Parliament

Parliament
- The Parliament is the legislative organ of the Union government

- It occupies a central position in the Indian democratic political system
- It has ‘Westminster’ model of govt.
● Articles 79 to 122 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the powers, duration,
officers, organisation, privileges, composition, procedures, etc. of the Parliament.
Organisation of Parliament
● The Parliament consists of 3 parts viz, the President, the Council of States and the
House of the People.
● In 1954, the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and ‘Lok Sabha’ were adopted by the
Council of States and the House of People respectively.
- Rajya Sabha is the Upper House (2nd Chamber or House of Elders which
represents the states and UTs).
- Lok Sabha is the Lower House (1st Chamber or Popular House, which represents
the people of India as a whole).
● President is an integral part of the Parliament, because:

- A bill cannot become law without the his assent.
- He summons and prorogues both the Houses
- He can dissolve the Lok Sabha
- He addresses both the Houses
- He issues ordinances when they are not in session, etc.
● In Britain, the Parliament consists of the Crown (King or Queen), the House of
Lords (Upper House) and the House of Commons (Lower House).
● By contrast, in USA, the legislature, which is known as Congress, consists of the
Senate (Upper House) and the House of Representatives (Lower House).
● India has the ‘President-in-Parliament’ like the ‘Crown-in-Parliament’ in Britain.
● The presidential form of government, lays stress on the separation of legislative and
executive organs. Hence, the American president is not regarded as a constituent part
of the Congress.
● The Rajya Sabha strength is 250, of which, 238 are to be the representatives of the
states and UTs (elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated by the president.
- The 4th Schedule of the Constitution deals with the allocation of seats in the
Rajya Sabha to the states and UTs.
- Currently, the Rajya Sabha has 245 members. Of these, 229 members
represent the states, 4 members represent the UTs and 12 members are nominated
by the president.
1. Representation of UTs: Indirectly elected by members of an electoral college. Out of
the 7 UTs, only 2 (Delhi and Puducherry) have representation in Rajya Sabha.
2. Representation of States: Elected by the elected members of state legislative
assemblies. The seats are allotted to the states in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of
population. Hence, the number of representatives varies from state to state. (E.g.UP,
Tripura & USA).
3. Nominated Members The president nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha from
people who have special knowledge or practical experience in art, literature, science
and social service. The American Senate has no nominated members.
Composition of Lok Sabha

● The Lok Sabha strength is 552, of which, 530 are to be the representatives of the
states and 20 of UTs and 2 Anglo-Indian members are nominated by the President.
- Currently, the Lok Sabha has 545 members. Of these, 530 members represent
the states, 13 members represent the UTs and 2 Anglo-Indian members.
1. Representation of UTs: The Parliament has enacted the UTs (Direct Election to the
House of the People) Act, 1965, by which the members of Lok Sabha from the UTs
are also chosen by direct election.
2. Representation of States: Directly elected by the people from the territorial
constituencies in the states, on the principle of universal adult franchise. Indian citizen
above 18 years of age (who is not disqualified under the provisions of the Constitution
or any law), is eligible to vote at such election. The voting age was reduced from 21 to
18 years by the 61st Constitutional AmendmentAct, 1988.
3. Nominated Members: The president can nominate 2 members from the Anglo-Indian
community if the community is not adequately represented in the Lok Sabha.
Originally, this provision was to operate till 1960 but has been extended till 2020 by
the 95thAmendment Act, 2009.
System of elections to Lok
Sabha
Territorial Constituencies
© Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
The Constitution ensures uniformity of representation in: (a) between the different states,
and (b) between the different constituencies in the same state. “Population” is
ascertained at the preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published.
1. The ratio between no. of seats in Lok Sabha and the population of each state, is the
same for all states (it does not apply to a state having a population of less than 6mn).
2. Each state is divided into territorial constituencies in a manner that the ratio
between the population of each constituency and the no. of seats allotted to it is the
same throughout the state.
Readjustment after each Census
● After every census, a readjustment is to be made in (a) division of each state into
territorial constituencies, and (b) allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the states.
● The Delimitation Commission Acts were enacted by the Parliament, in 1952, 1962,
1972 and 2002 for this purpose.
● The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 froze the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the
states and the division of each state into territorial constituencies till the year 2000 at
the 1971 level.
Readjustment after each Census
● The ban on readjustment was extended for another 25 years (i.e., upto year 2026) by the
84th Amendment Act of 2001, with the same objective of encouraging population
limiting measures. It also empowered the govt to undertake readjustment and
rationalisation of territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the population
figures of 1991 census.
● Later, the 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies
on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done without
altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the Lok Sabha.
Reservation of Seats for SCs and STs
● The reservation for SCs & STs in the Lok Sabha, is on the basis of population ratios.
● Originally, this reservation was to operate for 10 years (ie, up to 1960), but it has been
extended continuously since then by 10 years each time.
● Under the 95th AmendmentAct of 2009, this reservation is to last until 2020.
● SCs & STs, are elected by all the voters in a constituency, without any separate
electorate. A member of SC & ST is not debarred from contesting a general seat.
● The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 provided for refixing of the reserved seats on the
basis of the population figures of 1991 census.
● Later, the 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the refixing of the reserved seats
on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census.
Proportional Representation not Adopted
● Rajya Sabha has adopted the system of proportional representation, while Lok Sabha
has adopted the system of territorial representation.
- Under territorial representation, every member of the legislature represents a
geographical area known as a constituency. In this system, a candidate who secures
majority of votes is declared elected. However, it does not secure due
representation to minorities (small groups).
- Under proportional representation system, even the smallest section of the
population gets its due share of representation in the legislature. There are two
kinds of proportional representation, namely, single transferable vote system and
list system.
- In India, the first kind is adopted for the election of members to the Rajya Sabha
and state legislative council and for electing the President and the Vice-President.
The Constitution has not adopted the system of proportional representation due to 2 reasons:
A. Difficulty for the voters to understand the system due to low literacy scale.
B. Unsuitability to the parliamentary govt due to the tendency of the system to
multiply political parties leading to instability in govt.
● Additionally, the system of proportional representation has the following
demerits:
1. It increases the significance of party system and decreases that of voter.
2. It eliminates intimate contacts between voters and representatives.
3. It is highly expensive.
4. It promotes minority thinking and group interests.
5. It does not give any scope for organising by-elections.
Duration of Rajya Sabha
● The Rajya Sabha (first constituted in 1952) is a continuing chamber, not subject to
dissolution. However, 1/3rd of its members retire every 2nd year. Their seats are filled
up by fresh elections and presidential nominations at the beginning of every 3rd year.
● Retiring members are eligible for re-election and renomination any number of times.
● The Parliament in the Representation of the People Act 1951, has provided that the
term of office of a member of the Rajya Sabha shall be 6 years.
● The Act also empowered the president of India to curtail the term of members chosen in
the first Rajya Sabha. Further, the act also authorised the President to make provisions
to govern the order of retirement of the members of the Rajya Sabha.
Duration of Lok Sabha
● The term of Lok Sabha is 5 years from the date of its 1st meeting after the general
elections, after which it automatically dissolves.
● The President is authorised to dissolve the Lok Sabha at any time even before the
completion of 5 years and this cannot be challenged in a court of law.
● The term of the Lok Sabha can be extended during national emergency, be a law of
Parliament for 1 year at a time for any length of time. However, this extension cannot
continue beyond a period of 6 months after the emergency has ceased to operate.
Membership of Parliament: Qualifications
● He must be a citizen of India.
● He must make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation before the person authorised by
the election commission for this purpose. In his oath, he swears (a) To uphold the
sovereignty and integrity of India (b) To bear true faith and allegiance to the
Constitution of India. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● He must posses other qualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951).
- He must be registered as an elector for a parliamentary constituency of both, the
Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. This requirement for Rajya Sabha, was dispensed
with in 2003. In 2006, the SC upheld the constitutional validity of this change.
- He must be a member of a SC/ST in any state or UT, if he wishes to contest a seat
reserved for them. However, a member of SC/STs can also contest a seat not
reserved for them.
● He must be not less than 30 years of age in the case of the Rajya Sabha and not less
than 25 years of age in the case of the Lok Sabha.
Disqualifications criteria:
1. If he is an undischarged insolvent.
2. If he is so disqualified under any law made by Parliament.
3. If he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court.
4. If he holds any office of profit under the Union or state government (except that of a
minister or any other office exempted by Parliament).
5. If he is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign
state or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance to a foreign state.
Additional disqualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951):
1. He must not have been convicted for any offence resulting in imprisonment for 2 or
more years (the detention of a person under a preventive detention law is not a
disqualification).
2. He must not have been convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for
the offence of bribery.
3. He must not be a director or managing agent nor hold an office of profit in a
corporation in which the govt has at least 25% share.
4. He must not have been punished for preaching/practising social crimes such as
untouchability, dowry and sati.
5. He must not have failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within the time.
6. He must not have any interest in govt contracts, works or services.
7. He must not have been found guilty of certain election offences/corrupt practices.
8. He must not have been dismissed from govt service for corruption/disloyalty to the
State.
The president’s decision is final with respect to any of the above disqualifications. However,
he should obtain the opinion of the election commission and act accordingly.
Disqualification on Ground of Defection (under 10th Schedule):
1. If any independently elected member joins any political party.
2. If any nominated member joins any political party after the expiry of 6 months.
3. If he votes/abstains from voting in the House contrary to direction given by his party.
4. If he voluntary gives up the membership of the party on whose ticket he is elected.
The Chairman/Speaker’s decision is final with respect to any of the above disqualifications.
In 1992, the SC ruled that their decision in this regard is subject to judicial review.
Vacating the Seats of member of Parliament:
1. Disqualification: If he becomes subject to any of the disqualifications specified in the
Constitution, his seat becomes vacant (the list includes disqualifications on the grounds
of defection under the provisions of the 10th Schedule).
2. Resignation: He may resign by writing to the Chairman/Speaker. The seat falls vacant
when the resignation is accepted. However, it is upto the Chairman/Speaker to accept it.
3. Absence: If for a period of 60 days a member of either House is without permission of
the House absent from all meetings, the House may declare his seat vacant: Provided
that in computing the said period of 60 days, no account shall be taken of any period
during which the House is prorogued or adjourned for more than 4 consecutive days. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
4. Double Membership: The Representation of People Act (1951) provides:
(a) If a person is elected to 2 seats in a House, he should exercise his option for 1, else both
seats become vacant. Similarly, a person cannot be a member of both the Parliament and the
state legislature at the same time. If a person is so elected, his seat in Parliament becomes
vacant if he does not resign his seat in the state legislature within 14 days.
(b) If a person is elected to both the Houses, he must intimate which House he desires to
serve within 10 days. During such intimation, his seat in the Rajya Sabha becomes vacant.
(c) If a sitting member of a House is also elected to the other House, his seat in the 1st
House becomes vacant.
5. Other cases:
A. if he is expelled by the House;
B. if his election is declared void by the court;
C. if he is appointed to the office of governor of a state.
D. if he is elected to the office of President or Vice-President; and
The Representation of the People Act 1951 enables the HC to declare an election void if a
disqualified candidate is elected. The aggrieved party can appeal to the SC against the HC’s
order in this regard. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Oath or Affirmation: Every member of either House, before taking his seat in the House,
has to make and subscribe to an oath/affirmation before the President or some person
appointed by him for this purpose. In his oath/affirmation, he swears:
1. To uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India.
2. To bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India.
3. To faithfully discharge the duty upon which he is about to enter.
Unless taken the oath, does not become eligible to parliamentary privileges/immunities and
he cannot participate/vote in the proceedings of the House.
A person is liable to a penalty of Rs 500 for each day he sits/votes as a member in a House
in the following conditions:
1. When he knows that he is disqualified for its membership.
2. If he has not taken and subscribed to the prescribed oath/affirmation.
3. if he is prohibited from sitting/voting in the House by virtue of any parliamentary law.
Salaries and Allowances:
Salaries and allowances of members of either Houses, is determined by the Parliament.
● No provision of pension in the Constitution. However, in 1954, the Parliament enacted
the Salaries, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act.
- In 2010, the salary of members increased from 16,000 to 50,000 p.m.
- Office expenses allowance from 20,000 to 45,000 p.m.
- The daily allowance from 1,000 to 2,000 (for each day of residence on duty)
- The constituency allowance from 20,000 to 45,000 p.m.
● Members are entitled to a pension on a graduated scale for each 5-year-term from 1976.
● Besides, they are provided with travelling facilities, free accommodation, telephone,
vehicle advance, medical facilities, etc.
The salaries and allowances of the Speaker/Chairman are also determined by Parliament.
● They are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and are not subject to the annual
vote of Parliament.
● In 1953, the Parliament enacted the Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament
Act. Under this Act (as amended):
- The salary of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha has been fixed at 1.25 lakh p.m. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
- The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Deputy Chairman of the
Rajya Sabha, are entitled to receive a salary same as are payable to the Members of
Parliament.
- Each Officer of Parliament (including the Chairman) is entitled to receive a daily
allowance (for each day during the whole of his term) at the same rates as is payable to
the Members of Parliament.
- Each Officer of Parliament (other than the Chairman) is entitled to receive a
constituency allowance at the same rate as is payable to the Members of Parliament.
