of Legislative Assembly.
5. Duration of Legislative Assembly.—The Legislative Assembly, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date of appointed for its first meeting and no longer, and the expiration of the said period of five years shall operate as a dissolution of the Assembly:
Provided that the said period may, while a Proclamation of Emergency issued under clause (1) of Article 352 is in operation, be extended by the President by order for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not extending in any case beyond a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate.
6. Sessions of Legislative Assembly, Prorogation and dissolution.
6. Sessions of Legislative Assembly, Prorogation and dissolution.—(1) The Lieutenant Governor shall, from time-to-time, summon the Legislative Assembly to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but six months shall not be intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor may, from time to time.
(a) prorogue the Assembly;
(b) dissolve the Assembly.
7. Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly.
7. Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Legislative Assembly.—(1) The Legislative Assembly shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the Assembly to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker become vacant, the Assembly shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.
(2) A member holding office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly—
(a) shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the Assembly;
(b) may, at any time by writing under his hand addressed, if such member is the Speaker, to the Deputy Speaker, and if such member is the Deputy Speaker, to the Speaker, resign his office; and
(c) may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Assembly passed by a majority of all the then members of the Assembly:
Provided that no resolution for the purpose of clause(c) shall be moved unless at least fourteen days notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution:
Provided further that whenever the Assembly is dissolved, the Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the Assembly after the dissolution.
(3) While the office of Speaker is vacant the duties of the office shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker or, if the office of Deputy Speaker is also vacant, by such member of the Assembly as may be determined by the rules of procedure of the Assembly.
(4) During the absence of the Speaker from any sitting of the Assembly, the Deputy Speaker, or, if he is also absent, such person as may be determined by the rules of the procedure of the Assembly, or, if no such person is present, such other person as may be determined by the Assembly, shall act as Speaker.
(5) There shall be paid to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly such salaries and allowances as may be respectively fixed by the Legislative Assembly by law and, until provision in that behalf is so made, such salaries an allowances as the Lieutenant Governor may, with the approval of the President, by order determine.
8. Speaker or Deputy Speaker not to provide while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
8. Speaker or Deputy Speaker not to provide while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.—(1) At any sitting of the Legislative Assembly, while any resolution for the removal of the Speaker from his office is under consideration, the Speaker, or while any resolution for the removal of the Deputy Speaker from his office is under consideration, the Deputy Speaker shall not, though he is present, preside and the provisions of sub-section (4) of Section 7 shall apply in relation to every such sitting as they apply in relation to a sitting from which the Speaker or, as the case may be, the Deputy Speaker is absent.
(2) The Speaker shall have the right to speak in and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, the Legislative Assembly while any resolution for his removal from office is under consideration in the assembly and shall, notwithstanding anything in Section 13, be entitled to vote only in the first instance on such resolution or on any other matter during such proceedings but not in the case of any equality of votes.
9. Right of Lieutenant Governor to Address and send messages to Legislative Assembly.
9. Right of Lieutenant Governor to Address and send messages to Legislative Assembly.—(1) The Lieutenant Governor may address the Legislative Assembly and for that purpose require the attendance of members.
(2) The Lieutenant Governor may send messages to the Assembly whether with respect to a Bill then pending in the Assembly or otherwise, and when a message is so sent, the Assembly shall with all convenient dispatch consider any matter required by the message to be taken into consideration.
10. Special Address by the Lieutenant Governor.
10. Special Address by the Lieutenant Governor.—(1) At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the Legislative Assembly and at the commencement of the first session of each year the Lieutenant Governor shall address the Legislative Assembly and inform it of the causes of its summons.
(2) Provision shall be made by rules to be made by the Assembly regulating its procedure for the allotment of time for discussion of the matters referred to in such address.
11. Rights of Minister as respects Legislative Assembly.
11. Rights of Minister as respects Legislative Assembly.—Every Ministers shall have the right to speak in and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, the Legislative Assembly and to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceeding of, any committee of the Legislative Assembly of which he may be named a member, but shall not by virtue of this section be entitled to vote.
12. Oath or affirmation by members.
12. Oath or affirmation by members.—Every member of the Legislative Assembly shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Lieutenant Governor, or some person appointed in that behalf by him, an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Schedule.
13. Voting in Assembly, power of Assembly to act notwithstanding vacancies and quorum.
13. Voting in Assembly, power of Assembly to act notwithstanding vacancies and quorum.—(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, all questions at any sitting of the Legislative Assembly shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting other than the Speaker or person acting as such.
(2) The Speaker or person acting as such shall not vote in the first instance, but shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
(3) The Legislative Assembly shall have power to act notwithstanding any vacancy in the membership thereof, and any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly shall be valid notwithstanding that it is discovered subsequently that some person who was not entitled so to do, sat or voted or otherwise took part in the proceedings.
