Government of India Act 1935

PART I Representatives of British India.

General Qualification for Membership.

1 A person shall not be qualified to be chosen as a representative of British India to fill a seat in the Federal Legislature unless he—

(a) is a British subject, or the Ruler or a subject of an Indian State which has acceded to the Federation; and

(b) is, in the case of a seat in the Council of State, not less than thirty years of age and, in the case of a seat in the Federal Assembly, not less than twenty-five years of age; and

(c) possesses such, if any, of the other qualifications specified in, or prescribed under, this Part of this Schedule as may be appropriate in his case:

Provided that the Ruler or a subject of an Indian State which has not acceded to the Federation—

(i) shall not be disqualified under sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph to fill a seat allocated to a Province if he would be eligible to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of that Province; and

(ii) in such cases as may be prescribed, shall not be disqualified under the said sub-paragraph (a) to fill a seat allocated to a Chief Commissioner's Province.

2 Upon the expiration of the term for which he is chosen to serve as a member of the Federal Legislature, a person, if otherwise duly qualified, shall be eligible to be chosen to serve for a further term.

The Council of State.

3 Of the one hundred and fifty-six seats in the Council of State to be filled by representatives of British India one hundred and fifty seats shall be allocated to the Governors' Provinces, the Chief Commissioners' Provinces and the Anglo-Indian, European and Indian Christian communities in the manner shown in division (i) of the relevant Table of Seats appended to this Part of this Schedule, and six seats shall be filled by persons chosen by the Governor-General in his discretion.

4 To each Governor's Province, Chief Commissioner's Province and community specified in the first column of division (i) of the Table there shall be allotted the number of seats specified in the second column opposite to that Province or community, and of the seats so allotted to a Governor's Province or a Chief Commissioner's Province, the number specified in the third column shall be general seats, the number specified in the fourth column shall be seats for representatives of the scheduled castes, the number specified in the fifth column shall be Sikh seats, the number specified in the sixth column shall be Muhammadan seats, and the number specified in the seventh column shall be seats reserved for women.

5 A Governor's Province or a Chief Commissioner's Province, exclusive of any portion thereof which His Majesty in Council may deem unsuitable for inclusion in any constituency or in any constituency of any particular class, shall be divided into territorial constituencies—

(a) for the election of persons to fill the general seats, if any;

(b) for the election of persons to fill the Sikh seats, if any; and

(c) for the election of persons to fill the Muhammadan seats, if any,

or, if as respects any class of constituency it is so prescribed, may form one territorial constituency.

To each territorial constituency of any class one or more seats of that class shall be assigned.

6 (1) No person shall be entitled to vote at an election to fill a Sikh seat or a Muhammadan seat in the Council of State unless he is a Sikh or a Muhammadan, as the case may be.

(2) No person who is, or is entitled to be, included in the electoral roll for a territorial constituency in any Province for the election of persons to fill a Sikh seat or a Muhammadan seat in the Council of State shall be entitled to vote at an election to fill a general seat therein allotted to that Province.

(3) No Anglo-Indian, European or Indian Christian shall be entitled to vote at an election to fill a general seat in the Council of State.

(4) Subject as aforesaid, the qualifications entitling persons to vote in territorial constituencies at elections of members of the Council of State shall be such as may be prescribed.

7 Nothing in the two last preceding paragraphs shall apply in relation to British Baluchistan, and a person to fill the seat in the Council of State allotted to that Province shall be chosen in such manner as may be prescribed.

8 In any Province to which a seat to be filled by a representative of the scheduled castes is allotted, a person to fill that seat shall be chosen by the members of those castes who hold seats in the Chamber or, as the case may be, either Chamber of the Legislature of that Province.

9 In any Province to which a seat reserved for women is allotted, a woman to fill that seat shall be chosen by the persons, whether men or women, who hold seats in the Chamber or, as the case may be, the Chambers of the Legislature of that Province.

10 Persons to fill the seats allotted to the Anglo-Indian, European and Indian Christian communities shall be chosen by the members of Electoral Colleges consisting of such Anglo-Indians, Europeans and Indian Christians, as the case may be, as are members of the Legislative Council of any Governor's Province or of the Legislative Assembly of any Governor's Province.

The Rules regulating the conduct of elections by the European Electoral College shall be such as to secure that on any occasion where more than one seat falls to be filled by the College no two of the seats to be then filled shall be filled by persons who are normally resident in the same Province.

