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2002 (10) TMI 806
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....onduct elections before 3rd of October, 2002 which was the last date of expiry of six months from last sitting of the dissolved Legislative Assembly. It is in this context the President of India in exercise of powers conferred upon him by virtue of clause (1) of Article 143 of the Constitution of India referred three questions for the opinion of the Supreme Court by his order dated 19th August, 2002 which run as under : "WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly of the State of Gujarat was dissolved on July 19, 2002 before the expiration of its normal duration on March 18, 2003; AND WHEREAS Article 174(1) of the Constitution provides that six months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Legislative Assembly in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next Session: AND WHEREAS the Election Commission has also noted that the mandate of Article 174 would require that the Assembly should meet every six months even after the dissolution of the House, and that the Election Commission has all along been consistent that normally a Legislative Assembly should meet at least every six months as contemplated by Article 174, even where it h....
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....nferred upon me under clause (1) of Article 143 of the Constitution, I, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, President of India, hereby refer the following questions to the Supreme Court of India for consideration and report thereon, namely:- i) Is Article 174 subject to the decision of the Election Commission of India under Article 324 as to the schedule of elections of the Assembly? (ii) Can the Election Commission of India frame a schedule for the elections to an Assembly on the premise that any infraction of the mandate of Article 174 would be remedied by a resort to Article 356 by the President? (iii) Is the Election Commission of India under a duty to carry out the mandate of Article 174 of the Constitution, by drawing upon all the requisite resources of the Union and the State to ensure free and fair elections?" Much before the matter was taken up for hearing it was made clear by the Bench hearing the reference that it would neither answer the reference in the context of the election in Gujarat nor look into the questions of facts arising out of the order of the Election Commission and shall confine its opinion only on questions of law referred to it. When th....
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....l Courts Bill, 1978, Spl Ref. No. 1 of 1978 - (1979) 1 SCC 380; (4) In re : Appointment of Judges Case, Special Reference No. 1 of 1998 - (1998) 7 SCC 739; (5) The Ahmedabad St. Xavier's College Society & Anr vs. State of Gujarat & Ors (1974) 1 SCC 717; (6) In re: Presidential Poll, Special Reference No. 1 of 1974 - (1974) 2 SCC 33; (7) In re : The Kerala Education Bill, 1957 - (1959) SCR 995; and (8) Dr.M. Ismail Faruqui & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors - (1994) 6 SCC 360. In re: The Kerala Education Bill, 1957 (supra), it was urged that since the Bill introduced in the Legislative Assembly has been referred to under Article 143 and the same having not received legislative sanction the reference need not be answered. Dealing with the said argument this Court held that under Article 143, the Supreme Court is required to advise the President not only as to any question which has arisen but also as to a question which is likely to arise in future. In re: Special Court Bill, 1978 (supra), it was held that it was not necessary that the question on which the opinion of the Supreme Court is sought must h....
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....n the question. Even in matters arising under clause (2), though that question does not arise in this reference, the Court may be justified in returning the reference unanswered if it finds for a valid reason that the question is incapable of being answered. With these preliminary observations we will consider the contentions set forth above." In re: Keshav Singh, Special Reference No. 1 of 1964, (supra) 413, Gajendragadkar, CJ speaking for the Court stated that the words of Article 143(1) are wide enough to empower the President to forward to this Court for its advisory opinion any question of law or fact which has arisen or is likely to arise, provided it appears to the President that such a question is of such a nature or of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Court upon it. In re: Allocation of Lands and Buildings, 1943 FCR 20, Gwyer, CJ stated "we felt some doubt whether any useful purpose would be served by giving of an opinion under Section 213 of the Government of India Act. The terms of that section do not impose an obligation on the Court, though we should always be unwilling to decline to accept a reference except for good....
