PART IIITHE GOVERNORS' PROVINCES.
CHAPTER IIIThe Provincial Legislature.
Provisions as to Members of Legislatures.
67Oath of members.
Every member of a Provincial Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council shall, before taking his seat, make and subscribe before the Governor, or some person appointed by him, an oath according to that one of the forms set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act which the member accepts as appropriate in his case.
68Vacation of seats.
1
No person shall be a member of both Chambers of a Provincial Legislature, and rules made by the Governor exercising his individual judgment shall provide for the vacation by a person who is chosen a member of both Chambers of his seat in one Chamber or the other.
2
No person shall be a member both of the Federal Legislature and of a Provincial Legislature and if a person is chosen a member both of the Federal Legislature and of a Provincial Legislature, then, at the expiration of such period as may be specified in rules made by the Governor of the Province exercising his individual judgment, that person's seat in the Provincial Legislature shall become vacant, unless he has previously resigned his seat in the Federal Legislature.
3
If a member of a Chamber—
a
becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in subsection (1) of the next succeeding section; or
b
by writing under his hand addressed to the Governor resigns his seat,
his seat shall thereupon become vacant.
4
If for sixty days a member of a Chamber is without permission of the Chamber absent from all meetings thereof, the Chamber 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 Chamber is prorogued, or is adjourned for more than four consecutive days.
69Disqualifications for membership.
1
A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of a Provincial Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council—
a
if he holds any office of profit under the Crown in India, other than an office declared by Act of the Provincial Legislature not to disqualify its holder;
b
if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
c
if he is an undischarged insolvent;
d
if, whether before or after the commencement of this Part of this Act, he has been convicted or has, in proceedings for questioning the validity or regularity of an election, been found to have been guilty, of any offence or corrupt or illegal practice relating to elections which has been declared by Order in Council, or by an Act of the Provincial Legislature, to be an offence or practice entailing disqualification for membership of the Legislature, unless such period has elapsed as may be specified in that behalf in the provisions of that Order or Act;
e
if, whether before or after the commencement of this Part of this Act, he has been convicted of any other offence by a court in British India or in a State which is a Federated State and sentenced to transportation or to imprisonment for not less than two years, unless a period of five years, or such less period as the Governor, acting in his discretion, may allow in any particular case, has elapsed since his release;
f
if, having been nominated as a candidate for the Federal or any Provincial Legislature or having acted as an election agent of any person so nominated, he has failed to lodge a return of election expenses within the time and in the manner required by any Order in Council made under this Act or by any Act of the Federal or the Provincial Legislature, unless five years have elapsed from the date by which the return ought to have been lodged or the Governor, acting in his discretion, has removed the disqualification:
Provided that a disqualification under paragraph (f) of this subsection shall not take effect until the expiration of one month from the date by which the return ought to have been lodged or of such longer period as the Governor, acting in his discretion, may in any particular case allow.
2
A person shall not be capable of being chosen a member of a Chamber of a Provincial Legislature while he is serving a sentence of transportation or of imprisonment for a criminal offence.
3
Where a person who, by virtue of a. conviction or a conviction and a sentence, becomes disqualified by virtue of paragraph (d) or paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of this section is at the date of the disqualification a member of a Chamber, his seat shall, notwithstanding anything in this or the last preceding section, not become vacant by reason of the disqualification until three months have elapsed from the date thereof or, if within those three months an appeal or petition for revision is brought in respect of the conviction or the sentence, until that appeal or petition is disposed of, but during any period during which his membership is preserved by this subsection, he shall not sit or vote.
4
For the purposes of this section a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Crown in India by reason only that he is a minister either for the Federation or for a Province.
70Penalty for sitting and voting when not qualified, or when disqualified.
If a person sits or votes as a member of a Provincial Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council when he is not qualified or is disqualified for membership thereof, or when he is prohibited from so doing by the provisions of subsection (3) of the last preceding section, 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 Province.
71Privileges, &c. of members.
1
Subject to the provisions of this Act and to rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of the Legislature, there shall be freedom of speech in every Provincial Legislature, and no member of the Legislature shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Legislature or any committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of a Chamber of such a Legislature of any report, paper, votes or proceedings.
2
In other respects the privileges of members of a Chamber of a Provincial Legislature shall be such as may from time to time be defined by Act of the Provincial Legislature, and, until so defined, shall be such as were immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act enjoyed by members of the Legislative Council of the Province.
3
Nothing in any existing Indian law, and, notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this section, nothing in this Act, shall be construed as conferring, or empowering any Legislature to confer, on a Chamber thereof or on both Chambers sitting together or any committee or officer of the Legislature, the status of a court, or any punitive or disciplinary powers other than the power to remove or exclude persons infringing the rules or standing orders, or otherwise behaving in a disorderly manner.
4
Provision may be made by an Act of the Provincial Legislature for the punishment, on conviction before a court, of persons who refuse to give evidence or produce documents before a committee of a Chamber when duly required by the chairman of a committee so to do :
Provided that any such Act shall have effect subject to such rules for regulating the attendance before such committees of persons who are, or have been, in the service of the Crown in India, and safeguarding confidential matter from disclosure, as may be made by the Governor exercising his individual judgment.
5
The provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall apply in relation to persons who by virtue of this Act have the right to speak in and otherwise take part in the proceedings of a Chamber as they apply in relation to members of the Legislature.
72Salaries and allowances of members.
Members of Provincial Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils shall be entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined by Act of the Provincial Legislature, and until provision in that respect is so made, allowances at such rates and upon such conditions as were immediately before the commencement of this Part of this Act applicable in the case of members of the Legislative Council of the Province.