11 A person shall not be qualified to hold a seat in the Council of State unless—

(a) in the case of a seat allotted to a Governor's Province or a Chief Commissioner's Province, he is qualified to vote in a territorial constituency in the Province at an election of a member of the Council of State, or, in the case of a seat allotted to British Baluchistan, possesses such qualifications as may be prescribed;

(b) in the case of a seat allotted to the Anglo-Indian, the European or the Indian Christian community, he possesses such qualifications as may be prescribed.

12 Subject to the provisions of the four next succeeding paragraphs, the term of office of a member of the Council of State shall be nine years :

Provided that a person chosen to fill a casual vacancy shall be chosen to serve only for the remainder of his predecessor's term of office.

13 Upon the first constitution of the Council of State persons shall be chosen to fill all the seats allotted to Governors' Provinces, Chief Commissioners' Provinces and communities, but, for the purpose of securing that in every third year one-third of the holders of such seats shall retire, one-third of the persons first chosen shall be chosen to serve for three years only, one-third shall be chosen to serve for six years only and one-third shall be chosen to serve for nine years, and thereafter in every third year persons shall be chosen to fill for nine years the seats then becoming vacant in consequence of the provisions of this paragraph.

14 In the case of a Province specified in column one in division (ii) of the Table of Seats, the numbers specified as respects seats of different classes in columns two to six, in columns seven to eleven and in columns twelve to sixteen respectively shall be the numbers of the seats of the different classes to be filled upon the first constitution of the Council by members chosen to serve for three years only, by members chosen to serve for six years only, and by members chosen to serve for nine years.

15 The person chosen upon the first constitution of the Council to fill the Anglo-Indian seat shall be chosen to serve for nine years; of the seven persons then chosen to fill the European seats, three shall be chosen to serve for three years only, one shall be chosen to serve for six years only and three shall be chosen to serve for nine years; and, of the two persons then chosen to fill the Indian Christian seats, one shall be chosen to serve for three years only and one shall be chosen to serve for nine years.

16 Upon the first constitution of the Council of State two of the persons to be chosen by the Governor-General shall be chosen to serve for three years only, two shall be chosen to serve for six years only and two shall be chosen to serve for nine years.

The Federal Assembly.

17 The allocation of seats in the Federal Assembly, other than seats allotted to Indian States, shall be as shown in the relevant Table of Seats appended to this Part of this Schedule.

18 To each Governor's Province and Chief Commissioner's Province specified in the first column of the Table there shall be allotted the number of seats specified in the second column opposite to that Province, and of those seats—

(i) the number specified in the third column shall be general seats, of which the number specified in the fourth column shall be reserved for members of the scheduled castes;

(ii) the numbers specified in the next eight columns shall be the numbers of seats to be filled respectively by persons chosen to represent (a) the Sikh community; (b) the Muhammadan community; (c) the Anglo-Indian community; (d) the European community; (e) the Indian Christian community; (f) the interests of commerce and industry; (g) landholders; and (h) the interests of labour; and

(iii) the number specified in the thirteenth column shall be the number of seats reserved to women.

There shall also be in the Federal Assembly four seats not allotted to any Province, of which three shall be seats to be filled by representatives of commerce and industry and one shall be a seat to be filled by a representative of labour.

19 Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding paragraph, persons to fill the seats in the Federal Assembly allotted to a Governor's Province as general seats, Sikh seats or Muhammadan seats shall be chosen by electorates consisting of such of the members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province as hold therein general seats, Sikh seats or Muhammadan seats respectively, voting in the case of a general election in accordance with the principle of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote :

Provided that in the North West Frontier Province the holders of Sikh seats, and in any Province in which seats are reserved for representatives of backward areas or backward tribes the holders of those seats, shall, for the purposes of this paragraph, be deemed to hold general seats.

20 The provisions of this paragraph shall have effect with respect to the general seats reserved in any Governors' Province for members of the scheduled castes :—

For the purposes of a general election of members of the Federal Assembly,—

(a) there shall be a primary electorate consisting of all persons who were successful candidates at the primary elections held, in accordance with the provisions of the Fifth Schedule to this Act, on the occasion of the last general election of members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province for the purpose of selecting candidates for seats reserved for members of the scheduled castes;

(b) the members of the primary electorate so constituted shall be entitled to take part in a primary election held for the purpose of electing four candidates for each seat so reserved; and

(c) no person who is not so elected as a candidate shall be qualified to be chosen to fill such a seat.

