Mandatory presidential election timing prevails over Assembly dissolution, and dissolved Assembly members cannot vote in the electoral college.

Constitutional time limits for the presidential election are mandatory, so the vacancy arising on expiry of the President's term had to be filled before that term ended. Members of a dissolved State Legislative Assembly could not remain part of the electoral college because only elected members existing on the relevant date are entitled to vote. Vacancies in the electoral college caused by dissolution did not invalidate or postpone the election, and the presidential poll was not dependent on completion of all State Assembly elections first. The Gujarat Assembly election also could not proceed on the earlier census and delimitation basis once the revised scheme had taken effect.

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Issues: (i) Whether the election to fill the vacancy caused by expiry of the President's term must be completed before expiry of the term notwithstanding dissolution of a State Legislative Assembly; (ii) whether members of a dissolved State Legislative Assembly can form part of the electoral college for the presidential election; (iii) whether vacancies in the electoral college caused by dissolution invalidate or postpone the presidential election; and (iv) whether the Gujarat Assembly election could be held on the basis of the earlier census and delimitation scheme.

Issue (i): Whether the election to fill the vacancy caused by expiry of the President's term must be completed before expiry of the term notwithstanding dissolution of a State Legislative Assembly.

Analysis: The constitutional scheme treats the President's term as fixed and requires that an election to fill a vacancy caused by expiry of that term be completed before the term expires. The time prescription in the constitutional text is mandatory, and it is reinforced by the statutory scheme under the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Elections Act, 1952, which contemplates completion of the election before the outgoing President's term ends. The possibility that exceptional events may prevent completion on the scheduled date does not alter the mandatory character of the requirement.

Conclusion: The election to fill the presidential vacancy had to be held and completed before expiry of the President's term.

Issue (ii): Whether members of a dissolved State Legislative Assembly can form part of the electoral college for the presidential election.

Analysis: The electoral college consists of elected members of both Houses of Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States at the relevant date of election. Once a State Assembly is dissolved, its members cease to be elected members of that Assembly and therefore do not continue as electors for the presidential election. The constitutional provisions governing the electoral college do not make the holding of the presidential election dependent on the existence of every State Assembly.

Conclusion: Members of a dissolved State Legislative Assembly were not entitled to vote in the presidential election.

Issue (iii): Whether vacancies in the electoral college caused by dissolution invalidate or postpone the presidential election.

Analysis: The constitutional amendment inserting the vacancy clause in the election-dispute provision reflects that the existence of vacancies among members of the electoral college does not itself invalidate the election. The constitutional mandate to complete the presidential election on time prevails, and vacancies caused by dissolution are not a ground to postpone the election or to require completion of State Assembly elections first. The relevant constitutional provisions are to be read harmoniously, but none displaces the mandatory timing of the presidential election.

Conclusion: Vacancies in the electoral college caused by dissolution did not prevent or postpone the presidential election.

Issue (iv): Whether the Gujarat Assembly election could be held on the basis of the earlier census and delimitation scheme.

Analysis: After publication of the later census figures and the operation of the delimitation law, the composition of State Assemblies and the distribution of seats had to conform to the revised constitutional and statutory scheme. The earlier electoral arrangements could not be used to hold the election to the dissolved Gujarat Assembly once the later census-based readjustment had taken legal effect.

Conclusion: The Gujarat Assembly election could not proceed on the old census and delimitation basis.

Final Conclusion: The advisory opinion affirms the mandatory timing of the presidential election, the limited composition of the electoral college at the date of election, and the inapplicability of dissolved State Assembly members to that electoral process, while also rejecting the challenge based on the old delimitation arrangement for the Gujarat Assembly.

Ratio Decidendi: Constitutional time limits for the election of the President are mandatory, and the electoral college is determined by the existence of elected members on the date of election, not by the continued existence of every State Assembly.

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