Composition of the Legislative Council | Indian Constitution Download PDF

The size of the Legislative Council shall vary with that of the Legislative Composition of the Assembly,—the membership of the Council being not Legislative Council, more than one-third of the membership of the Legislative Assembly but not less than 40. This provision has been adopted so that the Upper House (the Council) may not get a predominance in the Legislature [Art. 171(1)].

The system of composition of the Council as laid down in the Constitution is not final. The final power of providing the composition of this Chamber of the State Legislature is given to the Union Parliament [Art. 171(2)]. But until Parliament legislates on the matter, the composition shall be as given in the Constitution, which is as follows: It will be a partly nominated and partly elected body—the election being an indirect one and in accordance with the principle of proportional representation by the single transferable vote. The members being drawn from various sources, die Council shall have a variegated composition.

Broadly speaking, 5/6 of the total number of members of the Council shall be indirectly elected and 1/6 will be nominated by the Governor. Thus—
(a) 1/3 of the total number of members of the Council shall be elected by electorates consisting of members of local bodies, such as municipalities, district boards.
(b) 1/12 shall be elected by electorates consisting of graduates of three years’ standing residing in that State.
(c) 1/12 shall be elected by electorates consisting of persons engaged for at least three years in teaching in educational institutions within the State, not lower in standard than secondary schools.
(d) 1/3 shall be elected by members of the Legislative Assembly from amongst persons who are not members of the Assembly.
(e) The remainder shall be nominated by the Governor from persons having knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art, co-operative movement and social service (The courts cannot question the bona fides or propriety of the Governor’s nomination in any case).