 the representation of the people (second amendment) bill 1964 billfurther to amend the representation of the 'people act, 1951 be it enacted by parliament in the-fifteenth year of the republic of india as follows:-1 this act may be called the representation of the people short (second amendment) act, 1964 title 43 of 1951 5 ! in part vin of the representation of the people act, 1951, insertion after section 145, the following chapter and sections shall be inser- of new ted namely: _ chapter | ,           ||-------------|| tions after || section     || "chapter    || iv          || 145        | powers of election commibrion in connection with lnquirie'f as to disqualifications of member,10 20 of 1963 is 146 (1) where in connection with the tendering of any powers of opinion to the president under article 103 or, 8& the case may election be, under sub-section (4) of section 14 of the government of commis union territories act, 1963, or to the governor under article sion 192, the election commibsioil codiiderb it neceuary or proper to make an inquiry, and the commtaaton is sat1dad that on the basis of the aftldavits filed and the documents produced in such inquiry by the parties concerned of their own accord, it cannot come to a decisive opinion on the matter which is being inquired into, the commission shall have, for the purposes of such inquiry, the powers of a civil court, while trying a suit under the code of civil procedure, 1908 in respect of the following matters, namely:-5 of 1908 5 (a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath; (b) requiring the discovery and production of any document or other material object producible as evidence; (c) receiving evidence on affidavits; 10 (d) requisitioning any public record or a copy thereof from any court or office; (e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or documents (2) the commission shall aieo have the power to require 15 any person, subject to any privilege which may be claimed by that person under any law for the time being in force, to furnish information on such points or matters as in the opinion of the commission may be useful for, or relevant to, the s~bject matter of the inquiry: l 20 (3) the commission shall be deemed to be a civil court and when any such offence as is deeeribed in section 1'75, section 178, section 179, section 180 or section 228 of the indian penal code, is committed in the view or presence of the 45 of 1860, commission, the commissian may,', aftier recording the facts 2s constituting the oftence and the statement of the accused as provided for in the code of crimidalprocedure, 1898,forward 5 of 1888 the case to a magistrate having jurisdiction to try the same and the magistrate to whom any such case is forwarded shall ''proceed to hear the complaint against the accused as if the case 30 had been forwarded to him under section 482 of the code of criminal procedure, 1898 (4) any proceeding before the commission shan be deemed to be a judi,cial proceeding within the meaning of section 193 and section 228 of the indian penal code 35 14m no tatemeat asde , a ,pemm in the -coane of pvmg eyidenee before 1iie electtcm c-,,"lmicm 8bal1 abject him to, or ~ urd - him m, 0, eiri err erimida1 proeeechng teiicepl ii pn d ii ,tioa for fpvingfa!le wjlleue by such sta' lit: ,,' statemetlta made by persods to the election commission provided that the statement-(11) is made in reply to a question which he is required by the commission to answer, or (b) is relevant to the subject matter of the inquiry s 146b the election commission shall have the power to re- procedure gulate its own proeedul'e (includirg the fixing of places and to be time- 11f1ts sittings and deeiding whether to sit in public ql' in followed ) by the private  election commission 10 is 146cno suit, prosecution or other lelal proceeding shall lie protection against thecommiseion or any person acting w)der the direction of acti?n ()f the commission in respect of anything whioh is in good faith =n 10 done or intended to be done in punllance of the fofeaoing pro- faith visions of this chapter or of any order made thereunder 01' in respect of the tendering of any opinion by the commission to the president or, as the case may be, to the govemen' or in respect of the publication, by or under the authority of the commiasion of any such opinion, paper or proceedings"  statement of objects and reasonsif any question arises as to whether a member of parliament or of a state legislature (including the legislature of a union territory) has become subject to any disqualifications specified in article 102 (parliament) or article 191 (state legislature) or section 14(1) of the government of union territories a~t, 1963 (union territory assembly), the question is referred to the president under article 103, or under section 14(3) of the government of union territories act, or to the governor under article 192 for decision and the president or, as the case may be, the governor is required to obtain the opinion of the election commission on the question and decide it in accordance with such opinion before the election commission can give a considered opinion on such a reference, the commission may naturally require further relevant materials besides the bare averments made by the person who has raised the question and other interested parties but neither the constitution nor the government of union territories act, 1963, nor the representation of the people act, 1951, prescribes the procedure to be followed by the commission in this regard while the commission has been charged with the responsibility of tendering a binding opinion on the question of disqualification of a member, it has not been vested with the necessary legal powers which would enable it to hold an adequate inquiry into the issues involved the allegations made in such cases are of serious consequence to the parties concerned and often involve questions of great public importance in the absence of the necessary legal powers in this behalf the election commission is very often handicapped in the matter of finding out the true state of affairs in relation to an alleged disqualification the commission has experienced this difficulty in several cases including a recent one in which the commission has expressly recommended that it should be vested with the powers of a civil court as under the commissions of inquiry act, 1952, such as the power to summon witnesses and examine them on oath, the power to compel the production of documents, the power to issue commissions for the examination of witnesses, etc a similar recommendation was made by the commission in chapter xxiv of its report on the second general elections in india, 1957, vol i the recommendation of the election commission appears quite reasonable it is accordingly proposed that when in any inquiry in connection with the disqualification of a member of parliament or of a state legislature the election commission is satisfied that it cannot come to a decisive opinion on the basis of· the ~davits filed and documents produced in the inquiry by the parties concerned of their own accord, then, the commission shall have th~ powers of a civil court as mentioned in the commissions of inquiry act, 1952 the bill is intended to give effect to this proposal by inserting a new chapter iv in part viii of the representation of the people act, 1951    new delhi; a k sen the 29th september, 1964 a bill further to amend the representation of the people act, 195 i (shri asoke k sen, minister of laid) 