Rules made under this Part of this Schedule shall make provision as to the manner in which a casual vacancy occurring in a seat to which this paragraph applies is to be filled.

21 For the purpose of choosing persons to fill the women's seats in the Federal Assembly there shall be for British India an electoral college consisting of such women as are members of the Legislative Assembly of any Governors' Province, and the person to fill a woman's seat allotted to any particular Province shall be chosen by the members of the college.

Rules regulating the conduct of elections by the women's electoral college shall be such as to secure that, of the nine women's seats allotted to Provinces, at least two are held by Muhammadans and at least one by an Indian Christian.

22 For the purpose of choosing persons to fill the Anglo-Indian, European and Indian Christian seats in the Federal Assembly, there shall be for British India three electoral colleges consisting respectively of such persons as hold an Anglo-Indian, a European or an Indian Christian seat in the Legislative Assembly of any Governors' Province, and the person to fill an Anglo-Indian, European or Indian Christian seat allotted to any particular Province shall be chosen by the members of the appropriate electoral college.

In choosing at a general election the persons to fill the Indian Christian seats allotted to the Province of Madras, the Indian Christian electoral college shall vote in accordance with the principle of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

23 Persons to fill the seats in the Federal Assembly which are to be filled by representatives of commerce and industry, landholders and representatives of labour shall be chosen—

(a) in the case of a seat allotted to a Province which is to be filled by a representative of commerce and industry, by such chambers of commerce and similar associations voting in such manner as may be prescribed;

(b) in the case of a seat allotted to a Province which is to be filled by a landholder, by such persons voting in such territorial constituencies and in such manner as may be prescribed;

(c) in the case of a seat allotted to a Province which is to be filled by a representative of labour, by such organisations, or in such constituencies, and in accordance with such manner of voting as may be prescribed;

(d) in the case of one of the non-provincial seats which are to be filled by representatives of commerce and industry, by such Associated Chambers of Commerce, in the case of another such seat by such Federated Chambers of Commerce and in the case of the third such seat by such commercial bodies in Northern India, voting in each case in such manner as may be prescribed; and

(e) in the case of the non-provincial seat which is to be filled by a representative of labour, by such organisations voting in such manner as may be prescribed.

24 Persons to fill the seats in the Federal Assembly allotted to Chief Commissioners' Provinces as general seats or Muhammadan seats shall be chosen—

(a) in the case of Coorg, by the members of the Legislative Council; and

(b) in other cases in such manner as may be prescribed.

25 A person shall not be qualified to hold a seat in the Federal Assembly, unless—

(i) in the case of a general seat, a Sikh seat, a Muhammadan seat, an Anglo-Indian seat, a European seat, an Indian Christian seat or a woman's seat allotted to a Governor's Province or the Province of Coorg, he is qualified to hold a seat of the same class in the Legislative Assembly, or, in the case of Coorg, the Legislative Council, of that Province;

(ii) in the case of any other seat, he possesses such qualifications as may be prescribed.

General.

26 (1) In the foregoing provisions of this Schedule the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them, that is to say:—

• " a European " means a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent and who is not a native of India;

• " an Anglo-Indian " means a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is a native of India;

• " an Indian Christian " means a person who professes any form of the Christian religion and is not a European or an Anglo-Indian;

• " the scheduled castes " means such castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes, being castes, races, tribes, parts or groups which appear to His Majesty in Council to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as " the depressed classes", as His Majesty in Council may specify; and

• " prescribed " means prescribed by His Majesty in Council or, so far as regards any matter which under this Act the Federal Legislature or the Governor-General are competent to regulate, prescribed by an Act of that Legislature or by a rule made under the next succeeding paragraph.

(2) In this paragraph the expression " native of India " has the same meaning as it had for the purposes of section six of the [33 & 34 Vict. c. 3.] Government of India Act, 1870, and accordingly it includes any person born and domiciled within the dominions of His Majesty in India or Burma of parents habitually resident in India or Burma and not established there for temporary purposes only.

27 In so far as provision with respect to any matter is not made by this Act or by His Majesty in Council or, after the constitution of the Federal Legislature, by Act of that Legislature (where the matter is one with respect to which that Legislature is competent to make laws), the Governor-General, exercising his individual judgment, may make rules for carrying into effect the foregoing provisions of this part of this Schedule and for securing the due constitution of the Council of State and the Federal Assembly and, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing words, with respect to—

(i) the notification of vacancies, including casual vacancies and the proceedings to be taken for filling vacancies;

(ii) the nomination of candidates;

(iii) the conduct of elections, including the application to elections of the principle of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, and the rules to regulate elections where certain of the seats to be filled are to be filled by persons to be chosen to serve for different terms, or are reserved for members of the scheduled castes;

(iv) the expenses of candidates at elections;

(v) corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection with elections;

(vi) the decision of doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the choice of persons to fill seats in the Council of State or the Federal Assembly; and

(vii) the manner in which rules are to be carried into effect.