● The sumptuary allowance
- Paid to the Speaker, same as is payable to a Cabinet Minister (i.e., 2,000 p.m.).
- Paid to the Deputy Speaker/Deputy Chairman, same as is payable to a Minister of
State (i.e., 1000 per month).
Presiding Officers of the Parliament: Each House has its own presiding officer.
- There is a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker for the Lok Sabha and a Chairman and a
Deputy Chairman for the Rajya Sabha.
- A panel is also appointed for the chairpersons of the Lok Sabha and for the vicechairpersons
of the Rajya Sabha.
Speaker of Lok Sabha: Tenure & Election:
- The Speaker is elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members.
- Whenever the office of the Speaker falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member
to fill the vacancy.
- The date of election of the Speaker is fixed by the President.
- The Speaker has to vacate his office earlier in any of the following 3 cases:
1. If a resolution is moved by a majority of all the members of the Lok Sabha after
giving 14 days’ advance notice.
2. If he resigns by writing to the Deputy Speaker.
3. If he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
● Whenever the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker does not vacate his office and
continues till the newly-elected Lok Sabha meets.
● The Speaker cannot preside at the sitting of the House when a resolution for his
removal is under consideration. However, he can speak, take part in the proceedings of
the House and vote in the first instance, though not in the case of an equality of votes.
Role, Powers and Functions of the Speaker
● The Speaker is the representative of the Lok Sabha, and its head.
● He is the guardian of powers and privileges of the members, committees and the House.
● His decision is final in all Parliamentary matters and he is the principal spokesman of
the House.
● The Speaker of the Lok Sabha derives his powers and duties from:
- The Constitution of India
- The Rules of Procedure & Conduct of Business of Lok Sabha
- Parliamentary Conventions (residuary powers that are unwritten in the Rules).
Powers & Duties of the Speaker:
1. He acts as the ex-officio chairman of the Indian Parliamentary Group and as the exofficio
chairman of the conference of presiding officers of legislative bodies.
2. He decides the questions of disqualification of a member of the Lok Sabha, arising on
the ground of defection under the provisions of the 10th Schedule.
3. When a money bill is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for recommendation and presented
to the President for assent, the Speaker endorses on the bill, his certificate that it is a
money bill and his decision is final. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
4. He appoints the chairman of all the parliamentary committees of the Lok Sabha and
supervises their functioning. He himself is the chairman of the Business Advisory
Committee, the Rules Committee and the General Purpose Committee.
5. He maintains order and decorum in the House. This is his primary responsibility and he
has final power in this regard.
6. He does not vote in the first instance. But he can exercise a casting vote in the case of a
tie.
7. He adjourns the House or suspends the meeting in absence of a quorum. The quorum to
constitute a meeting of the House is 1/10th of the total strength of the House.
8. He is the final interpreter of the provisions of (a) the Constitution of India, (b) the Rules
of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Lok Sabha, and (c) the parliamentary
precedents, within the House.
9. He presides over a joint setting of the two Houses of Parliament. Such a sitting is
summoned by the President to settle a deadlock between the two Houses on a bill.
10.He can allow a ‘secret’ sitting of the House at the request of the Leader of the House.
When the House sits in secret, no stranger can be present in the chamber, lobby or
galleries except with the permission of the Speaker. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
As the Speaker is vested with great prestige, position and authority, independence and
impartiality becomes its sine qua non.
Following provisions ensure the independence and impartiality of the Speaker:
1. He cannot vote in the first instance. He can only exercise a casting vote in the event of a
tie. This makes the position of Speaker impartial.
2. He is placed at 7th rank, along with the CJI. This means, he has a higher rank than all
cabinet ministers, except the PM or Deputy PM.
3. His conduct cannot be discussed/criticised, except on a substantive motion.
4. He is provided with a security of tenure. He can be removed only by a resolution passed
by the Lok Sabha by an absolute majority and not by an ordinary majority. This
motion of removal must have the support of at least 50 members.
5. His powers of regulating procedure/conducting business/maintaining order in the
House are not subject to the jurisdiction of any Court.
6. His salaries and allowances are fixed by Parliament. They are charged on the
Consolidated Fund of India and thus are not subject to the annual vote of Parliament.
In Britain, the Speaker has to resign from his party and remain politically neutral, while in
India the Speaker does not resign from the membership of his party on his election. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha
● He is elected by the Lok Sabha after the election of the Speaker.
● The date of election of the Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker.
● When his office falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy.
● Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office usually during the life of the
Lok Sabha. However, he may vacate his office earlier in any of the following cases:
1. If he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of members in the Lok
Sabha, after giving 14 days’ advance notice.
2. If he resigns by writing to the Speaker.
3. If he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
● He acts as the Speaker when the latter is absent from the sitting of the House.
● The Deputy Speaker performs the duties of the Speaker’s office when it is vacant.
● He has one special privilege, that whenever he is appointed as a member of a
parliamentary committee, he automatically becomes its chairman.
● Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, while presiding over the House, cannot vote in
the first instance; he can only exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.
● If the Speaker is absent from joint sitting, he presides over the joint sitting.
● He is not subordinate to the Speaker. He is directly responsible to the House.
● He can speak in the House, participate in its proceedings and vote on any question
before the House.
● When a resolution for the removal of the Deputy Speaker is under consideration of the
House, he cannot preside at the sitting of the House, though he may be present.
● The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, while assuming their offices, do not make and
subscribe any separate oath or affirmation.
● When the Speaker presides over the House, the Deputy Speaker is like any other
ordinary member of the House.
● The Deputy Speaker is entitled to a regular salary and allowance fixed by Parliament,
and charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
● Upto the 10th Lok Sabha, both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were usually from
the ruling party.
● Since the 11th Lok Sabha, there has been a consensus that the Speaker comes from the
ruling party/alliance and the post of Deputy Speaker goes to the main opposition party.
The institutions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker originated in India in 1921 under the
provisions of the Govt. of India Act of 1919 (Montague– Chelmsford Reforms).
● At that time, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were called the President and Deputy
President respectively and the same nomenclature continued till 1947.
● Before 1921, the Governor-General of India used to preside over the meetings of the
Central Legislative Council.
● In 1921, the Frederick Whyte and Sachidanand Sinha were appointed as the 1st
Speaker & 1st Deputy Speaker of the central legislative assembly.
● In 1925, Vithalbhai J. Patel became the 1st elected Indian Speaker of the central
legislative assembly.
● The Government of India Act of 1935 changed the nomenclatures of President and
Deputy President of the Central Legislative Assembly to the Speaker/Deputy Speaker
respectively. However, the old nomenclature continued till 1947 as the federal part of
the 1935 Act was not implemented.
● G V Mavalankar and Ananthasayanam Ayyangar had the distinction of being the
first Speaker and the first Deputy Speaker (respectively) of the Lok Sabha.
Panel of Chairpersons of Lok Sabha
● The Speaker nominates a panel of not more than 10 chairpersons from amongst the
members. In the absence of the Speaker/Deputy Speaker, any of them can preside over
the House and have the same powers as the Speaker.
● He holds office until a new panel of chairpersons is nominated and in case of the
absence of new panel, any other person as determined by House, acts as the Speaker.
● When the office is vacant, a member of the panel of chairpersons cannot preside and the
Speaker’s duties are performed by a member as the appointed by the President. The
elections are held, to fill the vacant posts.
Speaker Pro Tem
● The Speaker of the last Lok Sabha vacates his office immediately before the 1st
meeting of the newly-elected Lok Sabha.
● The President appoints and administers oath for a Lok Sabha member (preferably senior
most member), as the Speaker Pro Tem. He has all the powers of the Speaker and
presides over the 1st sitting of the newly-elected Lok Sabha.
● His main duty is to administer oath to the new members. He also enables the House to
elect the new Speaker, the office ceases to exist, when the new Speaker is elected.
Chairman of Rajya Sabha
● The presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha is known as the Chairman.
● The vice-president of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
● When the Vice-President acts as President, he doesn’t perform his duties as a Chairman.
● The Chairman can be removed only if he is removed as the Vice-President.
● As a presiding officer, the powers and functions of the Chairman are similar to those of
the Speaker. However, the Speaker has 2 special powers:
1. He decides if a bill is a money bill or not and his decision on this question is final.
2. He presides over a joint sitting of two Houses of Parliament. Unlike the Speaker,
the Chairman is not a member of the House.
● Like the Speaker, the Chairman also can’t vote, but can cast a vote in the case of an
equality of votes. The VP can’t preside as a Chairman when a resolution for his
removal is under consideration. However, he can be present and speak and can take part
in the proceedings, without voting.
● During any period when the VP acts as President, he is not entitled to any salary or
allowance payable to the Chairman. But he is paid the salary and allowance of the
President during such a time. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha
● The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha from amongst its members.
● Rajya Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy, if the office falls vacant.
● The Deputy Chairman vacates his office in any of the following three cases:
1. If he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of Rajya
Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice.
2. If he resigns by writing to the Chairman.
3. If he ceases to be a member of the Rajya Sabha.
● He performs the duties of the Chairman’s office and has all his powers when it is vacant
or when the VP acts as President or when the latter is absent from the sitting of the
House.
● The Deputy Chairman is not subordinate to the Chairman. He is directly responsible to
the Rajya Sabha.
● Like the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, while presiding over the House, cannot vote
in the first instance; he can only exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.
● Further, he cannot preside over a sitting of the House, when a resolution for his removal
is under consideration of the House, though he may be present. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● When the Chairman presides over the House, he can speak, participate in its
proceedings and vote on any question.
● Deputy Chairman is entitled to a regular salary and allowance, fixed by Parliament and
charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
Panel of Vice-Chairpersons of Rajya Sabha
● The Chairman nominates a panel of vice-chairpersons, from amongst the members.
● Any one of them can preside over the House in the absence of the Chairman/Deputy
Chairman. He has the same powers as the Chairman when so presiding.
● He holds office until a new panel of vice-chairpersons is nominated. In his absence, any
other person as determined by the House acts as the Chairman.
● A member of the panel of vice-chairpersons cannot preside over the House, when the
office of the Chairman/Deputy Chairman is vacant.
● During such time, the Chairman’s duties are to be performed by a member as appointed
by the president. The elections are held to fill the vacant posts.
Secretariat of Parliament
● Each House of Parliament has separate secretarial staff of its own.
● There can be some posts common to both the Houses.
● Their recruitment and service conditions are regulated by Parliament.
● The secretariat of each House is headed by a secretary-general.
● He is a permanent officer and is appointed by the presiding officer of the House.
Leader of the House
● Under the Rules of Lok Sabha, the ‘Leader of the House’ means the prime minister,
if he is a member of the Lok Sabha, or a minister who is a member of the Lok Sabha
and is nominated by the PM to function as the Leader of the House.
● There is also a ‘Leader of the House’ in Rajya Sabha. He is a minister and a member
of the Rajya Sabha and is nominated by the PM.
● The leader of the house in either House exercises direct influence on the conduct of
business. He can also nominate a deputy leader of the House. The same functionary in
USA is known as the ‘majority leader’.
Leader of the Opposition
● The leader of the largest Opposition party having not less than 1/10th seats of the total
strength of the House is recognised as the leader of the Opposition in that House.
● In a parliamentary system of govt, the leader of the opposition has a significant role.
His main functions are to provide a constructive criticism of the policies of the govt and to
provide an alternative govt.
In 1977 the leader of Opposition of both the houses were accorded statutory recognition.
They are also entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of a
cabinet minister.
In 1969 an official leader of the opposition was recognised for the first time.
● The same functionary in USA is known as the ‘minority leader’.
● British has ‘Shadow Cabinet’, formed by the Opposition party to balance the ruling
cabinet and to prepare its members for future ministerial offices.
- Almost every member in the ruling cabinet is ‘shadowed’ by a corresponding
member in the opposition cabinet.
- This shadowcabinet serves as the ‘alternate cabinet’ if there is change of govt.
- That’s why Ivor Jennings described the leader of Opposition as the ‘alternative
PM. He enjoys the status of a minister and is paid by the govt.
Whip: Though the offices of the leader of the House and the leader of the Opposition are
mentioned in the Rules of the House and Parliamentary Statute respectively, not in the
Constitution of India.
● The office of whip is not mentioned in the Constitution of India nor in the Rules of the
House nor in a Parliamentary Statute. It is based on the conventions of the
parliamentary govt. Ruling or Opposition party has its own whip in the Parliament.
● He is appointed by the political party to serve as an assistant floor leader.
● He is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the attendance of his party members in
large numbers and securing their support in favour or against a particular issue. He
regulates and monitors their behaviour in the Parliament.
● The members are supposed to follow the directives given by the whip. Otherwise,
disciplinary action can be taken.
Sessions of Parliament: Summoning
The president from time to time summons each House of Parliament to meet. But, the
maximum gap between 2 sessions of Parliament cannot be more than 6 months.
There are usually 3 sessions in a year, viz,
1. Budget Session (February to May).
2. Monsoon Session (July to September).
3. Winter Session (November to December).
A session of Parliament is the period spanning between the 1st sitting of a House and its
prorogation (or dissolution in the case of the Lok Sabha). During a session, the House
meets everyday to transact business.
Recess: period between the prorogation of a House and its reassembly in a new session.
