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THE CONSTITUTION, MADE UNDERSTANDABLE

Article 102
Disqualifications for membership

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Source edition: as on 1 May 2026. Omitted and struck-down reference entries remain labelled. Open the authoritative PDF ↗

Article 102 / Part V

Disqualifications for membership

included in edition
THE PLAIN-LANGUAGE GUIDE

What does this mean?

An MP can be disqualified on specified constitutional and statutory grounds, including the Tenth Schedule. The grounds include office of profit and certain citizenship, insolvency and mental-capacity conditions under the stated requirements.

The Union's President, ministers, Parliament, Supreme Court and Comptroller and Auditor-General.

PURPOSE & CONTEXT

Why is this provision here?

Elected office has eligibility and integrity conditions beyond winning a vote; disqualification needs a recognised constitutional or statutory ground.

Historical evidence

This Article number belongs to the original constitutional framework, but its present wording may include later amendments or substitutions. A provision-specific original Assembly debate has not been verified here. The explanation of function above is editorial inference from the text, not an attributed single motive of the framers. The original draft-making archive is a research resource, not proof of a particular historical reason. The later amendment records linked below document changes affecting this Article; their Bill statements explain those proposals, not necessarily every original clause or the complete present legal outcome.

The explanation of purpose is an editorial reading of the provision. A drafting motive is attributed only where a linked historical source supports it.

Limits, exceptions & reading carefully

Educational summary of the linked source text. Exceptions, provisos, implementing laws and applicable judgments must be read before applying it to a real case.

Read the official constitutional text
102. Disqualifications for membership.—(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament— [(a) if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law 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 he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgment of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State; (e) if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament. [Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause] a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State by reason only that he is a Minister either for the Union or for such State. [(2) A person shall be disqualified for being a member of either House of Parliament if he is so disqualified under the Tenth Schedule.]
Source-page notes · may concern neighbouring Articles

1. Subs. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, s. 19 to read as "(a) if he holds any such office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State as is declared by Parliament by law to disqualify its holder" (date not notified). This amendment was omitted by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, s. 45 (w.e.f. 20-6-1979). 2. Subs. by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985, s. 3, for "(2) for the purposes of this art." (w.e.f. 1-3-1985). 3. Ins. by s. 3, ibid. (w.e.f. 1-3-1985). 4. Subs. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, s. 20, for art. 103 (w.e.f. 3-1-1977) and further subs. by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, s. 14, for art. 103 (w.e.f. 20-6-1979).

Extracted from the Legislative Department’s May 2026 edition. Page footnotes may refer to neighbouring provisions; check their markers in the PDF. Inclusion in this edition does not by itself establish commencement or judicial effect.

FOLLOW THE PARLIAMENTARY RECORD

References naming Article 102

These stored records explicitly mention this Article. A mention does not establish that it was amended or that a particular interpretation is correct. Read the original source for context.