TABLE OF SEATS.

Representatives of British India.

The Council of State.

(i) Allocation of seats.

1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.
Province or Community.	Total seats.	General seats.	Seats for Scheduled Castes.	Sikh seats.	Muhammadan seats.	Women's seats.
Madras	20	14	1	—	4	1
Bombay	16	10	1	—	4	1
Bengal	20	8	1	—	10	1
United Provinces	20	11	1	—	7	1
Punjab	16	3	—	4	8	1
Bihar	16	10	1	—	4	—
Central Provinces and Berar	8	6	1	—	1	—
Assam	5	3	—	—	2	—
North West Frontier Province	5	1	—	—	4	—
Orissa	5	4	—	—	1	—
Sind	5	2	—	—	3	—
British Baluchistan	1	—	—	—	1	—
Delhi	1	1	—	—	—	—
Ajmer-Merwara	1	1	—	—	—	—
Coorg	1	1	—	—	—	—
Anglo-Indians	1	—	—	—	—	—
Europeans	7	—	—	—	—	—
Indian Christians	2	—	—	—	—	—
Totals	150	75	6	4	49	6

(ii) Distribution of seats for purposes of triennial elections.

1.	Number of seats to be filled originally for three years only.					Number of seats to be filled originally for six years only.					Number of seats to be filled originally for nine years.
	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.	11.	12.	13.	14.	15.	16.
Province.	General Seats.	Seats for Scheduled castes.	Sikh Seats.	Muhammadan Seats.	Women's Seats.	General Seats.	Seats for Scheduled castes.	Sikh Seats.	Muhammadan Seats.	Women's Seats.	General Seats.	Seats for Scheduled castes.	Sikh Seats.	Muhammadan Seats.	Women's Seats.
Madras	—	—	—	—	—	7	—	—	2	1	7	1	—	2	—
Bombay	5	—	—	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	5	1	—	2	—
Bengal	4	1	—	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	4	—	—	5	1
United Provinces	5	1	—	3	1	6	—	—	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
Punjab	—	—	2	—	—	1	—	2	—	1	—	—	—	—	—
Bihar	—	—	—	—	—	5	1	—	2	—	5	—	—	2	1
Central Provinces and Berar	—	—	—	—	—	6	1	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
Assam	—	—	—	—	—	3	—	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
North West Frontier Province	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	4	—
Orissa	4	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sind	2	—	—	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
British Baluchistan	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—
Delhi	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—
Aimer-Merwara	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—
Coorg	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—
Totals	22	2	2	18	2	28	1 2 1	2	15	2	25	2	—	16	2

TABLE OF SEATS.

The Federal Assembly.

Representatives of British India.

1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.	11.	12.	13.
		General Seats:—
Province.	Total Seats.	Total of general Seats.	General seats reserved for Scheduled castes.	Sikh Seats.	Muhammadan Seats.	Anglo-Indian Seats.	European Seats.	Indian Christian Seats.	Seats for representatives of commerce and industry.	Landholders Seats.	Seats for representatives of labour.	Women's Seats.
Madras	37	19	4	—	8	1	1	2	2	1	1	2
Bombay	30	13	2	—	6	1	1	1	3	1	2	2
Bengl	37	10	3	—	17	1	1	1	3	1	2	1
United Provinces	37	19	3	—	12	1	1	1	—	1	1	1
Punjab	30	6	1	6	14	—	1	1	—	1	—	1
Bihar	30	16	2	—	9	—	1	1	—	1	1	1
Central Provinces and Berar	15	9	2	—	3	—	—	—	—	1	1	1
Assam	10	4	1	—	3	—	1	1	—	—	1	—
North West Frontier Province.	5	1	—	—	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Orissa	5	4	1	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sind	5	1	—	—	3	—	1	—	—	—	—	—
British Baluchistan	1	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Delhi	2	1	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Ajmer-Merwara	1	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coorg	1	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Non-Provincial Seats	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	—	1	—
Totals	250	105	19	6	82	4	8	8	11	7	10	9