Article 101(1) is a fundamental provision in the Constitution of India, 1950, dealing with the vacation of seats in the Indian Parliament. It is located in Part V (The Union), Chapter II, which concerns the Parliament. The concept originated from Draft Article 82, which was discussed on May 19, 1949, and was created to solve the problem of dual membership. It upholds the democratic principle of "one person, one seat" by ensuring focused and dedicated representation.
The mechanism of Article 101(1) is explicitly stated: "No person shall be a member of both Houses of Parliament and provision shall be made by Parliament by law for the vacation by a person who is chosen a member of both Houses of his seat in one House or the other". This means if a person is elected to both the Lok Sabha (House of the People) and the Rajya Sabha (Council of States), they must choose and vacate one seat according to a law made by Parliament.
This provision connects to other clauses within the same Article, such as Article 101(2), which prohibits a person from being a member of both Parliament and a State Legislature simultaneously. It also relates to Article 102, which lists the grounds for disqualification of a member of Parliament. While the overall Article 101 saw amendments, such as the addition of a proviso to clause (3) by the Constitution (Thirty-Third Amendment) Act, 1974, the core text of Article 101(1) itself has remained unchanged since the Constitution's commencement.