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....n Commission. But the legal premise on which order was passed raises questions of public importance and these questions are likely to arise in future. The questions whether Article 174(1) is mandatory and would apply to a dissolved Assembly, that, whether in extraordinary circumstances Article174(1) must yield to Art.324, and, that, the non-observance of Article 174 would mean that the government of a State cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and in that event Art.356 would step in, are not only likely to arise in future but are of public importance. It is not disputed that there is no decision of this Court directly on the questions referred and further, a doubt has arisen in the mind of the President of India as regards the interpretation of Art 174(1) of the Constitution. Under such circumstances, it is imperative that this reference must be answered. We, therefore, overrule the objections raised and proceed to answer the Reference. Question No. 1 Is Article 174 subject to decision of the Election Commission of India under Article 324 as to the schedule of election of the Assembly? In an effort that aforesaid question be answered i....
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....ative Assembly. According to learned counsel appearing for these parties, there is no provision either in the Constitution or in the Representation of the People Act which provides an outer limit for holding election for constituting the new Legislative Assembly or the new House of the People, as the case may be, in the event of their premature dissolution. On the argument of learned counsel for the parties, the first question that arises for consideration is whether Article 174(1) is applicable to a dissolved Assembly? A plain reading of Article 174 shows that it stipulates that six months shall not intervene between the last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session. It does not provide for any period of limitation for holding fresh election in the event a Legislative Assembly is prematurely dissolved. It is true that after commencement of the Constitution, the practice has been that whenever either Parliament or Legislative Assembly were prematurely dissolved, the election for constituting fresh Assembly or Parliament, as the case may be, were held within six months from the date of the last sitting of the dissolved Parliament ....
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.... object sought to be achieved, be denied to the Court whose function is primarily to give effect to the real intention of the Parliament in enacting the legislation. Such denial would deprive the Court of a substantial and illuminating aid to construction of the provisions of the Constitution. The modern approach has to a considerable extent eroded the exclusionary rule in England. Since it is permissible to look into the pre-existing law, Historical Legislative Developments, and Constituent Assembly Debates, we will look into them for interpreting the provisions of the Constitution. Historical Legislative Developments Government of India Act, 1915 & Government of India Act, 1919 Part VI of Government of India Act 1915 dealt with the Indian Legislatures containing provisions dealing with Indian and governor's provinces legislatures. Section 63D dealt with Indian Legislature while Section 72B dealt with the legislature of Governor's provinces. Sections 63D(1) and Sec. 72B(1) run as under: " Sec 63D(1) : Every Council of State shall continue for five years and every Legislative Assembly for three years from its first meeting: Provided that: a) either Cha....
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....lature may be sooner dissolved by the Governor General; and b) any such period may be extended by the Governor General, if in special circumstances he so think fit; and c) after the dissolution of either Chamber the Governor General shall appoint a date not more than six months or, with the sanction of the Secretary of the State, not more than nine months from the date of dissolution for the next session of that Chamber. A combined reading of Sections 63D(1) & 72B(1) of Government of India Act 1915 and Sections 8(1) and 21(1) of Government of India Act 1919 shows that the Governor General could also either dissolve the Council of State or the Legislative Assembly sooner than its stipulated period or extend the period of their functioning. Further, it was mandated that after the dissolution of either Chamber, the Governor General shall appoint a date not more than six months or with the sanction of the Secretary of the State, not more than nine months from the date of dissolution, for the next session of that Chamber. Similarly, the Governor of the province could also either dissolve the Legislative Council sooner than its stipulated period or extend the period ....
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.... next session of the new chamber was also given up. These were the departures from the previous Acts. It may also be noted that under the Government of India Act, 1935, statutory provisions were made in respect of the conduct of elections. Under Schedule V Para 20 of the Government of India Act, 1935, the Governor General was empowered to make rules for carrying out the provisions of the Vth and VIth Schedule. Para 20 as a whole related to matters concerning elections, and Clause (iii) particularly pertained to conduct of elections. Similarly, Schedule VI of the Government of India Act, 1935 contained provisions with respect to electoral rolls and franchise. Such provisions are not found in either the Government of India Act, 1915 or the Government of India Act, 1919. Thus, we see that statutory provisions have come in for the first time and conduct of elections has been entrusted in the hands of the executive. Since the power to fix the calendar for holding elections was given in the hand of executive, therefore, the provisions for fixing a date of next session of new legislature in The Government of India Act of 1915 and 1919 was given up in the 1935 Act. This shows that election....
