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"One of the known methods to discern the intention behind enacting a provision of the Constitution and also to interpret the same is to look into the historical legislative developments, Constituent Assembly Debates, or any enactment preceding the enactment of the Constitutional provisions."

(ii) Legislative History The Constitution has established a federal system of Government with bi-cameral legislature at the Centre which is not something which was grafted in the Constitution for the first time. Its history goes back to Government of India Act, 1915 as amended in 1919. Even under the Government of India Act, 1919, the qualification of residence in relation to a particular constituency was considered to be unnecessary. This position is indicated by Rule XI of the then Electoral Rules. This position is also indicated by the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935 under which the Legislature at the Centre was bi-cameral. The Lower Chamber was called 'House of Assembly'. The Upper Chamber was called 'Council of States'. Under the Government of India Act, 1935 (for short, the 'GI Act'), the Council of States was a permanent body with one-third of its members retiring every third year. Sixth Schedule to the GI Act made provisions for franchise. Part I of that Schedule contained qualifications. It did not include residence as a qualification of the elector. However, there were other parts to the Sixth Schedule which dealt with certain subjects exclusive for different provinces in which there was a requirement of residence. This was under the heading 'general requirements. However, there was no uniformity. In certain cases, residence was prescribed as a qualification (for example in the case of Central Provinces, Berar and Bengal) whereas in provinces, namely, Assam, the qualification was 'a family dwelling place or a place where the elector ordinarily resided'. Therefore, the qualification of residence was not uniform. It depended upon local conditions. It deferred from province to province.

At this stage, we may clarify that under strict federalism, the Lower House represents 'the people' and the Upper House consists of the 'Union' of the Federation. In strict federalism both the Chambers had equal legislative and financial powers. However, in the Indian context, strict federalism was not adopted.

The Council of State under the GI Act became Council of States under the Constitution of India. This fact is important. In this connection, we have to look into the minutes of the Union Constitution Committee which recorded vide Item 21 the manner of computing weight proportional representation based on population strength. The said minutes further show the recommendation that the Upper House should include scientists, teachers etc. for which purpose, the President should be given authority to nominate. The necessity of the Upper Chamber was also the subject matter of debate in the Constituent Assembly on 28th July, 1947. These debates indicate the purpose for having the Upper Chamber. The object of the Upper Chamber as envisaged was to hold dignified debates on important issues and to share the experience of seasoned persons who were expected to participate in the debate with an amount of learning. Finally, on 28th July, 1947, a policy decision was taken by the Constituent Assembly that the Federal Parliament shall consist of two chambers.

The entire discussion with regard to the legislative history is only to show that residence was never the constitutional requirement. It was never treated as an essential ingredient of the structure of the Council of States. It has been treated just a matter of qualification. Further, the legislative history shows that qualification of residence has never been a constant factor. As the legislative history shows, ownership of assets, dwelling house, income, residence etc. were considered as qualification from time to time depending upon the context and the ground reality. The power to add qualifications was given to the Federal Parliament. Therefore, the legislative history of constitutional enactments like the GI Act shows that residence or domicile are not the essential ingredients of the structure and the composition of the Upper House.