Part V · The Union · General
Article 83: Duration of Houses of Parliament
Text of Article 83
(1) The Council of States shall not be subject to dissolution, but as nearly as possible one-third of the members thereof shall retire as soon as may be on the expiration of every second year in accordance with the provisions made in that behalf by Parliament by law.
(2) The House of the People, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for [five years] from the date appointed for its first meeting and no longer and the expiration of the said period of [five years] shall operate as a dissolution of the House:
Provided that the said period may, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, be extended by Parliament by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not extending in any case beyond a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate.
Words in [square brackets] were inserted or substituted by later amendments (see below). Source: Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
A plain-English explanation of Article 83, landmark judgments and exam facts are being added to this page.
Amendment history
Changed by: 42nd Amendment Act, 1976, 44th Amendment Act, 1978
- Subs. by the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act, 1976, s. 17, for "five years" (w.e.f. 3-1-1977) and further subs. by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978, s. 13, for "six years" (w.e.f. 20-6-1979).
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