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....ssion. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Article, the Governor may from time to time -- (a) summon the Houses or either House to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit; (b) prorogue the House or Houses; (c) dissolve the Legislative Assembly. (3) The functions of the Governor under sub-clauses (a) and (c) of clause (2) of this Article shall be exercised by him in his discretion". On 18.5.1949, when Draft Article 69 came up for discussion, there was a proposal to change the intervening period between the two sessions of the Houses of Parliament from six months to three months so as to ensure that the Parliament has more time to look into the problems faced by the people of the country. Prof. K.T. Shah one of the members of the Constituent Assembly, while moving an amendment to the Draft Article 69, as it then stood, said that the Draft Article was based on other considerations prevailing during the British times, when the legislative work was not much and the House used to be summoned only for obtaining financial sanction. Shri H.V. Kamath while intervening in the debate emphasized on the need to have frequent sessions ....
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....t passed in the normal course: Provided further that if at any time the President is unable or unwilling to summon Parliament for a period of more than three months or 90 days after prorogation or dissolution of the House of the People, and the Prime Minister is also unable or unwilling to make the request aforesaid, the Chairman of either Houses of Parliament thus called together shall be deemed to be validly convened and entitled to deal with any business places before it". Shri B.R.Ambedkar, while replying to the aforesaid proposed amendment, highlighted that after the Constitution comes into force, no executive could afford to show a callous attitude towards the legislature, which was not the situation before as the legislature was summoned only to pass revenue demands. Since there was no possibility of the executive showing a callous attitude towards the legislature, this would take care of the fear voiced by some members that no efforts to go beyond the minimum mandatory sittings of the Houses of Parliament would be made. He further dwelled on the fact that the clause provided for minimum mandatory sittings in a year so that if the need arose, the Parliament could....
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....islative Assembly could hold their first sitting within three months from the date of last sitting of the dissolved Parliament or Legislative Assembly, as the case may be. This would also have not allowed sufficient time for holding election for constituting either House of People or a Legislative Assembly. This shows that the intention of the framers of the Constitution was that the provisions contained in Article 174 were meant for a living and existing Legislative Assembly and not to a dissolved Legislative Assembly. Debates during the Constitution First Amendment Bill regarding amendment of Article 85 and Article 174 The original Articles 85 and 174 as they stood prior to first Constitution Amendment and after the Amendment read as follows : Article Original Articles in the Constitution As amended by Constitution (Amendment) Act 1951 Article 85 (1) the Houses of Parliament shall be summoned to meet twice at least in every year, and six months shall not intervene between their last sitting in one session and the date appointed for their first sitting in the next session. (1) The President shall from time to time Sessions of summon each House o....
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.... the Articles mentions that the House shall meet at least twice every year and the President shall address it. Now a possible interpretation of that is that this House has not met at all this year. It is an extraordinary position considering that this time this House has laboured more than probably at any time in the previous history of this or the preceding Parliament in this country. We have been practically sitting with an interval round about Xmas since November and we are likely to carry on and yet it may be held by some acute interpreters that we have not met at all this year strictly in terms of the Constitution because we started meeting November and we have not met again it has not been prorogued the President has not addressed the Parliament this year. Put in the extreme way, suppose this House met for the full year without break except short breaks, it worked for 12 months, then it may be said under the strict letter of the law that it has not met all this year. Of course that Article was meant not to come in the way of our work but to come in the way of our leisure. It was indeed meant and it must meet at least twice a year and there should not be more than six months i....
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....ence of such phraseology 'after each general election' in Article 174 is a clear indication that the said Article does not apply to a dissolved Assembly or to a freshly elected Assembly. Further, Article 174(1) uses expressions i.e. 'its last sitting in one session', 'first sitting in the next session'. None of these expressions suggest that the sitting and the session would include an altogether different Assembly i.e. a previous Assembly which has been dissolved and its successor Assembly that has come into being after elections. Again, Article 174 also employs the word 'summon' and not 'constitute'. Article 174 empowers the Governor to summon an Assembly which can only be an existing Assembly. The Constitution of an Assembly can only be under Sec 73 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the requirement of Art 188 of the Constitution suggests that the Assembly comes into existence even before its first sitting commences. Again, Article 174 contemplates a session, i.e. sitting of an existing Assembly and not a new Assembly after dissolution and this can be appreciated from the expression 'its last sitting in one session and its first sitting in the next session'. Fu....