(4) The quorum to constitute a meeting of the Legislative Assembly shall be one-third of the total number of members of the Assembly.
(5) If at any time during a meeting of the Legislative Assembly there is no quorum, it shall be the duty of the Speaker, or person acting as such, either to adjourn the Assembly or to suspend the meeting until there is a quorum.
14. Vacation of Seats.
14. Vacation of Seats.—(1) No person shall be a member both of Parliament and of the Legislative Assembly and if a person is chosen a member both of Parliament and of such Assembly, then, at the expiration of such period as is specified in or under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (43 of 1951) and the rules made by the President under clause (2) of Article 101 and clause (2) of Article 190, that person’s seat in Parliament shall become vacant unless he has previously resigned his seat in the Legislative Assembly.
(2) If a member of the Legislative Assembly—
(a) becomes subject to any disqualification mentioned in Section 15 or Section 16 for membership of the Assembly; or
(b) resigns his seat by writing under his hand addressed to the Speaker and his resignation is accepted by the Speaker.
His seat shall thereupon become vacant:
Provided that in the case of any resignation referred to in clause (b), if from the information received or otherwise and after making such inquiry as he thinks fit, the Speaker is satisfied that such resignation is not voluntary or genuine, he shall not accept such resignation.
(3) If for a period of sixty days a member of the Legislative Assembly is without permission of the Assembly absent from all meetings thereof, the Assembly may declare his seat vacant.
Provided that in computing the said period of sixty days, no account shall be taken of any period during which the assembly is prorogued or is adjourned for more than four consecutive days.
15. Disqualifications for membership.
15. Disqualifications for membership.—(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of the Legislative Assembly—
(a) if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or the Government of Union Territory other than an office declared by law made by Parliament or by the Legislature of any State or by the Legislative Assembly of the Capital or of any other Union territory not to disqualify its holder; or
(b) if he is for the time being disqualified for being chosen, as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament under the Provisions of sub-clause (b), sub-clause (c) or sub-clause (d) of clause (1) of Article 102 or of any law made in pursuance of that article.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or the Government of any Union territory by reason only that he is a Minister either for the Union or for such State or Union Territory.
(3) If any question arises as to whether a member of the Legislative Assembly has become disqualified for being such a member under the provisions of sub-section (1), the question shall be referred for the decision of the President and his decision shall be final.
(4) Before giving any decision on any such question, the President shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion.
16. Disqualification on ground of defection.
16. Disqualification on ground of defection.—The provisions of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution shall, subject to the necessary modifications (including modifications for construing references therein to the Legislative Assembly of a State, Article 188 Article 194 and Article 212 as references, respectively, to the Legislative Assembly, Section 12, Section 18, and Section 37 of this Act) apply to and in relation to the members of the Legislative Assembly of a State, and accordingly—
(a) the said Tenth Schedule as so modified shall be deemed to form part of this Act; and
(b) a person shall be disqualified for being a member of the Legislative Assembly if he is so disqualified under the said Tenth Schedule as so modified.
17. Penalty for sitting and voting before making oath or affirmation or when not qualified or when disqualified.
17. Penalty for sitting and voting before making oath or affirmation or when not qualified or when disqualified.—If a person sits or votes as a member of the Legislative Assembly before he has complied with the requirements of Section 12 or when he knows that he is not qualified or that he is disqualified for membership thereof, he shall be liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of five hundred rupees to be recovered as a debt due to the Union.
18. Powers, privileges, etc. of members.
18. Powers, privileges, etc. of members.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and to the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of the Legislative Assembly, there shall be freedom of speech in the Legislative Assembly.
(2) No member of the Legislative Assembly shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Assembly or any committee thereof and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of such Assembly of any report, paper, votes or proceedings.
(3) In other respects, the powers privileges and immunities of the Legislative Assembly and of the members and the committees thereof shall be such as are for the time being enjoyed by the House of the People and its members and committees.
(4) The provisions of sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) shall apply in relation to persons who by virtue of this Act have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, the Legislative Assembly or any committee thereof as they apply in relation to members of the Assembly.
19. Salaries and allowances of members.
19. Salaries and allowances of members.—Members of the Legislative Assembly shall be entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time-to-time be determined by the Legislative Assembly by law and until provision in that behalf is so made, such salaries and allowances as the Lieutenant Governor may, with the approval of the President by order determine.
20. Exemption of property of the Union from taxation.
20. Exemption of property of the Union from taxation.—The property of the Union shall, save insofar as Parliament may by law otherwise provide, be exempted from all taxes imposed by or under any law made by the Legislative Assembly or by or under any other law in force in the capital.
Provided that nothing in this section shall, until parliament may by law otherwise provides, prevent any authority within the Capital from levying any tax on any property of the Union to which such property was immediately before the commencement of the Constitution liable or treated as liable, so long as that tax continues to be levied in the Capital.
References
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