● Adjournment: Each Parliament session meeting of a day consists of 2 sittings (11 am
to 1 pm & 2 pm to 6 pm). A sitting of Parliament can be terminated by
adjournment/adjournment sine die/prorogation or dissolution (in the case of the
Lok Sabha). An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for hours, days or weeks.
● Adjournment Sine Die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite
period, without naming a day for reassembly.
● Power of adjournment and adjournment sine die, lies with the presiding officer, who
can call a sitting of the House before the date or time to which it has been adjourned or
at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die.
● Prorogation: The Speaker/Chairman declare the House adjourned sine die, when the
business of a session is completed. Within the next few days, the President issues a
notification for prorogation of the session. The President can prorogue the House while
in session also.
Dissolution: Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution. Only the
Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution. Unlike a prorogation, a dissolution ends the very life of
the existing House, and a new House is constituted after general elections are held.
Prorogation Adjournment
It does not affect any pending bills/any
other Business. All pending notices (other
than those for introducing bills), lapse on
prorogation and fresh notices have to be
given for the next session. In Britain,
prorogation brings to an end all pending
bills/any other business.
It does not affect the bills/any other
business pending before the House and the
same can be resumed when the House
meets again.
It terminates a sitting and a session of the
House.
It only terminates a sitting and not a session
of the House.
It is done by the president of India. It is done by presiding officer of the House.
1. Automatic dissolution: On the expiry of its tenure of 5 years or the terms as extended
during a national emergency
2. Whenever the President decides to dissolve the House: Once the Lok Sabha is
dissolved before the completion of its normal tenure, the dissolution is irrevocable.
● When the Lok Sabha is dissolved, all pending business including bills, motions,
resolutions, notices, petitions etc., lapse. They must be reintroduced in the newly
constituted Lok Sabha.
● Some pending bills and all pending assurances, to be examined by the Committee on
Government Assurances, do not lapse on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha:
1. Bill passed by both Houses but returned by President for reconsideration does not lapse.
2. A bill not passed by the 2 Houses due to disagreement and if the president has notified
the holding of a joint sitting before the dissolution of Lok Sabha, does not lapse.
3. A bill passed by the Lok Sabha but pending in the Rajya Sabha lapses.
4. A bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses (whether originating in Lok Sabha or
transmitted by the Rajya Sabha).
5. A bill pending in the Rajya Sabha but not passed by the Lok Sabha does not lapse.
6. A bill passed by both Houses but pending assent of the president does not lapse. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Quorum: Minimum no. of members required to be present in the House before it can
transact any business.
● It is 1/10th of the total number of members in each House including the presiding
officer.
● There must be at least 55 members in Lok Sabha& 25 members in Rajya Sabha.
● If there is no quorum during a meeting of the House, the presiding officer should either
adjourn the House or suspend the meeting until there is a quorum.
Voting in House:
● All matters are decided by a majority of votes of the members present and voting,
excluding the presiding officer.
● Only a few matters, specifically mentioned in the Constitution, i.e. impeachment of
the President, amendment of the Constitution, removal of the presiding officers of
the Parliament etc., require special majority.
● The presiding officer of a House does not vote in the first instance, but exercises a
casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
● The proceedings of a House are to be valid irrespective of any unauthorised
voting/participation/any vacancy in its membership. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● On the conclusion of a debate, the Speaker shall put the question and invite those who
are in favour of the motion to say ‘Aye’ and those against the motion to say ‘No’.
● The Speaker shall then say: ‘I think the ‘Ayes’ or ‘Noes’ have it.’
● If the opinion of the Speaker as to the decision of a question is not challenged, he shall
say twice: The ‘Ayes’ or ‘Noes’ have it’. The question before the House shall be
determined accordingly.
- If the opinion of the Speaker as to the decision of a question is challenged, he shall
order that the Lobby be cleared.
- After the lapse of 3 minutes and 30 seconds, he shall put the question a 2nd time
and declare whether in his opinion the ‘Ayes’ or ‘Noes’ have it.
- If the opinion is again challenged, he shall direct that the votes be recorded either
by operating the automatic vote recorder or by using ‘Aye’ and ‘No’ Slips in the
House or by the Members going into the Lobbies.
- If in the opinion of the Speaker, the Division is unnecessarily claimed, he may ask
the members who are for ‘Aye’ and those for ‘No’ respectively to rise in their
places and, on a count being taken, he may declare the determination of the House.
In such a case, the names of the voters shall not be recorded. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● Language in Parliament: Constitution has declared Hindi & English as the languages
for the Parliament. However, the presiding officer can permit a member to address the
House in his mother-tongue and arrangements are made for simultaneous translation.
● Though English was to be discontinued as a floor language after the expiration of 15
years from the commencement of the Constitution (1965), the Official Languages Act
1963, allowed English to be continued along with Hindi.
● Members, Ministers and Attorney General have the right to speak and take part in
the proceedings of either House, any joint sitting of both the Houses and any committee
of Parliament of which he is a member, without being entitled to vote.
1. A minister belonging to the Lok Sabha can participate in the proceedings of the
Rajya Sabha and vice-versa.
2. A minister, who is not a member of either House, can participate in the
proceedings of both the Houses. (A person can remain a minister for 6 months,
without being a member of either House of Parliament).
Lame-duck Session: It refers to the last session of the existing Lok Sabha, after a new Lok
Sabha has been elected. Those members of the existing Lok Sabha who could not get reelected
to the new Lok Sabha are called lame-ducks.
.
Devices of Parliamentary
Proceedings
Question Hour:
● The 1st hour of every parliamentary sitting is slotted for this.
● The members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers.
● The questions are of three kinds, namely, starred, unstarred and short notice.
➔A starred question requires an oral answer. Hence, supplementary questions
follow.
➔An unstarred question requires a written answer and hence, supplementary
questions cannot follow.
➔A short notice question is one that is asked by giving a notice of less than ten days.
It is answered orally.
● The questions can be asked to the ministers as well as the private members.
● In case of Private member:
- The subject matter relates to some Bill/resolution/other matter connected with the
business of the House for which that member is responsible.
- The procedure in regard to such question is the same as followed in the case of
questions addressed to a minister.
● The list of starred, unstarred, short notice questions and questions to private
members are printed in green, white, light pink and yellow colour, respectively.
Zero Hour is the time gap between the question hour and the agenda. The zero hour
starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (ie,
regular business of the House) is taken up.
- It is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure.
- It is an informal device available to raise matters without any prior notice.
- It is an Indian innovation and has been in existence since 1962.
Motions: The House expresses its decisions/opinions on various issues through the
adoption or rejection of motions moved by either ministers or private members.
1. Substantive Motion: Self-contained independent proposal which deals with important
matters like impeachment of the President or removal of Chief Election Commissioner.
2. Substitute Motion: Motion moved in substitution of an original motion and proposes
an alternative to it. If adopted by the House, it supersedes the original motion.
3. Subsidiary Motion: It has no meaning and cannot state the decision without reference
to the original motion/proceedings of the House. It is divided into 3 subcategories:
- Ancillary Motion: Regular way of proceeding with various kinds of business.
- Amendment: Seeks to modify/substitute only a part of the original motion.
- Superseding Motion: Seeks to supersede the course of debate on another issue. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Closure Motion: A motion moved by a member to cut short the debate on a matter. If the
motion is approved by the House, debate is stopped forthwith and the matter is put to vote.
There are four kinds of closure motions:
(a) Simple Closure: The ‘matter having been sufficiently discussed be now put to vote.
(b) Guillotine Closure: When the undiscussed clauses of a bill/resolution are also put to
vote due to want of time (as the time allotted for the discussion is over).
(c) Kangaroo Closure: Only important clauses are taken up for debate and voting. The
intervening clauses are skipped over and taken as passed.
(d) Closure by Compartments: The clauses of a bill/lengthy resolution are grouped into
parts before starting the debate. The debate covers the part as a whole, which is put to vote.
Privilege Motion: Moved by a member when he feels that a minister has committed a
breach of privilege of the House or one or more of its members by withholding facts of a
case or by giving wrong or distorted facts. Its purpose is to censure the concerned minister.
Calling Attention Motion: Introduced by a member to call the attention of a minister to a
matter of urgent public importance, and to seek an authoritative statement from him on it.
- Like the zero hour, it is also an Indian innovation and has been in existence since 1954.
- However, unlike the zero hour, it is mentioned in the Rules of Procedure. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Adjournment Motion: It is introduced to draw attention of the House to a definite matter of
urgent public importance, and needs the support of 50 members to be admitted.
● It is regarded as an extraordinary device as it interrupts the normal business of the
House.
● It involves an element of censure against the government and hence Rajya Sabha is not
permitted to make use of this device.
● The discussion on an adjournment motion should last for not less than 2 hours and 30
minutes. Right to move an adjournment motion is subject to the following restrictions:
1. It should not cover more than one matter.
2. It should not raise a question of privilege.
3. It should not deal with any matter that is under adjudication by court.
4. It should not raise any question that can be raised on a distinct motion.
5. It should raise a matter which is definite, factual, urgent and of public importance.
6. It should not revive discussion on a matter that has been discussed in the same session.
7. It should not be framed in general terms and be restricted to a specific matter of recent
occurrence.
No-Confidence Motion: Article 75 says that the council of ministers shall be collectively
responsible to the Lok Sabha, in a way that the ministry stays in office so long as it enjoys
confidence of the majority of the members of the House. The Lok Sabha can remove the
ministry by passing a no-confidence motion. It needs the support of 50 members.
Censure Motion A censure motion is different from a no-confidence motion as shown in
Table:
Motion of Thanks
It follows the address of the President of India to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha at the commencement of first session of a new Lok Sabha and first session of every
year.
Procedure
1. The 1st session after each general election and the 1st session of every fiscal year
(usually the budget session) is addressed by the president.
2. In the address, the president outlines the programmes & policies of the govt. in the
previous and succeeding year.
3. This address corresponds to the ‘speech from the Throne in Britain.
4. It is discussed in both the Houses, on a motion called the ‘Motion of Thanks’.
5. At the end of the discussion, the motion is put to vote. This motion must be passed in
the House. Otherwise, it amounts to the defeat of the govt.
6. During President’s inaugural speech, the Parliament members raise discussions/debates
to examine/criticise the govt. & administration for its lapses and failures.
The scope of the discussion on the Motion of Thanks is very wide and members are at liberty
to speak on any matter of national or international importance. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
No-Day-Yet-Named Motion:
● It is a motion, admitted by the Speaker but no date has been fixed for discussion.
● The Speaker, after considering the state of business in the House and in consultation
with the leader of the House or on the recommendation of the Business Advisory
Committee, allots a day or days or part of a day for the discussion of such a motion.
Point of Order
● A member can raise a point of order when the proceedings of the House do not follow
the normal rules of procedure.
● It should relate to:
★ The interpretation or enforcement of the Rules of the House.
★ Such articles of the Constitution that regulate the business of the House.
★ The question raised should be within the cognizance of the Speaker.
● It is usually raised by an opposition member in order to control the govt.
● It is an extraordinary device as it suspends the proceedings before the House.
● No debate is allowed on a point of order.
Half-an-Hour Discussion
- Meant for discussing a matter of sufficient public importance that needs elucidation on
a matter of fact.
- Half-an-Hour Discussions are generally held on the three sittings in a week; namely,
Monday,Wednesday and Friday.
- There is no formal motion or voting before the House.
- When a member feels that the answer given to a question, Starred/Unstarred/Short
Notice, is not complete or needs elucidation, he may be allowed by the Speaker to raise
a discussion in the House for half an hour.
- Half-an-Hour Discussions are also not usually held during the Budget Session till the
disposal of financial business.
Short Duration Discussion
- Also known as 2 hour discussion as the time allotted should not exceed 2 hours.
- Parliament members can raise discussions on a matter of urgent public importance.
- There shall be no formal motion before the Council nor voting.
- The member who has given notice may make a short statement and the Minister shall
reply shortly.
- The Speaker can allot 2 days in a week for such discussions.
- This device has been in existence since 1953.
Special Mention:
● It is yet another device to raise an issue of public importance in the House.
● A matter which is not a point of order or which cannot be raised during question hour,
half-an hour discussion, short duration discussion or under adjournment motion, calling
attention notice or under any rule of the House can be raised under the special mention
in the Rajya Sabha.
● Its equivalent procedural device in the Lok Sabha is known as ‘Notice (Mention)
Under Rule 377’.
● The matters of urgent public importance are also being raised as Special Mentions
under rule 180Ato 180E.
Resolutions
● Resolutions are moved by the members, to draw the attention of the House/govt. to
matters of general public interest.
● Discussions on a resolution is strictly relevant to and within the scope of the resolution. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● A member who has moved a resolution or amendment to a resolution, cannot withdraw
the same except by leave of the House.
● Resolutions are classified into 3 categories:
i. Government Resolution: It is is moved by a minister. It can be taken up any day
from Monday to Thursday.
ii. Private Member’s Resolution: It is moved by a private member (other than a
minister). It is discussed only on alternate Fridays and in the afternoon sitting.
iii. Statutory Resolution: It can be moved either by a private member or a minister. It
is so called because it is always tabled in pursuance of a provision in the
Constitution or an Act of Parliament.
Difference between Resolution & Motions
- Every resolution is a particular type of motion: all resolutions come in the category of
substantive motions.
- All motions need not necessarily be substantive.