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....onformity with Article 174(1). Moreover, if the House is dissolved in 5th month of the last session, the election will have to be held within one month so as to comply with the requirement of Article 174(1) which would not have been the intention of the framers of the Constitution. Yet, there is another aspect which shows that Article 174(1) is inapplicable to a dissolved Legislative Assembly. It cannot be disputed that each Legislative Assembly after Constitution is unique and distinct from the previous one and no part of the dissolved House is carried forward to a new Legislative Assembly. Therefore, Article 174(1) does not link the last session of the dissolved House with the newly formed one. The distinction between frequency of sessions and periodicity of the elections A perusal of Articles 172 and 174 would show that there is a distinction between the frequency of meetings of an existing Assembly and periodicity of elections in respect of a dissolved Assembly which are governed by the aforesaid provisions. As far as frequency of meetings of Assembly is concerned, the six months rule is mandatory, while as far as periodicity of election is concerned, there is no si....
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....ng until Parliament is dissolved by the Sovereign, prior to the next general election. The continuity of Parliament is today secured by including in the same proclamation the dissolution of one Parliament, the order for the issuing of writs for the election of a new Parliament and the summoning of that Parliament on a specified date at Westminster. Under Sec 21(3) of the Representation of People Act, 1918, the interval between the date of the proclamation and the meeting of Parliament must be not less than 20 days, although this period can be further extended by proclamation. During this interval the general election is held." Passages relied upon by the learned counsel are extremely inappropriate in the Indian context for holding elections for constituting either House of the People or the Legislative Assembly. As is clear from the passages themselves, under British Parliamentary system, it is the exclusive right of the Monarch to dissolve the Parliament and the Monarch by the same proclamation also provides for the election and meeting of its successor, which is not the case under the Indian Constitution. Under the Indian Constitution, the power has been entrusted to the El....
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....nment is solely in the power of each House respectively: though the pleasure of the Crown has occasionally been signified in person, by message, commission or proclamation, that both Houses should adjourn; and in some cases such adjournments have scarcely differed from prorogations. But although no instance has occurred where the House has refused to adjourn, the communication may be disregarded. Dissolution The Queen may also close the existence of Parliament by a dissolution, but is not entirely free to define the duration of the Parliament. Parliament is usually dissolved by a proclamation under great seal, after having been prorogued to a certain day, but such a proclamation has been issued at a time when both Houses stood adjourned. This proclamation is issued by the Queen, with the advice of her Privy Council; and announces that the Queen has given orders to the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to issue out writs in due form, and according to law, for calling a new Parliament; and the writs are to be returnable in due course of law. The aforesaid passages relied upon by learned counsel are wholly inapplicable in t....
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.... on pending legislative business are concerned, in England, prorogation puts an end to all pending business in the Parliament, whereas in India, this is not the case. Under Articles 107 and 196, there is a specific provision that mere prorogation will not lead to lapsing of Bills pending at that point of time. It is only on dissolution that the pending Bills lapse under Articles 107(5) and 196(5) of the Constitution. Thus, we see that there is practically no difference in the effects following prorogation and dissolution in England, which difference is specifically contemplated under the India Constitution. In England, dissolution does not bring with it any special or additional consequences apart from those that attend upon prorogation. Therefore, the British convention with respect to summoning, proroguing and dissolution of the House of Commons is also of not much relevance in the Indian context. From the above, the irresistible conclusion is that Article 174(1) is neither applicable to a dissolved House nor does it provide for any period for holding election for constituting fresh Legislative Assembly. Whether the expression "the House" is a permanent body and is differen....
