Article 193

Penalty for Sitting and Voting When Unqualified or Disqualified

Official heading: “Penalty for sitting and voting before making oath or affirmation under article 188 or when not qualified or when disqualified .”

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Source edition: The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
Source locator: Part VI, Article 193, printed page 87
Last human source-link check: Not yet checked
Last human legal review: Not yet reviewed

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1. In One Sentence

Article 193 imposes a daily financial penalty of five hundred rupees upon any person who sits or votes in a State Legislature before taking the oath, or when not qualified or disqualified.

2. What It Means in Everyday Language

Article 193 enforces constitutional compliance by penalizing unlawful participation in legislative proceedings.

Under the article, if a person sits or votes as a member of the Legislative Assembly or Legislative Council before complying with the oath requirement of Article 188, or when they know they are not qualified or are disqualified, they shall be liable to a penalty of five hundred rupees for each day they so sit or vote.

The penalty is recoverable as a debt due to the State, ensuring that impostors or disqualified individuals cannot participate with impunity.

3. Practical Illustrative Example

Everyday Scenario:

An MLA is convicted of a criminal offence incurring automatic disqualification under the Representation of the People Act, but continues attending and voting in assembly sessions for five days.

Core takeaway: Under Article 193, the individual is liable to a financial penalty of five hundred rupees per day, recoverable as a debt due to the State, in addition to being physically barred.

Illustrative Notice: Ignorance of law is not a defence; knowing participation while disqualified triggers the liability.

4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions

Article 193 provides penal enforcement protecting legislative purity.

Daily monetary penalty of ₹500 for unauthorized sitting or voting.
Applies to pre-oath participation and post-disqualification attendance.
Recoverable as a debt due to the State government.

5. Operative Constitutional Text

If a person sits or votes as a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council of a State before he has complied with the requirements of article 188, or when he knows that he is not qualified or that he is disqualified for membership thereof, or that he is prohib ited from so doing by the provisions of any law made by Parliament or the Legislature of the State, he shall be liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of five hundred rupees to be recovered as a debt due to the State. Powers, Privileges and Immunities of State Legislatures and their Members

Transcription for reference; compare with the linked official editionNot yet verified by a human legal reviewer

6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations

Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.

Sources & Citation Metadata

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Constitutional TextThe Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)Cited PDF page
Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part VI, Article 193, printed page 87 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.

Human legal review is pending; compare the text with the cited editionNon-partisan educational resource