- All motions are not necessarily put to vote of the House, whereas all the resolutions are
required to be voted upon.
Youth Parliament
This scheme was started on the recommendation of the 4th All India Whips Conference.
Objectives:
➔To acquaint the younger generations with Parliament practices and procedures.
➔To imbibe the spirit of discipline and tolerance cultivating character in youth.
➔To inculcate the basic values of democracy in the student community, and to enable
them to acquire a proper perspective on the functioning of democratic institutions.
The ministry of parliamentary affairs provides necessary training and encouragement to
the states in introducing the scheme.
Legislative Procedure in Parliament
● The legislative procedure is identical in both the Houses of Parliament.
● Every bill has to pass through the same stages in each House.
● A bill is a proposal for legislation and it becomes an act or law when duly enacted.
● Bills introduced in the Parliament are of two kinds: public bills and private bills (also
known as govt. bills and private members’ bills).
The bills introduced in the Parliament can also be classified into 4 categories:
1. Ordinary bills: are concerned with any matter other than financial subjects.
2. Money bills: related to the financial matters. i.e., taxation, public expenditure, etc.
3. Financial bills: these are related to financial matters (but are different from money bills).
4. Constitution amendment bills: related to the amendment of Constitutional provisions.
Constitution has laid down separate procedures for the enactment of all the 4 types of bills:
Ordinary Bills: Every ordinary bill has to pass through the following 5 stages:
First Reading:
➔An ordinary bill can be introduced in either House of Parliament.
➔Such a bill can be introduced either by a minister or by any other member.
➔The member who wants to introduce the bill has to ask for the leave of the House.
➔Then the mover of the bill introduces it by reading its title and objectives.
➔No discussion on the bill takes place at this stage.
➔Later, the bill is published in the Gazette of India.
➔The introduction of the bill and its publication in the Gazette constitute the first
reading of the bill. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
If a bill is published in the Gazette before its introduction, leave of the House to introduce
the bill is not necessary.
Second Reading
➔During this stage, the bill receives not only the general but also the detailed
scrutiny and assumes its final shape.
➔Hence, it forms the most important stage in the enactment of a bill.
➔In fact, this stage involves 3 more sub-stages, namely, stage of general
discussion, committee stage and consideration stage.
I. Stage of General Discussion: The printed copies of the bill are distributed to all
the members. The principles of the bill and its provisions are discussed generally,
but the details of the bill are not discussed.
At this stage, the House can take any one of the following four actions:
● It may circulate the bill to elicit public opinion.
● It may refer the bill to a select committee of the House.
● It may refer the bill to a joint committee of the two Houses.
● It may take the bill into consideration immediately or on some other fixed date. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
- Select Committee consists of members of the House where the bill has originated.
- joint committee consists of members of both the Houses of Parliament.
II. Committee Stage:
■ The bill is referred to a select committee of the House.
■ This committee examines the bill thoroughly, clause by clause.
■ It can also amend its provisions, but without altering the underlying principles.
■ After completing the scrutiny and discussion, the committee reports the bill back
to the House.
III.Consideration Stage
■ As a next step, the House considers the provisions of the bill, clause by clause.
■ Each clause is discussed and voted upon separately.
■ The members can also move amendments and if accepted, they become part of the
bill.
Third Reading: At this stage, the debate is confined to the acceptance or rejection of the
bill as a whole and no amendments are allowed, as the general underlying principles have
already been scrutinised during the second stage reading.
● the bill is regarded as passed by the House, when the majority of members present and
voting accept the bill.
● The bill is then authenticated by the presiding officer of the House and transmitted to
the 2nd House for consideration and approval.
A bill is deemed to have been passed by the Parliament only when both the Houses have
agreed to it, either with or without amendments.
Bill in the Second House
In the second House also, the bill passes through all the three stages of reading.
There are 4 alternatives before this House:
➔it may reject the bill altogether.
➔it may not take any action and thus keep the bill pending.
➔it may pass the bill as sent by the first house (i.e., withoutamendments).
➔it may pass the bill with amendments and return it to the first House for
reconsideration.
The bill passed by both the Houses is sent to the president for his assent.
● A deadlock is created, if:
➢1st House rejects the amendments suggested by the 2nd House.
➢2nd House rejects the bill altogether.
➢2nd House does not take any action for 6 months.
● To resolve such a deadlock, the president can summon a joint sitting of the two Houses.
● The bill is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses, if the majority of members
present and voting in the joint sitting approve the bill.
Assent of the President: Every bill after being passed by both Parliament Houses either, is
presented to the president for his assent.
● 3 Alternatives before the president:
➢He may give his assent to the bill.
➢He may withhold his assent to the bill.
➢He may return the bill for reconsideration of the Houses.
● The bill becomes an act and is placed on the Statute Book, if the president gives his
assent to the bill.
● If the President withholds his assent to the bill, it ends and does not become an act.
● President enjoys only a Suspensive Veto: If the President returns the bill for
reconsideration and if it is passed by both the Houses again with or without
amendments and presented to the President for his assent, the president must give his
assent to the bill.
Money Bills
● Article 110 deals with money bills.
● A bill is deemed to be a money bill if it contains:
➱The regulation of the borrowing of money by the Union government.
➱The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax.
➱The custody of the Consolidated Fund of India or the contingency fund of India.
➱the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of money from any such fund.
➱The appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).
➱An expenditure charged on the CFI or any increased amount of such expenditure.
➱The receipt of money on account of the CFI/Public Account of India or the custody
or issue of such money, or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a state.
➱Any matter incidental to any of the matters specified above.
A bill is not to be deemed to be a money bill by reason only that it provides for:
➢The imposition of fines or other pecuniary penalties.
➢The demand for payment of fees for licenses or fees for services rendered.
➢The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax by any
local authority or body for local purposes.
● Speaker’s Decision is final, if a question arises whether a bill is a money bill or not.
● It cannot be questioned in any court of law or in the either House or even the President.
● The Speaker endorses the money bill when it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for
recommendation and presented to the president for assent.
● There is a special procedure for the passing of money bills in the Parliament.
● It can be introduced only in Lok Sabha, on the recommendation of the president.
● Every such bill is considered to be a govt. bill and can be introduced only by a minister.
● After it is passed by the Lok Sabha, it is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha.
● Rajya Sabha can only make recommendations, it cannot reject or amend a money bill.
● It must return the bill to the Lok Sabha within 14 days, with or without
recommendations.
● Lok Sabha can accept or reject all or any of the Rajya Sabha Recommendations. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● If the Lok Sabha accepts any recommendation, the bill is then deemed to have been
passed by both the Houses in the modified form.
● If the Lok Sabha does not accept any recommendation, the bill is then deemed to have
passed by both the Houses in its original form, without any change.
● If Rajya Sabha does not return the bill within 14 days, the bill is deemed to have been
passed by both the Houses in the form originally passed by the Lok Sabha.
● Finally, when a money bill is presented to the president, he may either give his assent to
the bill or withhold his assent to the bill but cannot return the bill for reconsideration of
the Houses.
● Normally, the president gives his assent to a money bill as it is introduced in the
Parliament with his prior permission.
Thus, the Lok Sabha has more powers than Rajya Sabha with regard to a money bill.
However, both the Houses have equal powers with regard to an ordinary bill.
Financial Bills
● They deal with fiscal matters, that is, revenue or expenditure.
● However, the Constitution uses the term ‘financial bill’ in a technical sense.
Classification of Financial bills:
A. Money bills—Article 110
➔All money bills are financial bills but all financial bills are not money bills.
➔Only those financial bills are money bills which contain exclusively those matters
which are mentioned in Article 110 of the Constitution.
➔These are also certified by the Speaker of Lok Sabha as money bills.
A. Financial bills (I)—Article 117 (1)
➔It contains any/all the matters mentioned in Article 110, plus other matters of
general legislation, i.e., a bill that contains a borrowing clause, but does not
exclusively deal with borrowing. It is similar to a money bill, as:
◆ Both of them can be introduced only in Lok Sabha, not in Rajya Sabha.
◆ Both of them can be introduced only on the recommendation of the president.
➔It is governed by the same legislative procedure applicable to an ordinary bill.
➔Hence, it can be either rejected or amended by the Rajya Sabha (except that an
amendment other than for reduction or abolition of a tax cannot be moved in either
House without the recommendation of the president).
➔In case of a disagreement, president can summon a joint sitting. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
When the bill is presented to the President, he can either give his assent to the bill or
withhold his assent to the bill or return the bill for reconsideration of the Houses.
C. Financial bills (II)—Article 117 (3)
➔It is treated as an ordinary bill and is governed by the same legislative procedure.
➔It contains provisions involving expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India.
➔But does not include any of the matters mentioned in Article 110.
➔Special feature of this bill is that it cannot be passed by either House of
Parliament unless the President has recommended the consideration of the bill.
● Hence, financial bill (II) can be introduced in either House of Parliament and
recommendation of the President is not necessary for its introduction.
● It can be either rejected or amended by either House of Parliament.
● To resolve a deadlock, the president can summon a joint sitting of the two Houses.
● When the bill is presented to the President, he can:
➔Give his assent to the bill.
➔Withhold his assent to the bill.
➔Return the bill for reconsideration of the Houses.
Joint Sitting of the two Houses
To resolve a deadlock over the passage of a bill, the president can summon a joint sitting of
the two Houses.
A deadlock is deemed to have taken place when:
➔If the bill is rejected by the other House.
➔If the Houses have finally disagreed as to the amendments to be made in the bill.
➔If more than 6 months have elapsed from the date of the receipt of the bill by the other
House without the bill being passed by it.
The president can summon both the Houses for deliberating and voting on the bill. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
The provision of joint sitting is applicable to ordinary bills or financial bills only
and not to money bills or Constitutional amendment bills.
- Lok Sabha has overriding powers in the case of a money bill.
- A Constitutional amendment bill must be passed by each House separately.
● In reckoning the period of 6 months, no account can be taken of any period during
which the other House (to which the bill has been sent) is prorogued or adjourned for
more than 4 consecutive days.
● no joint sitting can be summoned, If the bill (under dispute) has already lapsed due to
the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
● But, the joint sitting can be held if the Lok Sabha is dissolved after the President has
notified his intention to summon such a sitting (as the bill does not lapse in this case).
After the President notifies his intention to summon a joint sitting of the two Houses,
none of the Houses can proceed further with the bill.
● The Speaker presides over a joint sitting and Deputy Speaker presides, in his absence.
● In the absence of Deputy Speaker, the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha presides.
● If he is also absent, such other person as may be determined by the members present at
the joint sitting, presides over the meeting.
● It is clear that the Chairman of Rajya Sabha does not preside over a joint sitting as he is
not a member of either House of Parliament.
● Quorum to constitute a joint sitting is 1/10th of the total members of the two Houses.
● The joint sitting is governed by the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and not of Rajya
Sabha.
● If the bill in dispute is passed by a majority of the total number of members of both the
Houses present and voting in the joint sitting, the bill is deemed to have been passed by
both the Houses.
● Normally, the Lok Sabha with greater number wins the battle in a joint sitting.
● The Constitution has specified that at a joint sitting, new amendments to the bill cannot
be proposed except in two cases:
➢Those amendments that have caused final disagreement between the Houses; and
➢Those amendments that might have become necessary due to the delay in the
passage of the bill.
Since 1950, provision regarding the joint sitting has been invoked only thrice.
The bills that have been passed at joint sittings are: Dowry Prohibition Bill 1960; Banking
Service Commission (Repeal) Bill 1977; Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2002.
Budget in Parliament
● The term ‘budget’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution. However, it is referred as
the annual financial statement and it deals with Article 112 of the Constitution.
● It is a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Govt in a financial
year, which begins on1 April and ends on 31 March of the following year.
● The budget also contains certain other elements:
➢Estimates of expenditure.
➢Ways and means to raise the revenue.
➢Estimates of revenue and capital receipt.
➢Actual receipts and expenditure of the closing financial year and the reasons for
any deficit/surplus in that year.
➢Economic and financial policy of the coming year, i.e.
■ Taxation proposals
■ Prospects of revenue
■ Spending programme
■ Introduction of new schemes/projects.
● Earlier the Govt. had 2 budgets: the Railway Budget and the General Budget.
- Railway budget consisted of Railway receipts/expenditures estimates.
- General Budget consisted of all Govt Ministry’s receipts/expenditures estimates.
(except the railways).
● In 1921, Railway Budget was separated from General Budget on the recommendations
of the Acworth Committee. Reasons/objectives of this separation are:
➢To introduce flexibility in railway finance.
➢To facilitate a business approach to the railway policy.
➢To secure stability of the general revenues by providing an assured annual
contribution from railway revenues.
➢To enable the railways to keep their profits for their own development (after
paying a fixed annual contribution to the general revenues).
● In August 2016, the Govt. decided to merge the railway budget with general budget.
➢The Finance Ministry has constituted a 5-member committee comprising: Finance
Ministry and Railway Ministry to work out the modalities for the merger.
➢This move to discard the age-old practice of a separate railway budget is part of
Modi government’s reform agenda.
Constitutional Provisions with regard to the enactment of budget:
1. Parliament can reduce or abolish a tax but cannot increase it.
2. No tax shall be levied or collected except by authority of law.
3. The budget shall distinguish expenditure on revenue account from other expenditure.
4. No demand for a grant shall be made except on the recommendation of the President.
5. The expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) shall not be
submitted to the vote of Parliament. However, it can be discussed by the Parliament.