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....id institutions either as Council of States or House of the People. Similarly, in States when the Constitution makers wanted to confer power, functions, duties or wanted to make similar provisions both for the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly, they referred both the institutions as 'Houses', 'either House', ' both Houses', 'each House' and where there was no Legislative Council, and power was to give exclusively to Legislative Assembly, it is referred as Legislative Assembly. The aforesaid pattern of drafting has been borrowed from Government of India Acts, 1915, 1919 and 1935 which we shall notice hereinafter. Section 63 of Government of India Act, 1915 provided that Indian Legislature shall consist of the Governor General and two Chambers viz., Council of State and Legislative Assembly. Section 63D(1)(a) provided that either Chamber of the Legislature may be summoned/dissolved by the Governor General. The expression 'Chamber' here is analogous to the expression 'House'. Under Section 63D(1)(c) of the Act, after the dissolution of either Chamber, the Governor General was required to appoint a date not more than six months or with the sanction of the Secretary of....
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....ject to dissolution and, therefore, the Federal Assembly which was subjected to dissolution has been specifically referred in the Section. In Government of India Act, 1935, there was a provincial legislature and under Section 60 of the Act, it was provided that there shall provincial legislature which shall consist of His Majesty represented by the Governor and in the provinces of Madras, Bombay and Bengal and United Provinces Bihar and Assam there shall be two Chambers and in other provinces one Chamber. In Sub-section (2) thereof, it was further provided that where there are two Chambers of the Provincial Legislature, they shall be known as Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly and where there is one Chamber the same will be known as Legislative Assembly. Sub-section (3) of Section 61 provided that every Legislative Council shall be a permanent body not subject to dissolution. Sub-section (2) of Section 62 of the Act provided that Governor may in his discretion from time to time summon the Chambers or either Chamber, prorogue the Chamber or Chambers and dissolve the Legislative Assembly. This provision is pari materia with Art 174 of the Constitution of India. In this c....
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....in that behalf by him an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule. Article 100 provides that all questions at any sitting of either House or joint sitting of the Houses shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting, other than the Speaker or person acting as Chairman or Speaker. Article 101 provides that no person shall be a member of both Houses of Parliament. Similarly, Article 102 uses the expression 'either House of Parliament'. Article 103 again uses the expression 'either House of Parliament'. Articles 104, 106 and 107 also use the expression 'either House of Parliament'. This shows that the Constitution framers, wherever they wanted to make similar provisions for both Council of States and House of the People, have used the expressions "House", "either House" , "both Houses", "Houses" only for the purpose of maintaining brevity and to avoid using Council of States and House of the People again and again. Analogous provisions are found in the provisions dealing with the State Legislature under Part VI Chapter III of the Constitution. Article 168 provides that for every State, there shall be a Leg....
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....ession 'Houses' while referring to both the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. These provisions may be contrasted with Articles 169, 170, 171, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185 and Article 186 which deal exclusively either with the Legislative Council or the Legislative Assembly. Similarly, Articles 197 and 198 also mention Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council separately. Thus, the Constitution makers have specifically referred to Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council wherever there was a need to do so. Moreover, Articles 188, 191 and 193 while dealing with the respective matters specified therein mention both Legislative Assembly or Legislative council separately. Since the Constitution was being drafted for the entire country and not for a particular State, the Constitution framers thought it fit to specify the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council separately to avoid confusion in States having just the Legislative Assembly and not the Legislative Council. It may be noted here that there is a difference in phraseology used in Arts. 99 and 188, which deal with oath or affirmation of members, Arts.103 and 191, which deal with disqualifica....
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....t, 1951 provides that general election is required to be held for the purpose of constituting a new Legislative Assembly on the expiration of duration of the existing Assembly or on its dissolution. Sub-section (2) thereof provides that for constituting new Legislative Assembly, the Governor shall by notification, on such date or dates, as may be recommended by the Election Commission, call upon all Assembly constituencies in the State to elect members in accordance with the provisions of the Act, rules and orders made thereunder. The proviso to subsection (2) of Section 15 of the Act provides that where an election is held otherwise than on the dissolution of the existing Legislative Assembly, no such notification shall be issued at any time earlier than six months prior to the dates on which the duration of that Assembly would expire under the provision of clause (1) of Article 172. The aforesaid provisions also do not provide for any period of limitation for holding elections for constituting new Legislative Assembly in the event of premature dissolution of an existing Legislative Assembly, excepting that election process can be set in motion by issuing a notification six mon....
