Nomination of candidates at other elections

Section 39 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 deals with nomination of candidates at other elections. As soon as the notification calling upon the elected members or the members of the Legislative Assembly of a State or the members of the electoral college of a [Union territory] to elect a member or members is issued, the Election Commission shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint (a The Act came into force on 17 Jul 1951.

¹[39.Nomination of candidates at other elections.--(1) As soon as the notification calling upon the elected members or the members of the Legislative Assembly of a State or the members of the electoral college of a ²[Union territory] to elect a member or members is issued, the Election Commission shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint

(a) the last date for making nominations, which shall be the ³[seventh day] after the date of publication of the first-mentioned notification or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday;

(b) the date for the scrutiny of nominations, which shall be ⁴[the day immediately following] the last date for making nominations or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday;

(c) the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures, which shall be ⁵[the second day] after the date date for the scrutiny of nominations or, if that day is a public holiday, the next succeeding day which is not a public holiday;

(d) the date or dates on which a poll shall, if necessary, be taken, which or the first of which shall be a date not earlier than the seventh day after the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures; and

(e) the date before which the election shall be completed.

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(2) The provisions of sections 31 to 38, excluding sub-sections (2) and (5) of section 33 and ⁷[clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 34], shall apply in relation to any such election as they apply apply in relation to an election in any constituency:

Provided that

(a) any references in the said provisions to the electoral roll of the constituency shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed, in the case of an election by the members or the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of the State, as references to the list of members or elected members, as the case may be, of that Assembly maintained under sub-section (1) of section 152, and in the case of an election by the members of the electoral college of a ²[Union territory], as references to the list of members of such electoral college maintained under sub-section (2) of that section;

⁸[(aa) the reference in the opening paragraph of sub-section (1) of section 33 to "an elector of the constituency as proposer" shall be construed as a reference to "ten per cent. of the elected members or of the members of the Legislative Assembly of a State or of the members of the electoral college of a Union territory, as the case may be, or ten members concerned, whichever is less, as proposers":

Provided that where as a result of the calculation of the percentage referred to in this clause, the number of members arrived at is a fraction and if the fraction so arrived at is more than one-half it shall be counted as one, and if the fraction so arrived at is less than one-half it shall be ignored;]

⁹[¹⁰[(ab)] in the case of an election to the Legislative Council of a State by the members of the Legislative Assembly of that State, clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 36 shall be construed as including a reference to sub-clause (d) of clause (3) of article 171;]

(b) any references in the said provisions to section 30 shall be construed as references to sub-section (1) of this section; and

(c) at the time of presenting the nomination paper, the returning officer may require the person presenting the same to produce either a copy of the electoral roll, or part of the electoral roll, in which the name of the candidate is included or a certified copy of the relevant entries in such roll.]

Section 39, The Representation of the People Act, 1951 (Act 43 of 1951).