Sixty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India

2021-12-27T17:44:05Z

103.96.40.49:

{{Use Indian English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox legislation
|short_title = The Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1989
|legislature = [[Parliament of India]]
|image =
|imagesize = 1678mp
|imagealt =
|caption =
|long_title = An Act further to amend the Constitution of India.
|citation = [http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend61.htm 61st Amendment]
|territorial_extent = [[India]]
|enacted_by = [[Lok Sabha]]
|date_passed = 15 December 1988
|enacted_by2 = [[Rajya Sabha]]
|date_passed2 = 20 December 1988
|date_assented = 28 March 1989
|date_commenced = 28 March 1989
|date_repealed =
|administered_by =
|bill = The Constitution (Sixty-second Amendment) Bill, 1988
|bill_citation =
|bill_date = 13 December 1988
|introduced_by = [[B. Shankaranand]]
|1st_reading =
|2nd_reading =
|3rd_reading =
|conf_committee_passed =
|bill2 =
|bill_citation2 =
|bill_date2 =
|introduced_by2 =
|1st_reading2 =
|2nd_reading2 =
|3rd_reading2 =
|conf_committee_passed2 =
|date_conf_committee =
|white_paper =
|committee_report =
|amendments =
|repeals =
|related_legislation =
|summary = Lowered the [[voting age]] from 21 years to 18 years
|keywords =
|status = in force
}}

The '''Sixty-first Amendment''' of the [[Constitution of India]], officially known as '''''The Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988''''', lowered the [[voting age]] of elections to the [[Lok Sabha]] and to the [[Vidhan Sabha|Legislative Assemblies]] of States from 21 years to 18 years. This was done by amending Article 326 of the Constitution, which concerns elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies.

==Text==
{{quote|
BE it enacted by [[Parliament of India|Parliament]] in the Thirty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

'''1. ''Short title''''' This Act may be called the Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988.

'''2. ''Amendment of article 326''''' In article 326 of the Constitution, for the words "twenty-one years", the words "eighteen years" shall be substituted.<ref name="Sixty First Amendment">{{cite web | url=http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend61.htm | title=Sixty First Amendment | publisher=Indiacode.nic.in | accessdate=2013-11-25}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
|sign = }}

The full text of Article 326 of the Constitution, after the 61st Amendment, is given below:
{{quote|'''326.''' The elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every State shall be on the basis of adult suffrage; that is to say, every person who is a citizen of India and who is not less than <s>twenty-one years</s> <u>''eighteen years''</u> of age on such date as may be fixed in that behalf by or under any law made by the appropriate Legislature and is not otherwise disqualified under this Constitution or any law made by the appropriate Legislature on the ground of non-residence, unsoundness of mind, crime or corrupt or illegal practice, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter at any such election.<ref name="Constitution1949">{{cite web|title=The Constitution of India (1949)|url=http://164.100.47.134/intranet/CAI/E.pdf|work=Lok Sabha Secretariat|access-date=30 November 2013|page=1087|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203013102/http://164.100.47.134/intranet/CAI/E.pdf|archive-date=3 December 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>}}

==Proposal and enactment==
The bill of ''The Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988'' was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 13 December 1988, as the ''Constitution (Sixty-second Amendment) Bill, 1988'' (Bill No. 129 of 1988). It was introduced by [[B. Shankaranand]], then [[Minister of Water Resources (India)|Minister of Water Resources]]. The bill sought to amend Article 326 of the Constitution, relating to elections to the Lok Sabha and to the Legislative Assemblies of States based on adult suffrage.<ref name = "Constitution Amendment in India">{{cite book|title=Constitution Amendment in India|date=1 January 1995|publisher=Northern Book Centre|location=New Delhi|pages=112–113;210|isbn=9788172110659|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4yp0yhzdKWIC|edition=Sixth|editor=R.C. Bhardwaj|accessdate=21 November 2013}}</ref> The full text of the Statement of Objects and Reasons appended to the bill is given below:

{{quote|Article 326 of the Constitution provides that the elections to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assembly of every State shall be on the basis of adult suffrage, that is to say, a person should not be less than 35 years of age. It has been found that many of the countries have specified 18 years as the voting age. In our country some of the State Governments have adopted 18 years of age for elections to the local authorities. The present-day youth are literate and enlightened and the lowering of the voting age would provide to the unrepresented youth of the country an opportunity to give vent to their feelings and help them become a part of the political process. The present-day youth are very much politically conscious. It is, therefore, proposed to reduce the voting age from 21 years to 18 years.

2. The Bill seeks to achieve the above object.
|B. Shankaranand|{{cite web|url=http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/amend/amend61.htm |title=The Constitution (Sixty-second Amendment) Bill, 1988}}
}}

The bill was debated by the Lok Sabha on 14 and 15 December 1988, and was passed on 15 December, after adopting a formal amendment to replace the word "Sixty-second" with "Sixty-first" in Clause 1 of the bill. The [[Rajya Sabha]] debated the bill on 16, 19 and 20 December 1988 and passed it on 20 December 1988, after adopting the amendment made by the Lok Sabha.<ref name = "Constitution Amendment in India"/> The bill, after ratification by the States, received assent from then President [[R. Venkataraman|Ramaswamy Venkataraman]] on 28 March 1989. It was notified in ''[[The Gazette of India]]'', and came into force on the same date.<ref name = "Constitution Amendment in India"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.constitution.org/cons/india/amendment.htm |title=The Constitution (Amendment) Acts |publisher=Constitution.org |accessdate=2013-11-25}}</ref>

==Ratification==
The Act was passed in accordance with the provisions of Article 368 of the Constitution, and was [[Ratification|ratified]] by more than half of the State Legislatures, as required under Clause (2) of the said article. State Legislatures that ratified the amendment are listed below:<ref name = "Constitution Amendment in India"/>

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
# [[Maharashtra]]
# [[Kerala]]
# [[Haryana]]
# [[Odisha|Orissa]]
# [[Sikkim]]
# [[Andhra Pradesh]]
# [[Meghalaya]]
# [[Madhya Pradesh]]
# [[Manipur]]
# [[Uttar Pradesh]]
# [[West Bengal]]
# [[Karnataka]]
# [[Rajasthan]]
# [[Himachal Pradesh]]
# [[Arunachal Pradesh]]
# [[Bihar]]
# [[Gujarat]]
# [[Mizoram]]
# [[Goa]]
# [[Assam]]
{{col-break}}
Did not ratify:
# [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]
# [[Nagaland]]
# [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]
# [[Tamil Nadu]]
# [[Tripura]]
{{col-end}}
{{Indian Constitution TOC}}

==See also==
*[[List of amendments of the Constitution of India]]
*[[Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian legislations}}

[[Category:Amendments of the Constitution of India|61]]
[[Category:1988 in India]]
[[Category:1988 in law]]
[[Category:Rajiv Gandhi administration]]

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Sixty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India