6. The President shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before both the
Houses, a statement of estimated receipts/expenditure of the Govt., for that year.
7. No money shall be withdrawn from the CFI except under appropriation made by law.
8. No money bill imposing tax shall be introduced in the Parliament except on the
recommendation of the President, and such a bill shall not be introduced in the
Rajya Sabha.
9. The estimates of expenditure embodied in the budget shall show separately the
expenditure charged on the CFI and the expenditure made from the CFI.
10.Relative roles of both the Houses, with regard to the enactment of the budget:
➢A money bill or finance bill dealing with taxation cannot be introduced in the
Rajya Sabha, it must be introduced only in the Lok Sabha.
➢Rajya Sabha has no power to vote on the demand for grants; it is the exclusive
privilege of the Lok Sabha.
➢The Rajya Sabha should return the Money bill (or Finance bill) to the Lok Sabha
within 14 days.
➢The Lok Sabha can either accept or reject the recommendations made by Rajya
Sabha in this regard.
Charged Expenditure
● The budget consists of two types of expenditure—the expenditure charged on the CFI
and the expenditure made from the CFI.
➢Charged expenditure is non-votableby the Parliament.
➢It can only be discussed by the Parliament, while the other type has to be voted by
the Parliament.
The list of the charged expenditure is as follows:
● Pensions of the judges of high courts.
● Salary, allowances and pension of the CAG of India.
● Salaries, allowances and pensions of the judges of the Supreme Court.
● Salaries, allowances and pension of the chairman and members of the UPSC.
● Any sum required to satisfy judgement, decree/award of any court or arbitral tribunal.
● President’s Emoluments and allowances and other expenditure relating to his office.
● Salaries and allowances of the Chairman/Deputy Chairman & Speaker/Deputy Speaker.
● Administrative expenses of:
a. UPSC
b. Supreme Court
c. The office of the CAG
d. The salaries, allowances and pensions of the persons serving in these offices.
● The debt charges for which the Govt is liable, including interest, sinking fund charges
and redemption charges and other expenditure relating to the raising of loans and the
service and redemption of debt.
● Any other expenditure declared by the Parliament to be so charged. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Stages in Enactment: The budget goes through the following 6 stages in the Parliament:
➔Presentation of budget.
➔General discussion.
➔Scrutiny by departmental committees.
➔Voting on demands for grants.
➔Passing of appropriation bill.
➔Passing of finance bill.
Presentation of Budget
● The budget is presented in two parts—Railway Budget and General Budget.
● Both are governed by the same procedure.
● The Finance Minister presents the General Budget with a budget speech.
● At the end of the speech in the Lok Sabha, the budget is laid before the Rajya Sabha,
which can only discuss it and has no power to vote on the demands for grants.
2. General Discussion
● The general discussion on budget begins a few days after its presentation.
● It takes place in both the Houses of Parliament and lasts usually for 3-4 days.
● During this stage, the Lok Sabha can discuss the budget as a whole or on any question
of principle involved therein but no cut motion can be moved nor can the budget be
submitted to the vote of the House.
● The finance minister has a general right of reply at the end of the discussion.
3. Scrutiny by Departmental Committees
● After general discussion is over, Houses are adjourned for about 3-4 weeks.
● During this gap period, the 24 departmental standing committees examine and
discuss the demands for grants of the concerned ministers and prepare reports on them.
● These reports are submitted to both the Houses of Parliament for consideration.
● Standing committee system, established in 1993 (expanded in 2004) makes
parliamentary financial control over ministries much more detailed, close, in-depth and
comprehensive.
4. Voting on Demands for Grants
● In the light of departmental standing committees reports, the Lok Sabha takes up voting
of demands for grants. The demands are presented ministry wise.
● A demand becomes a grant after it has been duly voted.
a. The voting of demands for grants is the exclusive privilege of the Lok Sabha
b. The voting is confined to the votable part of the budget (the expenditure charged
on the CFI is not submitted to the vote, it can only be discussed).
● While the General Budget has a total of 109 demands (103 for civil expenditure and
6 for defence expenditure), the Railway Budget has 32 demands.
a. Each demand is voted separately by the Lok Sabha.
b. During this stage, Parliament members can discuss the details of the budget.
● They can also move motions to reduce any demand for grant. Such motions are
called as ‘cut motion’, which are of 3 kinds:
i. Policy Cut Motion
■ It states that the amount of the demand be reduced to Re 1.
■ It represents the disapproval of the policy underlying the demand.
■ The members can also advocate an alternative policy.
ii. Economy Cut Motion
■ It represents the economy that can be affected in the proposed expenditure.
■ It states that the amount of the demand be reduced by a specified amount (which
may be either omission/reduction of an item or a lumpsum reduction in demand).
iii. Token Cut Motion It ventilates a specific grievance that is within the sphere of
responsibility of the Government of India. It states that the amount of the demand be
reduced by Rs 100.A cut motion, to be admissible, must:
➢Relate to one demand only.
➢Not relate to a trivial matter.
➢Not raise a question of privilege.
➢Be confined to one specific matter.
➢Not relate to a matter that is under adjudication by a court.
➢Not make suggestions for the amendment or repeal of existing laws.
➢Not refer to a matter that is not primarily the concern of Union govt.
➢Not relate to the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
➢Not discuss a matter on which a decision has been taken in the same session.
➢Be clearly expressed and should not contain arguments or defamatory statements.
● Significance of a cut motion
a. Upholding the principle of responsible govt. by probing the activities of the govt.
b. Facilitating the initiation of concentrated discussion on a specific demand for grant
● However, the cut motion are only moved and discussed in the House but not passed as
the govt. enjoys majority support.
● Their passage by the Lok Sabha amounts to the expressions of want of parliamentary
confidence in the govt. and may lead to its resignation.
● In total, 26 days are allotted for the voting of demands.
● On the last day the Speaker puts all the remaining demands to vote and disposes them
whether they have been discussed by the members or not. This is known as ‘guillotine’.
4. Passing of Appropriation Bill The Constitution states that ‘no money shall be
withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI) except under appropriation made
by law’. Accordingly, an appropriation bill is introduced to provide for the
appropriation, out of the CFI, all money required to meet:
➢The expenditure charged on the CFI.
➢The grants voted by the Lok Sabha. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● No such amendment can be proposed to the appropriation bill in either house, that will
have the effect of:
➢Varying the destination of any grant voted
➢Varying the amount of any expenditure charged on the CFI.
● After the President gives his assent, the Appropriation Bill becomes an Act.
● This act authorises the payments from the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI).
● Hence, the govt. cannot withdraw money from the CFI till the enactment of the
appropriation bill.
● This takes time and usually goes on till the end of April. But the govt. needs money to
carry on its normal activities after 31 March.
● To overcome this functional difficulty, Lok Sabha has been has authorised to make any
grant in advance in respect to the estimated expenditure for a part of the financial year,
pending the completion of the voting of the demands for grants and the enactment of
the appropriation bill.
➢This provision is known as the ‘vote on account’.
➢It is granted after the general discussion on budget is over.
➢It is granted for 2 months for an amount equivalent to 1/6th of the total estimation. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
6. Passing of Finance Bill
● Finance Bill is introduced to give effect to the Govt’s financial proposals, for the
following year.
● It is subjected to all the conditions applicable to a Money Bill.
● According to the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act of 1931, Finance Bill must be
enacted (i.e., passed by the Parliament and assented to by the president) within 75 days.
● The Finance Act legalises the income side of the budget and completes the process of
the enactment of the budget.
● Unlike the Appropriation Bill, the amendments (seeking to reject/reduce a tax) can be
moved in the case of finance bill.
Other Grants:
i. Additional Grant: When a need arises during the current financial year for additional
expenditure upon some new service (not contemplated in the budget for that year).
ii. Exceptional Grant Granted for a special purpose and forms no part of the current
service of any financial year.
iii. Supplementary Grant When the amount authorised by the Parliament through the
appropriation act is found to be insufficient for a particular service for the current FY. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
iii. Token Grant
a. It does not involve any additional expenditure.
b. Re-appropriation involves transfer of funds from one head to another.
c. Granted when funds to meet the proposed expenditure on a new service can be
made available by reappropriation.
d. A demand for the grant of a token sum (of Re 1) is submitted to the vote of the Lok
Sabha and if assented, funds are made available.
iv. Excess Grant:
a. Granted when money has been spent on any service during a FY in excess of the
amount granted for that service in the budget for that year.
b. It is voted by the Lok Sabha after the financial year.
c. Before the demands for excess grants are submitted to the Lok Sabha for voting,
they must be approved by the Public Accounts Committee.
v. Vote of Credit
a. Granted for meeting an unexpected demand, when on account of the magnitude of
the service, the demand cannot be stated with ordinary budget details.
b. Hence, it is like a blank cheque given to the Executive by the Lok Sabha. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● Supplementary, additional, excess and exceptional grants and vote of credit are
regulated by the same procedure which is applicable in the case of a regular budget
Funds.
● The Constitution provides for the following 3 kinds of funds for the Central govt:
➢Public Account of India (Article 266)
➢Contingency Fund of India (Article 267)
➢Consolidated Fund of India (Article 266)
Consolidated Fund of India
● All the legally authorised payments on behalf of the Govt are made out of this fund.
● No money out of this fund can be appropriated (issued or drawn) except in accordance
with a parliamentary law.
● It is a fund to which all receipts are credited and all payments are debited.
i. All revenues received by the Government of India
ii. All loans raised by the Govt. by the issue of T-bills, loans, advances etc.
iii. All money received by the govt in repayment of loans forms the Consolidated
Fund of India.
Public Account of India
● Public money other than those which are credited to the Consolidated Fund of India,
received on behalf of the Govt., shall be credited to the Public Account of India.
● This includes provident fund deposits, judicial deposits, savings bank deposits,
departmental deposits, remittances, etc.
● This account is operated by executive action, i.e., payments from this account can be
made without parliamentary appropriation.
● Such payments are mostly in the nature of banking transactions.
Contingency Fund of India
● Parliament enacted the contingency fund of India Act in 1950, into which amounts
determined by law are paid from time to time.
● It is placed at the disposal of the president.
● The President can make advances out of it to meet unforeseen expenditure pending its
authorisation by the Parliament.
● The fund is held by the finance secretary on behalf of the president.
● Like the public account of India, it is also operated by executive action.
Parliament’s Multifunctional Role
In the ‘Indian politico-administrative system’, the Parliament enjoys extensive powers and
performs a variety of functions towards the fulfilment of its constitutionally expected role:
➔Judicial Powers and Functions
➔Electoral Powers and Functions
➔Financial Powers and Functions
➔Executive Powers and Functions
➔Legislative Powers and Functions
➔Constituent Powers and Functions
➔Other powers and functions.
Judicial Powers and Functions
➢It can remove the Vice-President from his office.
➢It can impeach the President for the violation of the Constitution.
➢It can punish its members or outsiders for the breach of its privileges or its contempt.
➢It can recommend the removal of judges (including chief justice) of the SC and the HC,
chief election commissioner, CAG, to the president.
Electoral Powers and Functions
● Lok Sabha elects its Speaker, Deputy Speaker.
● Rajya Sabha elects its Deputy Chairman.
● Parliament participates in President’s election (alongwith state legislative assemblies)
and elects the Vice-President.
● Parliament makes laws to regulate the elections to:
i. President/Vice-President’s offices
ii. Both the Houses of Parliament
iii. Both the Houses of state legislature.
● Parliament enacted the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Act 1952, the
Representation of People Act 1950, the Representation of People Act 1951 etc.
Financial Powers and Functions
● No tax can be levied or collected and no expenditure can be incurred by the Executive
except under the authority/approval of Parliament.
● Hence, the budget is placed before the Parliament for its approval.
● Parliament budget enactment legalises govt’s receipts/expenditure for the ensuing
financial year.
● Parliament scrutinises govt. spending and financial performance with the help of its
financial committees, i.e. public accounts committee, estimates committee and
committee on public undertakings.
● They bring out the cases of illegal, irregular, unauthorised, improper usage and wastage
and extravagance in public expenditure.
● The parliamentary control over the Executive in financial matters operates in 2 stages:
i. Budgetary control: Control before the appropriation of grants through the
enactment of the budget.
ii. Post-budgetary control: Control after the appropriation of grants through the 3
financial committees.
● Budget is based on the principle of annuality (Parliament grants money for one FY).
i. If the granted money is not spent by the end of the FY, the balance expires and
returns to the Consolidated Fund of India. This is called ‘rule of lapse’.
ii. It facilitates effective financial control by the Parliament as no reserve funds can be
built without its authorisation.
iii. However, this rule leads to heavy rush of expenditure towards the close of the
financial year. This is popularly called as ‘March Rush’. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Executive Powers and Functions
● Executive is responsible to the Parliament for its policies and acts.
● Parliament exercises control over the Executive through:
a. Zero hour
b. Question hour
c. Censure motion
d. Adjournmentmotion
e. No-confidence motion
f. Half-an-hour discussion
g. Calling attention motion
h. Short duration discussion and other discussions.
● It supervises the activities of the Executive with the help of its committees like
committee on government assurance, committee on subordinate legislation, committee
on petitions, etc.
