Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi has rightly said that the higher the position, the higher should be the qualification. There has been growing concern over the years in India about several aspects of our electoral system. One such is prescribing the mandatory educational qualification for contesting the election of MP and MLA. In the Constituent Assembly B R Ambedkar remarked that “I think that it is a matter which might be left to the legislatures. If the legislature at the time of the prescribing qualification feels that literacy qualification is a necessary one, I no doubt think that they will do it.” This seems to suggest that the framers believed that the power to the Parliament under the omnibus clauses of (which became) Articles 84 and 102, included the power to prescribe literacy qualifications. An attempt has been made in this paper to draw attention to the urgent need for electoral reforms, while making a balance between ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ for the better administration of democracy, in the light of the recent ordinances passed by Rajasthan and Haryana governments. The paper also discusses and critically evaluates the judgment of Haryana High Court in the case of Rajbala & Others vs. State of Haryana & Others while citing foreign instances.

Democracy is a concept, a political philosophy and an ideal practiced by many nations, culturally advanced and politically mature, by resorting to governance by representatives of the people elected directly or indirectly.1 The importance of democratic government has been acknowledged since ancient times. Today, several countries have been embracing the democratic form of government, including India. India is the largest democracy of the world, but what would happen if democracies have licentious, uneducated and corrupt leaders. Plato, the great political philosopher has given the concept of “philosopher king” in his book Republic. The philosopher rulers are spawned after a comprehensive and rigorous training and education. Socrates has rightly argued that, “until philosophers rule as kings in their cities, or those who are nowadays called kings and leading men become genuine and adequate philosophers… cities will have no rest from evil.” Thus, the countries’ leaders should be well-educated and experienced.

Indian democratic governance is a mixture of Parliamentary and Presidential form of government. India’s Parliament is bicameral. The Lower House is designated as the ‘House of the People’ or Lok Sabha, and the Upper House as the ‘Council of States’ or Rajya Sabha. The two houses along with President constitute Parliament.2 In so far as Parliament and State Legislatures are concerned, the qualifications of its members are enshrined under Articles 84 and 173, and disqualifications under Articles 102 and 191, respectively. The Constitution also authorizes the Parliament to make laws prescribing for further qualifications and disqualifications. However, the Indian Constitution does not provide any educational qualification for being the Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA). Thus, the Constitution, while mentioning the various eligibility criteria, does not prescribe anything about educational qualifications.3

Law Review Journal,Educational Qualifications , Elected Representatives, Progressive Democracy.