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20. Meaning of “ordinarily resident”.
(1) A person shall not be deemed to be ordinarily resident in a constituency on the ground only that he owns, or is in possession of, a dwelling house therein.
(1A) A person absenting himself temporarily from his place of ordinary residence shall not by reason thereof cease to be ordinarily resident therein.
(1B) A member of Parliament or of the Legislature of a State shall not during the term of his office cease to be ordinarily resident in the constituency in the electoral roll of which he is registered as an elector at the time of his election as such member, by reason of his absence from that constituency in connection with his duties as such member.
(2) A person who is a patient in any establishment maintained wholly or mainly for the reception and treatment of persons suffering from mental illness or mental defectiveness, or who is detained in prison or other legal custody at any place, shall not by reason thereof be deemed to be ordinarily resident therein.
(3) Any person having a service qualification shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident on any date in the constituency in which, but for his having such service qualification, he would have been ordinarily resident on that date.
(4) Any person holding any office in India declared by the President in consultation with the Election Commission to be an office to which the provisions of this sub-section apply, shall be deemed to be ordinarily resident on any date in the constituency in which, but for the holding of any such office, he would have been ordinarily resident on that date.
(5) The statement of any such person as is referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) made in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner, that but for his having the service qualification or but for his holding any such office as is referred to in sub-section (4) he would have been ordinarily resident in a specified place on any date, shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be accepted as correct.
(6) The spouse of any such person as is referred to in sub-section (3) or sub-section (4) shall, if such spouse is ordinarily residing with such person, be deemed to be ordinarily resident in the constituency specified by such person under sub-section (5).
(7) If in any case a question arises as to where a person is ordinarily resident at any relevant time, the question shall be determined with reference to all the facts of the case and to such rules as may be made in this behalf by the Central Government in consultation with the Election Commission.
(8) In sub-sections (3) and (5) “service qualification” means—
(a) being a member of the armed forces of the Union; or
(b) being a member of a force to which the provisions of the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), have been made applicable whether with or without modifications; or
(c) being a member of an armed police force of a State, who is serving outside that State; or
(d) being a person who is employed under the Government of India, in a post outside India.
Note.—The offices declared by the President under sub-section (4), by Notification No. S.O. 959, dated 18th April, 1960, include the President, the Vice-President, the Governors of States, Cabinet Ministers of the Union or of any State, the Deputy Chairman and Members of the Planning Commission, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers of the Union or of any State, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People or of any State Legislative Assembly, the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of any State Legislative Council, the Lieutenant Governors of Union territories, the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States, and the Parliamentary Secretaries of the Union or of any State.
