SECTION 69(1), RPA, 1951

June 18, 2019

The Gujarat Congress moved the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Election Commission (ECI) to hold separate bypolls to two Rajya Sabha seats in the state which fell vacant due to the election of BJP chief Amit Shah and Smriti Irani to Lok Sabha.

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The petition filed by Congress has sought a direction to the Election Commission for holding the election for the two seats simultaneously.
The petition said the basic principle, both under the Constitution and the RPA, is that the elections shall be held together so that the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote can be applied.
Challenging the ECI’s reasoning of the vacancy of the two seats as ‘Casual Vacancy’ for conducting separate by-polls, the petition emphasised that “Section 69(2) of the RP act read with section 67A and Section 68(4), makes it a Statutory Vacancy”.

Section 69 in The Representation of the People Act, 1951:

Title: Vacation of seats by persons already members of one House on election to other House of Parliament.
69(1): If a person who is already a member of the Lok Sabha is chosen a member of the Rajya Sabha, his seat in the Lok Sabha shall, on the date on which he is so chosen, become vacant.
69(2): If a person who is already a member of the Rajya Sabha is chosen a member of the Lok Sabha, his seat in the Rajya Sabha shall, on the date on which he is so chosen, become vacant.

Source : Indian Express