● The ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament in general and to the Lok
Sabha in particular.
● As a part of collective responsibility, each minister is individually responsible for his
ministry.
● They continue in office so long as they enjoy the confidence of the majority members in
the Lok Sabha.
● The council of ministers can be removed by passing a no-confidence motion.
● The Lok Sabha can also express lack of confidence in the govt:
➔By passing a cut motion.
➔By rejecting a money bill.
➔By defeating the govt. on a vital issue.
➔By passing a censure motion or an adjournment motion.
➔By not passing a motion of thanks on the President’s inaugural address.
Therefore, the first function of Parliament can be said to be to select the group which is to
form the govt, support and sustain it in power so long as it enjoys its confidence, and to
expel it when it ceases to do so, and leave it to the people to decide at the next general
election.
Constituent Powers and Functions:
● The Parliament is vested with the powers to amend the Constitution by way of addition,
variation or repeal of any provision.
● Parliament can amend the Constitution in three ways:
➢By simple majority.
➢By special majority.
➢By special majority but with the consent of half of all the state legislatures.
● The power to initiate the process of the amendment of the Constitution, lies exclusively
in the hands of the Parliament and not the state legislature.
➢One exception to it, is that the state legislature can pass a resolution requesting the
Parliament for the creation/abolition of the legislative council in the state.
➢Based on the resolution, the Parliament makes an act for amending the Constitution
to that effect.
● The major part of the Constitution can be amended by the Parliament with special
majority (more than 50%) of the total membership of each House and a majority of not
less than 2/3rd of the members present and voting in each House.
● Constitution’s other provisions can be amended with simple majority.
● A few Constitutional provisions can be amended by the Parliament (by special
majority), with the consent of at least half of the state Legislatures (by simple majority).
● Parliament’s constituent power is not unlimited, it is subject to the ‘basic structure’
of the Constitution.
➢This was ruled by the SC in the Kesavananda Bharati case 1973 and reaffirmed in
the Minerva Mills case 1980.
Legislative Powers and Functions
● The primary function of Parliament is to make laws for the governance of the country.
● It has exclusive power to make laws on the:
➢Union List subjects (which has 100 subjects, originally 97 subjects)
➢Residuary subjects (subjects not enumerated in any of the three lists).
● Parliament has overriding powers with regard to Concurrent List subjects (which
has 52 subjects, originally 47 subjects)
● Parliament Law prevails over State Legislature Law in case of a conflict.
● All the ordinances issued by the president (during Recess), must be approved by the
Parliament within 6 weeks after its reassembly, Otherwise, an ordinance becomes
inoperative. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● Parliament can make laws on the State List subjects (which has 61 subjects, originally
66 subjects) under the following 5 abnormal circumstances:
➢When President’s Rule is in operation in the state.
➢When Rajya Sabha passes a resolution to that effect.
➢In case of international agreements, treaties and conventions.
➢When a proclamation of National Emergency is in operation.
➢When two or more states make a joint request to the Parliament.
● Parliament makes laws in a skeleton form and authorises the Executive to make detailed
rules and regulations within the framework of the parent law.
● It is known as delegated legislation/executive legislation/subordinate legislation.
● These are placed before the Parliament for its examination.
Other Powers and Functions
● It is the highest deliberative body which discusses issues of national and international
importance.
● It approves national, state and financial emergencies, proclaimed by the President.
● It can create/abolish the state legislative councils, on the recommendation of the
concerned state legislative assemblies.
● It can increase/decrease the area, alter boundaries and change names of Indian Union
states.
● It can regulate the organisation and jurisdiction of the SC and high courts and can
establish a common high court for two or more states.
Ineffectiveness of Parliamentary Control
● The parliamentary control is more theoretical than practical.
● The very size of the Parliament is too large and unmanageable to be effective.
● Parliament’s control is sporadic, general and mostly political in nature.
● Parliament has neither time nor expertise to control the administration which has grown
in volume as well as complexity.
● The increased recourse to ‘guillotine’ reduced the scope of financial control.
● Frequent promulgation of ordinances by the president dilutes the Parliament’s power of
legislation.
● Majority support enjoyed by the Executive, reduces the possibility of effective
criticism.
● The legislative leadership lies with the Executive and it plays a significant role in
formulating policies. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● Parliament’s financial control is hindered by the technical nature of the demands for
grants. The parliamentarians being laymen cannot understand them properly and fully.
● The financial committees like Public Accounts Committee examines the public
expenditure after it has been incurred by the Executive. They do post mortem work.
● The growth of ‘delegated legislation’ has reduced the role of Parliament in making
detailed laws and has increased the powers of bureaucracy.
● Lack of strong and steady opposition in the Parliament, and a setback in the
parliamentary behaviour and ethics.
Position of Rajya Sabha
The Constitutional position of the Rajya Sabha (as compared with the Lok Sabha) can be
studied from three angles:
1. Where Rajya Sabha is equal to Lok Sabha.
2. Where Rajya Sabha is unequal to Lok Sabha.
3. Where Rajya Sabha has special powers that are not at all shared with the Lok Sabha.
Equal Status with Lok Sabha
● Introduction and passage of ordinary bills.
● Election and impeachment of the president.
● Approval of ordinances issued by the President.
● Enlargement of the jurisdiction of the SC and the UPSC.
● Introduction and passage of Constitutional amendment bills.
● Approval of proclamation of all three types of emergencies by the President.
● Introduction and passage of financial bills involving expenditure from the Consolidated
Fund of India.
● Consideration of reports of constitutional bodies like Finance Commission, UPSC,
CAG, etc.
● Making recommendation to the President for the removal of Chief Justice and judges of
SC and HC, chief election commissioner and CAG.
● Selection of ministers including the PM. The ministers including the PM can be
members of either House. However, irrespective of their membership, they are
responsible only to the Lok Sabha.
● Election and removal of the Vice-President. However, he can be removed through a
resolution passed by the Rajya Sabha (by a special majority) and agreed to by the Lok
Sabha (by a simple majority).
Unequal Status with Lok Sabha:
● The Speaker of Lok Sabha presides over the joint sitting of both the Houses.
● A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha and not in the Rajya Sabha.
● Rajya Sabha cannot amend or reject a Money Bill. It should return the bill to the Lok
Sabha within 14 days, either with recommendations or without recommendations.
● The final decision whether a particular bill is a Money Bill is vested in the Speaker.
● A resolution for the discontinuance of the national emergency can be passed only by the
Lok Sabha and not by the Rajya Sabha.
● Rajya Sabha can only discuss the budget but cannot vote on the demands for grants
(which is the exclusive privilege of the Lok Sabha).
● The Lok Sabha can accept/reject all or any of the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha.
In both the cases, the money bill is deemed to have been passed by the two Houses.
● A financial bill (not containing solely the matters of Article 110), also can be
introduced only in the Lok Sabha and not in the Rajya Sabha. But, with regard to its
passage, both the Houses have equal powers.
● Lok Sabha with greater number wins the battle in a joint sitting except when the
combined strength of the ruling party in both the Houses is less than that of the
opposition parties.
● Rajya Sabha cannot remove the council of ministers (CoM) by passing a no confidence
motion because the CoM is collectively responsible only to the Lok Sabha. But, Rajya
Sabha can discuss and criticise the policies and activities of the govt.
Special Powers of Rajya Sabha
● It can authorise the Parliament to make a law on a subject enumerated in the State List
(Article 249).
● It can authorise the Parliament to create new All-India Services common to both the
Centre and states (Article 312).
The position of the Rajya Sabha in our constitutional system is not as weak as that of the
House of Lords in the British constitutional system nor as strong as that of the Senate in the
American constitutional system. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
● Rajya Sabha powers and status in all other spheres are broadly equal and coordinate
with that of the Lok Sabha (except in financial matters and control over the council of
ministers).
● Rajya Sabha’s utility is supported on the following grounds:
➢It checks hasty, defective, careless and ill-considered legislation made by the Lok
Sabha by making provision of revision and thought.
➢It maintains the federal equilibrium by protecting the interests of the states against
the undue interference of the Centre.
➢It facilitates representation to eminent professionals and experts who cannot face
the direct election. (The President nominates 12 such persons to the Rajya Sabha).
Parliamentary Privileges:
● These are special rights, immunities and exemptions enjoyed by the two Houses of
Parliament, their committees and their members.
● They secure the independence and effectiveness of their actions.
● Without these privileges, the Houses can neither maintain their authority, dignity and
honour nor can protect their members from any obstruction in the discharge of their
parliamentary responsibilities.
● The parliamentary privileges do not extend to the president who is also an integral part
of the Parliament.
● Parliamentary privileges are also extended to those persons who are entitled to speak
and take part in the proceedings of a House of Parliament or any of its committees, i.e.
attorney general of India and Union ministers.
● Parliamentary privileges can be classified into 2 broad categories:
1. Collective Privileges
◆ It has the right to publish its reports, debates and proceedings and also the
right to prohibit others from publishing the same.
◆ The 44th Amendment Act of 1978 restored the freedom of the press to publish
true reports of parliamentary proceedings without prior permission of the
House.
◆ But this is not applicable in the case of a secret sitting of the House.
i. It can exclude strangers from its proceedings and hold secret sittings to
discuss some important matters.
ii. It can make rules to regulate its own procedure and the conduct of its
business and to adjudicate upon such matters. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
■ The courts are prohibited to inquire into the proceedings of a House or its committees.
■ It can institute inquiries and order the attendance of witnesses and send for relevant
papers and records.
■ It has the right to receive immediate information of the arrest, detention, conviction,
imprisonment and release of a member.
■ It can punish members as well as outsiders for breach of its privileges or its contempt
by reprimand, admonition/imprisonment (suspension/expulsion, in case of members).
■ No person (member/outsider) can be arrested, and no legal process (civil/criminal), can
be served within the precints of the House without the presiding officer’s permission.
2. Individual Privileges
◆ They are exempted from jury service. They can refuse to give evidence and appear
as a witness in a case pending in a court when Parliament is in session.
◆ They cannot be arrested during Parliament session and 40 days before the
beginning and 40 days after the end of a session. (It is available only in civil cases,
not in criminal/preventive detention cases).
◆ They have freedom of speech in Parliament. No member is liable to any
proceedings for anything said or any vote given in Parliament or its committees. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
Breach of Privilege and Contempt of the House
● When any individual or authority disregards/attacks any of the privileges, rights and
immunities, either of the member individually or of the House in its collective capacity,
the offence is termed as Breach of privilege and is punishable by the House.
● Contempt of the House:
- Any act or omission which obstructs a House of Parliament/its member/its officer,
in the performance of their functions.
- Any act which has a tendency, directly/indirectly, to produce results against the
dignity, authority and honour of the House.
Though the two phrases, ‘breach of privilege’ and ‘contempt of the House’ are used
interchangeably, they have different implications.
- There may be a contempt of the House without specifically committing a breach of
privilege’.
- Actions which are not breaches of any specific privilege but are offences against the
dignity and authority of the House amount to contempt of the House. i.e., disobedience
to a legitimate order of the House is not a breach of privilege, but can be punished as
contempt of the House.
Sources of Privileges
Originally, the Constitution (Article 105) expressedly mentioned 2 privileges, that is,
freedom of speech in Parliament and right of publication of its proceedings.
● Other privileges were to be the same as those of the British House of Commons, its
committees and its members on the date of its commencement (26 January, 1950), until
defined by Parliament.
● 44th Amendment Act 1978 provided that the other privileges of each House of
Parliament, its committees and its members are to be those as on the date of its
commencement (i.e. 20 June 1979), until defined by Parliament.
This means that the position with regard to other privileges remains same, the amendment
has made only verbal changes by dropping a direct reference to the British House of
Commons, withoutmaking any change in the implication of the provision.
The Parliament, till now, has not made any special law to exhaustively codify all the
privileges. They are based on 5 sources, namely, Constitutional provisions; Various laws
made by Parliament; Rules of both the Houses; Parliamentary conventions, and
Judicial interpretations.
Sovereignty of the Parliament
● Doctrine of sovereignty of Parliament is associated with the British Parliament.
● That supreme power in Great Britain lies with the Parliament.
➢Parliamentary supremacy is a cardinal feature of the British constitutional system.
➢There are no ‘legal’ restrictions on its jurisdiction and authority.
➢According to AV Dicey, the British jurist, this principle has following
implications:
i. Parliament can make constitutional laws by same procedure as ordinary laws.
➢There is no legal distinction between the constituent authority and the
legislative authority of the British Parliament.
i. Parliament can make, amend, substitute or repeal any law.
ii. The Parliamentary laws cannot be declared invalid by the Judiciary as being
unconstitutional.
➢There is no system of judicial review in Britain.
The Indian Parliament, on the other hand, cannot be regarded as a sovereign body in the
similar sense as there are ‘legal’ restrictions on its authority and jurisdiction.
The factors that limit the sovereignty of Indian Parliament are:
❖ Written Nature of the Constitution
➢Constitution has defined the authority and jurisdiction of 3 organs of the Union
govt and interrelationship between them.
➢Parliament has to operate within the limits prescribed by the Constitution.
➢There is also a legal distinction between the constituent authority and the
legislative authority of the Parliament.
➢Ratification of half of the states is also required to effect certain amendments to the
Constitution. In Britain, on the other hand, the Constitution is neither written nor
there is anything like a fundamental law of the land.
