7.—(1) Where an office holder who has served in more than one office has ceased to hold office before normal pension age, then, if he would have been entitled on his retirement, had his service continued to compulsory retirement age, to elect that the superannuation benefits payable to or in respect of him should be determined under an enactment relating to the payment of superannuation benefits to or in respect of persons who have served in more than one office, he shall, for the purposes of that enactment, have the same right of election, and that right may be exercised within an equivalent period, as if he had retired at an age at which an election under that enactment would have been available to him.
(2) A provision in any enactment such as is referred to in paragraph (1) above, by virtue of which an authority, liable to pay benefits payable in consequence of an election made under that enactment, is entitled to recover a contribution from any other authority, shall apply to benefits payable in consequence of an election made under this Article.
(3) Any election made in reliance on this Article by a person who had not ceased to hold office shall be of no effect.