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....here was unanimity among the members that an independent Constitutional Authority be set up for superintendence, direction, control and the conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State. In this connection, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar stated before the Constituent Assembly thus: "But the House affirmed without any kind of dissent that in the interest of purity and freedom of elections to the legislative bodies, it was of the utmost importance that they should be freed from any kind of interference from the executive of the day. In pursuance of the decision of the House, the Drafting Committee removed this question from the category of Fundamental Rights and put it in a separate part containing Articles 289, 290 and so on. Therefore, so far as the fundamental question is concerned that the election machinery should be outside the control of the executive Government, there has been no dispute. What Article 289 does is to carry out that part of the decision of the Constituent Assembly. It transfers the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls and of all elections to Parliament and the Legislatures of States to a body outside t....
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....erintendence, 'control' 'direction' as well as 'conduct of all elections' are the broadest of the terms. Therefore, it is no more in doubt that the power of superintendence, direction and control are subject to law made by either Parliament or by the State Legislature, as the case may provided the same does not encroach upon the plenary powers of the Election Commission under Article 324. We find that the Representation of the People Act, 1951 also has not provided any period of limitation for holding election for constituting fresh Assembly election in the event of premature dissolution of former Assembly. In this context, concerns were expressed by learned counsel for one of the national political parties and one of the States that in the absence of any period provided either in the Constitution or in the Representation of the People Act, the Election Commission may not hold election at all and in that event it would be the end of democracy. It is no doubt true that democracy is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution and periodical, free and fair election is substratum of democracy. If there is no free and fair periodic election, it is end of democracy and the same ....
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....d a period of six months after promulgation has ceased to operate. Further, under Articles 123 and 213, the life of an ordinance promulgated either by the President or by the Governor, as the case may be, is six months and repeated promulgation of ordinance after six months has not been welcomed by this Court. Again, under Articles 109, 110, and 111 and analogous Articles for State Assembly, Money Bill has to be passed by the House of People or by the Legislative Assembly. The aforesaid provisions do indicate that on the premature dissolution of Legislative Assembly, the Election Commission is required to initiate immediate steps for holding election for constituting Legislative Assembly on the first occasion and in any case within six months from the date of premature dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. 2 (b) Is there any limitation on the powers of the Election Commission to frame schedule for the purpose of holding election for constituting Legislative Assembly ? So far as the framing of the schedule or calendar for election of the Legislative Assembly is concerned, the same is in the exclusive domain of the Election Commission, which is not subject to any law framed ....
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....s that the gratuitous advice of application of Art.356 by the Election Commission in its order was in all its sincerity, although now on our interpretation of Article 174(1), we find that it was misplaced. However, the Election Commission in its written submission has stated thus: " The decision, contained in the Election Commission's order dated 16.8.2002, was taken without reference to Article 356. However, it was merely pointed out that there need be no apprehension that there would be a constitutional impasse as Article 356 could provide a solution in such a situation". In that view of the matter and the view we have taken in regard to the interpretation of Art.174(1), there is no need to go further into the question of application of Art.356 in the context of the order of the Election Commission out of which the Reference arises. As a result of the aforesaid discussion, our conclusions are as follows: a) The Reference made by the President of India under Article 143(1) arises out of the order of the Election Commission dated 19.8.2002 and the questions raised therein are of public importance and are likely to arise in future. Further, there being no dec....
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.... the date appointed for its first sitting in the next session is mandatory in nature and relates to an existing and functional Legislative Assembly and not to a dissolved Assembly whose life has come to an end and ceased to exist. Further, Article 174(1) neither relates to elections nor does it provide any outer limit for holding elections for constituting Legislative Assembly. The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral roll and conduct of holding elections for constituting Legislative Assembly is in the exclusive domain of the Election Commission under Article 324 of the Constitution. In that view of the matter, Article 174(1) and Article 324 operate on different fields and neither Article 174(1) is subject to Article 324 nor Article 324 is subject to Article 174(1) of the Constitution. Question No. (ii): This question also proceeds on the assumption that Article 174(1) is also applicable to a dissolved House. On our interpretation of Article 174(1), we have earlier reported that the said Article is inapplicable to a dissolved Legislative Assembly. Consequently, there is no infraction of the mandate of Article 174 (1) in preparing a sche....