❖ System of Judicial Review
➢The adoption of an independent Judiciary with the power of judicial review also
restricts the supremacy of our Parliament.
➢SC and HC can declare the laws enacted by the Parliament as void and ultra vires,
if they contravene any provision of the Constitution. While, there is no system of
judicial review in Britain. British Courts have to apply Parliamentary laws to
specific cases, without examining their constitutionality, legality/reasonableness. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
❖ Federal System of Government
➢India has a constitutional division of powers between the Union and the states.
➢Both have to operate within the spheres allotted to them.
➢Parliament’s Law-making authority gets confined to the Union List and
Concurrent List subjects and does not extend to State List subjects (except in 5
abnormal circumstances for a short period).
➢Britain, on the other hand, has a unitary system of government and hence, all the
powers are vested in the Centre.
❖ Fundamental Rights:
Parliament is restricted by the code of justiciable fundamental rights under Part III of
the Constitution.
➢Article 13 prohibits the State from making a law that violates fundamental right.
➢In Britain, on the other hand, there is no codification of justiciable fundamental
rights in the Constitution.
➢British Parliament has not made any law that lays down the fundamental rights of
the citizens. Though there is no charter guaranteeing rights, there is maximum
liberty in Britain due to the existence of the Rule of Law. © Jatin Verma 2017-18. All Rights Reserved
➢Hence, there is a substantial difference between the two, even though the nomenclature
and organisational pattern of our Parliament is similar to that of the British Parliament.
■ The Indian Parliament is not a sovereign body in the sense in which the British
Parliament is a sovereign body.
■ Unlike the British Parliament, the authority and jurisdiction of the Indian
Parliament are defined, limited and restrained.
■ In this regard, the Indian Parliament is similar to the American Legislature (known
as Congress).
■ In USA also, the sovereignty of Congress is legally restricted by:
a. The Bill of Rights.
b. The system of judicial review.
c. The federal system of government.
d. The written character of the Constitution.
OUTCOME OF THE LESSON

¡ Learning about the Parts of Parliament and its functions in a Representative democracy.
© JATIN VERMA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 20/01/2018 1
THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
¡ The Articles 79-122 in the Constitution deal with the Parliament. They contain the
organization, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges etc. related to the
Parliament of India.
¡ Article 79 states:
“There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and
two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the
People.”
¡ Thus, the Parliament has three parts- The President, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
¡ Lok Sabha is also known as Lower House and the House of the People and the Rajya
Sabha is known as the Upper House and the Council of States.
ROLE OF THE PARLIAMENT OF INDIA
¡ The Parliament conducts sessions where debates on policy, legislation etc. are carried out.
¡ The Parliament is necessary for a representative democracy where the grievances or issues of
national importance can be discussed and solutions can be found for them.
¡ The laws of the land originate from the parliament, which is the supreme body responsible for
the law making procedure in India.
¡ A well-functioning Parliament is necessary for good governance of the country, however it is
dependent on the commitment of the Members of the Parliament.
© JATIN VERMA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha
20/01/2018 4
PRESIDENT AS THE PART OF THE PARLIAMENT
PRESIDENT AS A PART OF THE PARLIAMENT
¡ The President is not a Member of either of the Houses.
¡ The Article 59 states that:
“The President shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the
Legislature of any State, and if a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of
the Legislature of any State be elected President, he shall be deemed to have vacated his
seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as President.”
¡ Although the President cannot be a Member of Parliament or a Member of the Legislative
Assembly of any of the Indian states, he is an integral and inseparable part of the Parliament.
¡ This is because of his role in the legislative procedure or the law making procedure.
¡ The legislative functions of the President:
¡ Article 85- The President has the power to summon, prorogue the Houses of the Parliament
and dissolve the Lok Sabha if the circumstances call for its dissolution before the completion
of the term.
¡ Article 108- Under certain specific circumstances, the President has the power to
summon a joint sitting of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The joint sitting is
presided over by the Lok Sabha Speaker.
¡ Article 87- special opening address of the President to both the Houses of the
Parliament assembled during:
(I) The first session after each general election to the House of the People.
(II) Commencement of the first session of each year where both Houses of
Parliament are assembled together.
¡ Article 86(1)- This article confers the Right to the President for addressing either of the
Houses of the Parliament or the Joint sitting of both the houses at any time.
¡ Article 86(2)- This article confers the Right to the President for sending messages to either
House of the Parliament.
¡ Article 80(1)- The President can nominate 12 members to the Rajya Sabha. These members
are person with substantial and special knowledge or practical experience in the fields of
Literature, Science, Art and Social Service.
¡ Article 331- If the President is of the view that the Anglo-Indian community is not
adequately represented in the Lok Sabha (House of the People), he can nominate NOT more
than 2 members belonging to the Anglo-Indian community to the House.
¡ There are certain bills on specified legislation matters that require the previous sanction or
the recommendation of the President before these bills are introduced in the Parliament.
¡ The President in his power and duty, causes the laying of the Annual Financial
Statement (colloquially called Budget)
¡ Reports of Comptroller & Auditor-General relating to the accounts of the Indian
Government
¡ Annual report of Union Public Service Commission. Explanation is provided for the
reasons for any case where the advice of UPSC was not accepted
¡ Reports of Finance Commission along with explanatory memorandum of action taken
on the recommendations of the Commission
¡ Reports of Special officers of Scheduled Castes (SC) & Scheduled tribes (ST) and
Report of the Special officers of Linguistic Minorities and Backward Classes.
¡ When a bill is passed by both the Houses, it is sent for the Presidential Assent. When the
President gives the assent, the Bill becomes as Act.
The Article 111 entitles the President to take the following actions when a bill is
presented for his/her assent:
1. Give his/her assent so that the bill becomes an Act.
2. Declare that he is withholding his/her assent to the Bill.
3. In case of any bill other than Money Bill, he/she may return the Bill for the Houses to
reconsider. He cannot return a Money Bill.
¡ The Article 111 gives the President veto power to withhold his assent to the Bill. Indian
President can use Absolute Veto, Suspensive Veto and Pocket Veto
¡ Article 123 of the Indian Constitution empowers the President to promulgate an ordinance
when the Parliament is in recess.
CONDUCT OF PRESIDENT OR GOVERNOR
¡ The Parliament has been advisedly charged with the power and the duty of enforcing the
‘obligation of the minister to follow the directions given in the Instrument of Instructions’
and ‘to compel the ministry to give proper advice to the President’.
¡ Is such a Parliament precluded from discussing any failure on the part of the PM to
discharge a duty imposed by a constitutional provision despite the publication of credible
reports of such a lapse?
¡ This question arose in 1987 when the PM, Rajiv Gandhi claimed that the President was kept
informed on matters of national interest while the President contradicted the claim which
revealed a case of violation of Article 78.
© Jatin Verma All Rights Reserved 5/15/18 14
¡ Rule 352 of rules of procedure and conduct of business in the Lok Sabha provides that
¡ A member while speaking shall not .. reflect upon the conduct of persons in high authority
unless the discussion is based on a substantive motion drawn in proper terms.
¡ An explanation adds that ‘the words ‘persons in high authority’ mean persons whose
conduct can only be discussed on a substantive motion drawn in proper terms under the
Constitution or such other persons whose conduct, in the opinion of the Speaker, should be
discussed on a substantive motion drawn up in term to be approved by him’.
¡ Under the Constitution (Article 121) the only persons whose conduct cannot be discussed in
Parliament except upon a motion, and that too for their removal, are judges of the SC and
the HCs.
¡ The President and the governors fall under the category of ‘other persons’ in ‘high authority’
whose conduct can be discussed only on the basis of a substantive motion (impeachment for
the President and censure and a motion of no-confidence for the ministers).
¡ Rule 352 also provides that an MP shall not ‘use the President’s name for the purpose of
influencing the debate’.
¡ In 1989, LS Rules of procedure was amended to include ‘It shall not refer to or seek
disclosure of information about matters which are in their nature secret such as cabinet
discussions or advice given to the President in relation to any matter in respect of which
there is a constitutional, statutory or conventional obligation not to disclose information’.
¡ The fundamental principle of PMs accountability to the Parliament is ignored in the above
clause.
¡ There is a clear constitutional obligation to reveal to the Parliament whether or not the
President is being properly advised and informed.
¡ The courts have expanded the scope of judicial review. The SC ruled in 1994 that while
Article 174(2) bars the courts from inquiring into the advice tendered to the President, it is
open to them to examine the material on which the advise was based.
q A G Noorani says
¡ No one is immune to accountability under the Constitution.
¡ A procedural rule that constricts such accountability is unconstitutional.
¡ Properly read, the rules of procedure do permit discussion on substantive and proper
motions of the conduct of both the heads of state and of government, with due propriety and
decorum and when the situation warrants such discussion.
¡ The language must be precise and dignified and the debate limited to its terms. The speaker
must ensure all this.
ELIGIBILITY TO BECOME A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
QUALIFICATIONS
¡ Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament. A
person to be qualified for the membership of the Parliament should possess the following
qualifications:
¡ he must be a citizen of India and make and subscribe before some person authorized in that
behalf by the Election Commission an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for
the purpose in the Third Schedule to the Constitution;
¡ he must be not less than 30 years of age in case of Rajya Sabha and not less than 25 years
of age in case of Lok Sabha.
¡ he must possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under
any law made by Parliament.
DISQUALIFICATION
¡ Article 102 of the Constitution lays down that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen
as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament –
¡ if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any
State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder;
¡ if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
¡ if he is an undischarged insolvent;
¡ if he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State,
or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;
¡ if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.
DISQUALIFICATION UNDER TENTH SCHEDULE
¡ The Tenth Schedule to Constitution provides for disqualification of the members on ground
of defection.
¡ As per the provisions of the Tenth Schedule, a member may be disqualified if:
¡ he voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party OR
¡ if he votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the
political party to which he belongs, unless such voting or abstention has been condoned by
the political party within fifteen days.
¡ A member elected as an independent candidate shall be disqualified if he joins any political
party after his election.
20/01/2018 22
PARLIAMENTARY SESSIONS AND BUSINESS OF
THE PARLIAMENT
PARLIAMENTARY SESSIONS IN INDIA
¡ The sessions of the Parliament refers to the periods during which each House- Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha conduct their respective business.
¡ According to the Indian Constitution, the President needs to summon each House at such
intervals that there should not be more than a six-month gap between the two sessions.
Hence the Parliament must meet at least twice a year.
¡ Usually the parliament conducts three sessions each year:
¡ Budget session: February to May.
¡ Monsoon session: July to September.
¡ Winter session:November to December.
¡ Summoning- It means that the members of the Parliament have to be present for conducting
the parliamentary business. The President of India summons the two Houses of the Parliament
under Article 85(1) of the Constitution.
¡ Adjournment- It suspends the sitting of the house for a specified time that may be hours,
days or weeks. If the meeting is postponed for an indefinite time without stating a fixed
time for next meeting, it is called Adjournment sine die.
¡ Prorogation- It means the a session of the House has been terminated by an order made by
the President under article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution.
¡ Prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of the House whereas adjournment just
postpones a sitting. The time between the Prorogation and Reassembly of the Houses is called
Recess.
¡ Dissolution of Lok Sabha- Rajya Sabha is a permanent house, therefore the term dissolution
is used in the context of Lok Sabha.
¡ Lok Sabha gets dissolved at the completion of the term of 5 years from the date appointed for
its first meeting. The outgoing Union Cabinet recommends the President to dissolve the Lok
Sabha to pave the way for the newly constituted Lok Sabha after the general election results.
¡ Another manner in which Lok Sabha gets dissolved is when the ruling party loses majority. In
that case, the Council of Ministers must resign and the prerogative to dissolve Lok Sabha is
transferred to the President. He may ask other party to prove its majority, failing which fresh
elections need to be held.
¡ With the dissolution of Lok Sabha, its business including bills, motions, resolutions, notices,
petitions and so on pending before it or its committees lapse.
PREMATURE DISSOLUTIONS
¡ The Lok Sabha did its full term in 1957, 1962, 1967 and 1989.
¡ The first premature dissolution was readily granted to Indira Gandhi in 1970 and the second,
during the Emergency in 1977.
¡ In the second instance, the collapse of alternatives led to a dissolution after just two years in
1979.
¡ But in 1991 and again in 1997, the Lok Sabha was dissolved after about one year of its
term.
¡ Law Commission in its Report on Simultaneous Polls recommended introduction of
Constructive No Confidence Motion.
¡ Dr B. R. Ambedkar told the Constituent Assembly in 1948, that under a parliamentary
system of government, there are only two prerogatives which the king or the head of state
may exercise,
1. Appointment of the Prime Minister
2. Dissolution of the Lok Sabha
DISSOLUTION OF THE LOK SABHA
¡ There may arise many situations when the government loses majority in the Lok Sabha
1. Is the PM bound to resign or is he entitled to secure a verdict on his stewardship from
the Lok Sabha?
2. If the PM is allowed to prove his confidence and his motion of confidence is defeated, is
he entitled to dissolve the Lok Sabha in favour of a verdict of the people?
3. Is the President bound to ask the single largest party in the LS to form a government, if
the government is defeated on the floor of the LS?
4. If the party so asked fails to form a majority and asks the President for LS’s dissolution,
is the President bound to grant it?
