Indian Constitution
General Knowledge

The Advocate General



The Advocate General

» Each state has an Advocate General, an official corresponding to the Attorney- General of India and having similar functions for the State.
» He is appointed by the Governor of the state and holds office during the pleasure of the Governor.
» Only a person who is qualified to be a judge of a High Court can be appointed Advocate-General. He receives such remuneration as the Governor may determine.
» He has the right to speak and to take part in the proceedings of, but no right to vote in, the Houses of the Legislature of the state {Ref.: Art. 177}.

The State Legislature

» Some states have bi-cameral Legislature (having two Houses). The Seven States having two Houses are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
» In the remaining States, the Legislature is uni-cameral and has the Legislative Assembly only.
» For creation or abolition of Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly of the State should pass a resolution by a special majority followed by an Act of Parliament {Ref.: Art. 169).
» The size of the Legislative Council may vary, but its membership should not be more than 1 / 3 of the membership of the Legislative Assembly but not less than 40.
» Legislative Council is a partly nominated and partly elected body.
» Election to the Legislative Council is indirect and in accordance with proportional representation by single transferable vote.
» 5/6 of the total number of embers of the Council is indirectly elected and 1 / 6 is nominated by the Governor.
» 1 / 3 of the total members of the Council is elected by local bodies such as municipalities, district boards.
» 1/12 is elected by graduates of three years' standing residing in the State.
» 1/12 is elected by teachers of secondary schools or higher educational institutions.

» 1/3 is elected by members of the Legislative Assembly from amongst persons who are not members of the Assembly.
» The remainder is nominated by the Governor from persons specialized in literature, science, art, co-operative movement and social service.
» The Court cannot question the bona tides or propriety of the Governor's nomination in any case.
» The Legislative Assembly of each State is directly elected on the basis of adult suffrage from territorial constituencies.
» The Number of members of the Assembly can not be more than 500 nor less than 60.
» The Assembly in Mizoram and Goa have only 40 members each. While the Assembly in Sikkim has only 32 members.
» Governor can nominate one member of the Anglo-Indian community in the Assembly {Ref.: Art. 333}.
» The duration of the Legislative Assembly is five years. It may be dissolved sooner than five years, by the Governor.
» The term of five years may be extended by the Parliament in case of a Proclamation of Emergency by the President for not more than one year at a time {Ref.: Art. 172(1).}
» Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) is a permanent body like the Council of State (Rajya Sabha).
» The Legislative Council is not dissolved. One-third of the members of Legislative Council retire on the expiry of every second year {Ref.: Art. 172(2)}.
» A Legislative Assembly has its Speaker and Deputy Speaker and a Legislative Council has its Chairman and Deputy Chairman, and the provisions relating to them are analogous to those relating to the corresponding officers of the Union Parliament.
ualifications for membership of State Legislature are :
  ★ Should be a citizen of India;
  ★ For Legislative Assembly, not less than twenty-five years of age and for Legislative Council not less than thirty years of age;
  ★ Should possess other qualifications prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament {Ref.: Art. 173}.

The Strength of Legislative Assembly in States/UT's
State/U.T Strength State/U.T Strength
Uttar Pradesh 403 Haryana 90
West Bengal 294 Jammu-Kashmir 87*
Maharashtra 288 Jharkhand 81
Bihar 243 Uttarakhand 70
Tamil Nadu 234 Delhi (NCT) 70
Madhya Pradesh 230 Himachal Pradesh 68
Karnataka 224 Arunachal Pradesh 60
Rajasthan 200 Manipur 60
Gujarat 182 Meghalaya 60
Andhra Pradesh 175 Nagaland 60
Odisha 147 Tripura 60
Kerala 140 Goa 40
Assam 126 Mizoram 40
Telangana 119 Sikkim 32
Punjab 117 Puducherry 30
Chhattisgarh 90 ★ 7 seats are reserved for SC