TC Bureau Chandigarh: On Kurukshetra Lok Sabha MP Nayab Singh Saini becoming the next Chief Minister of Haryana, Punjab, and Haryana High Court advocate and legal analyst Hemant Kumar said that since Nayab Saini is currently not a member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly i.e. MLA. Those who become MLAs can remain on the post of Chief Minister for a maximum period of 11 September 2024 i.e. for 6 months. Citing Article 164 (4) of the Constitution of India, Hemant said that it is mentioned in it that a minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of the Legislature of the State shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister.
He further said that four months ago, on November 3, 2023, four years of the tenure of the current 14th Haryana Assembly had been completed. The first session of the state assembly was called on 4 November 2019. According to Article 172 of the Constitution. Every Legislative Assembly of every State shall, unless sooner dissolved, continue for five years from the date appointed for its first session, and that assembly will be dissolved with the expiry of the said period of five years.
However, the tenure of the current 14th Haryana Assembly is till November 3, 2024, this year, although it can be dissolved before time. To do this, the State Cabinet headed by the Chief Minister is competent to make decisions on which the Assembly, with the approval of the Governor, is dissolved before the stipulated period of 5 years.
Hemant further said that after November 3, 2023, i.e. after the completion of the four-year term of the present 14th Haryana Assembly, if any assembly seat becomes vacant due to the death, resignation, or disqualification of a sitting MLA and is declared vacant. If it is done, then no by-election can be conducted by the Election Commission of India on that vacant assembly seat because from the date of 3rd November 2023, the remaining tenure of that previous MLA will be less than one year, and as per the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Under Section 151(A), the by-election is not conducted by the Election Commission on such vacant seat on which the remaining tenure of the previous MLA is less than one year.
Meanwhile, giving a variation of the above, Hemant said that if during the last year of the tenure of the Legislative Assembly, a person is appointed as the Chief Minister or Minister of the State, like today Naib Saini has been made the Chief Minister of Haryana, who is not a member of the present Haryana Legislative Assembly, then in that situation duly By-election can be conducted by the Election Commission on any vacant assembly seat. In this regard, Hemant gave the example of the year 1986 when Bansi Lal, who became the Chief Minister of Haryana, had won the by-election from Tosham Assembly constituency of Bhiwani district despite having less than a year left in the term of the then Haryana Assembly.
Hemant said that since there is no vacant seat in the present 14th Assembly of Haryana state as of date, a by-election can be held in the next 6 months only if any sitting MLA resigns from the seat, the possibility of which is very less. However, in such a situation, that is, Nayab Singh Saini cannot become MLA before the next 6 months i.e. before 11 September 2024. So they will have to dissolve the current 14th Haryana Assembly in time before the scheduled time i.e. before 3rd November 2024 so that the next general elections of the Assembly can be conducted.