© Jatin VermaAll Rights Reserved 5/15/18 29
5. Whether it is PM’s sole prerogative to tender such advise or must be based on a decision
by his Council of Ministers?
6. Can dissolution of the LS be accepted
from a PM facing a censure motion
from a PM who heads a minority government
from a PM who has resigned
¡ Article 74. Council of Ministers to aid and advise President
(1) There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid
and advise the President who shall, in the exercise of his functions, act in accordance
with such advice: Provided that the President may require the council of Ministers to
reconsider such advice, either generally or otherwise, and the President shall act in
accordance with the advice tendered after such reconsideration
¡ (2) The question whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered by Ministers to the
President shall not be inquired into in any court
¡ Before we answer these questions, Let's understand some terms:
Aminority government, or minority cabinet or minority parliament, is a cabinet formed in
a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of
overall seats in the parliament.
Minority Party in Government: If a Party has relatively largest number of seats but is
short of the golden number 273 (50% of 545 total seats of Lok Sabha). A party may be single
largest political party in Lok Sabha but it may not be having sufficient number of MPs
Minority Coalition Government: If two or more parties join hands to form govt. but are still
short of Golden number 273.
Majority Political Party Govt: A Party having 273 or more MPs on its own.
Majority Coalition of Parties: If two or more Political parties join hands and have a combined
strenght of more than 273 MPs
INDIAN POLITICS SINCE INDEPENDENCE: MINORITY
GOVERNMENTS IN INDIA'S HISTORY
¡ India has enough experience with the functioning of unstable and opportunistic coalition
governments both at the central and the state levels. Presidents/Governors have often asked
the leader of a newly formed coalition government to seek a vote of confidence to prove
majority support.
Shankar Dayal Sharma invited A B Vajpayee, leader of a minority party in the Lok Sabha in
1996, to form the government. This first BJP-led government at the Centre lasted from May
16 to June 1, 1996. It resigned without facing the vote of no-confidence moved by parties
opposed to it.
That was not the first time that a minority-party led government has functioned at the
Centre. The classic example of a minority-led government was of Indira Gandhi from 1969
till she asked for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha at the end of 1970.
¡ The Congress party had split in 1969 on the issue of ‘conscience vote’ for the office of
President of India and Indira Gandhi-led Congress was reduced to the position of the
largest party with minority of seats in the Lok Sabha.
Legality or constitutionality of Indira Gandhi’s government from 1969 to the end of 1970
was not at all questioned because it was left to the opposition parties to either move a vote
of no confidence or allow such a government to continue in office.
¡ This story was repeated in 1991 when P V Narasimha Rao formed a Congress-led
government that had the largest number of seats, but was in a minority in the Lok Sabha.
Incidentally, to characterise the V P Singh or the Chandra Shekar governments at the Centre
from 1989 to 1991 or the purely temporary primeministerships of H D Deva Gowda and I K
Gujral from 1996 to 1998 as coalition governments is a complete misnomer.
¡ In Samsher Singh case, 1974 the Supreme Court mentioned dissolution as the few
exceptional situations in which the President is free to exercise his discretion when the
PM advises him to dissolve the LS
¡ 42ndAmendment Act made the advise of the CoM binding on the President.
1. Is the PM bound to resign or is he entitled to secure a verdict on his
stewardship from the Lok Sabha?
¡ Three contingencies
1. A single party ministry losing its majority because of a split or defections
2. A coalition falling apart
3. A majority government being ‘subsequently denied’ support by one of the supporting
parties
¡ The Committee of Governors report, 1971 says the governor should ask the CM to prove his
majority within the shortest possible time in the first and the third case.
¡ President, R. Venkataraman advised the PM, V P Singh to prove his majority in the LS after
BJP withdrew its support to the National Front in 1990.
2. If the PM is allowed to prove his confidence and his motion of confidence is defeated, is
he entitled to dissolve the lok sabha in favour of a verdict of the people?
¡ According to both the Bhagwan Sahay Committee (1971) and the Sarkaria Commission
(1986), the principle appears to be that dissolution must always be granted to a Ministry that
enjoys a majority. But the logic of this is greatly skewed. The converse proposition may be
acceptable. Thus dissolution may be refused to a minority Ministry to explore alternatives
for government formation. On that logic, a premature dissolution must be refused to a
majority government as the need for an alternative does not arise.
¡ Dissolution may be refused if: "(1) there is the belief that the existing Parliament was still
vital, viable and capable of doing its job; (2) there is belief that a general election would be
detrimental to the national economy; and (3) an alternative Prime Minister is found who
would be capable of commanding a working majority ... and thus able to form a government
for a reasonable period."
3. Is the President bound to ask the single largest party in the LS to form a
government, if the government is defeated on the floor of the LS?
¡ The report of the Committee of Governors says that the leader of the largest single party in
the house has no right to claim that he should be entrusted with the task of forming a
government to the exclusion of all others.
¡ The relevant test is not the size of a party but its ability to command the support of the
majority of the legislature.
¡ Defeated on a motion of no-confidence, V.P. Singh government resigned in 1990, without
advising the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha.
¡ Chandra Shekar was sworn in PM with Rajiv Gandhi’s support and some small groups.
5. Upholding the view that a pre-poll alliance should be treated as one political party, it
lays down the order of precedence that ought to be followed by the governor in case of
a hung house:
First, Call the group with the largest pre-poll alliance commanding the largest number;
Second, The single largest party with support of others;
Third, The post-electoral coalition with all parties joining the government; and
At-last, The post electoral alliance with some parties joining the government and
remaining including Independents supporting from outside. Sequence
1234
Pre-Poll
Alliance
234
Single
largest
Party
238
members
Post-Poll
Coalition
240
Post
Electoral
Alliance
250
4. If the party so asked fails to form a majority and asks the President for LS’s
dissolution, is the President bound to grant it?
¡ Analysts are of the view that if an alternative government assumed office and asked for an
immediate dissolution or was at once defeated on a critical division, it would be the duty of
the Crown (the President) ‘to recall the former Government and grant it dissolution’.
5. Whether it is PM’s sole prerogative to tender such advise or must be based
on a decision by his Council of Ministers?
¡ The SC has time and again ruled that the Constitution must be read in the light of the
established conventions of the British Parliamentary system on which the framers of the
Constitution avowedly modelled it.
¡ Article 74(1) does not rob the President of his discretion on dissolution.
¡ Successive Presidents have recorded that implicitly in communiques issued from the
Rashtrapati Bhavan while ordering mid-term dissolutions of 1979 and 1991.
¡ No PM, especially one who heads a coalition, but also one who heads a single party
ministry, has the right to advise the termination of the life of the LS on his own.
¡ No President should act on such advice without consulting the PM’s colleagues in the
cabinet, if differences are suspected, not to forget the parties in the opposition.
DISSOLUTION BY A PM FACING A CENSURE MOTION
¡ Eugene Forsey formulated that ‘if a motion of censure or want of confidence is under debate
but has not yet been voted on, and the Cabinet tries to forestall a probable or even possible
defeat by asking for dissolution, then it is clearly the crown’s duty to refuse’.
¡ The report of the Governor’s committee (1971) held the same view for CM and the
governor.
DISSOLUTION BY A PM HEADING A MINORITY GOVT.
¡ A minority government can advise dissolution.
¡ Its advice would be accepted if no alternative government is in sight.
¡ A govt. defeated on a motion of no-confidence is also within its rights in seeking the
people’s verdict.
¡ Circumstances alter cases
¡ If the house is viable, recently elected, and the govt., having lost its confidence, seeks to
prevent an alternative govt. from assuming power by advising dissolution, such advise
should be rejected.
A CASE OF DISSOLUTION
¡ The Ministry headed by Shri Morarji Desai submitted its resignation on July 15, 1979 on its
being reduced to minority owing to large scale of defections.
¡ After the resignation of Shri Morarji Desai, the President first, invited the leader of the
Opposition, Shri Y.B. Chavan, to explore the possibility of forming a stable government.
¡ But Shri Chavan conveyed his failure to form an alternative Government.
¡ Soon after, the President, Shri Sanjiva Reddy invited Charan Singh to form the Government
and also asked him to seek a vote of confidence by the third week of August 1979.
¡ Mr. Charan Singh resigned before a vote was taken on the motion of confidence in the
specially convened session of the Lok Sabha.
¡ Moreover, he advised the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha and order a mid term poll as
'the only way out of the present unstable situation'.
A CASE OF DISSOLUTION
¡ From the President's point of view1, it was too complex a situation. He, in fact, had three
options before him. These were:
1) To invite Mr. Jagjiven Ram to form a government led by the Janata Party and ask him to
prove his majority in the House.
2) To dissolve the Lok Sabha and order fresh elections. This is to be accompanied by
inducting a new government under a non-controversial leader chosen by consensus of
various parties and acceptable to Mr. Senjiva Reddy.
3) To accept the advice of Mr. Charan Singh's Government to dissolve the Lok Sabha and
let it continue as a caretaker government.
¡ However, on August 22, the President accepted the recommendation of Mr. Charan Singh
for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha because he himself was satisfied that no other leader
could form the Government and the general election was the only alternative.
DISSOLUTION BY A PM WHO HAS RESIGNED
¡ On 28th November, 1997, Congress (I) withdrew its support to the UF govt and staked its
claim to form a government.
¡ The President, K. R. Narayanan accepted PM, Inder Kumar Gujaral’s resignation on the
same day and requested him and his colleagues to continue in office till alternative
arrangements were formed.
¡ The President dissolved the LS on the advice of I. K Gujaral, on 4th December, 1997 .
¡ The dissolution so secured after the PM’s resignation is said to have been unconstitutionally
secured by experts.
¡ Given the situation, it is a moot question whether the President should or could have
insisted that the govt. face the LS
OPTIONS IN A HUNG LOK SABHA
¡ 1. An incumbent PM should not be invited to form a govt. once his party loses its majority
in an election even if it emerges as the single largest party.
¡ 2. The President should, in such a case, invite the next single largest party to form a
government.
¡ 3. Both rules are, however, subject to the overriding proviso that any coalition that
commands a majority in the house is entitled to be invited to form the government.
¡ 4. The President ought to insist on clear agreement on the coalition’s leader, besides a
common minimum programme plus an accord to work in coalition, both of which should be
in writing and made public. There must be a written undertaking not to seek dissolution for
a specified, reasonable period of time in order to avert the kind of situation that the Rajiv
Gandhi-R. Venkataraman deal created in 1991.
OPTIONS IN A HUNG LOK SABHA
¡ 5. No party is entitled to demand any assurances from the President that he grant a
dissolution in the event of its government’s collapse. Such a demand would be improper.
The established rules as to grant of dissolution should prevail in all cases.
¡ 6. In extreme cases the President can ask the parties to hold discussions among themselves
under his auspices but without his participation.
¡ 7. At all times a government must be in place to tender advice to the President, if need be, as
a caretaker government. The govt. must go on. Indian democracy brooks no interruption.
THE BUSINESS OF THE PARLIAMENT
¡ The main business of the Parliament are:
¡ Consideration of a Bill
¡ Financial business
¡ Consideration of a resolution or a motion.
¡ Legislative Business
¡ Legislative proposals in the form of a Bill can be brought forward either by a Minister or
by a private member.
¡ In the former case it is known as Government Bill and in the latter case it is known as a
Private Members' Bill.
¡ Every Bill passes through three stages called three readings before it is passed.
¡ To become law it must be passed by both the Houses of Parliament and then assented to by
the President.
¡ Financial Business
¡ This includes the presentation of the Annual Budget.
2017 onwards, the railway and annual budget were merged.
¡ The discussion and voting on the various demands for grants followed by passing of
Appropriation Bill and Finance Bill is carried out during the Budget Session every year.
¡ Motions and Resolutions
¡ Resolutions and motions may be brought forward by Government or by private members.
¡ Government may move a resolution or a motion for obtaining the sanction to a scheme or
opinion of the House on an important matter of policy or on a grave situation.
¡ Similarly, a private member may move a resolution or motion in order to draw the
attention of the House and of the Government to a particular problem.
THE RAJYA SABHA
BRIEF HISTORY
¡ The origin of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) as a second Chamber can be traced to the
Montague-Chelmsford Report of 1918.
¡ The Government of India Act, 1919 provided for the creation of a ‘Council of State’ as a
second chamber of the then legislature with a restricted franchise which actually came into
existence in 1921.
¡ The Governor-General was the ex-officio President of the then Council of State. The
Government of India Act, 1935, hardly made any changes in its composition.
¡ The Constituent Assembly, which first met on 9th December 1946, also acted as the Central
Legislature till 1950, when it was converted as ‘Provisional Parliament’.
COMPOSITION OF RAJYA SABHA
¡ Article 80 of the Constitution lays down the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of
which 12 members are nominated by the President and 238 are representatives of the States
and of the two Union Territories.
¡ The present strength of Rajya Sabha, however, is 245, out of which 233 are representatives of
the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry and 12 are nominated by the
President.
ALLOCATION OF SEATS
¡ The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of seats to the States and
Union Territories in Rajya Sabha.
¡ The allocation of seats is made on the basis of the population of each State.
¡ With the reorganization of States and formation of new States, the number of elected
seats in the Rajya Sabha allotted to States and Union Territories has changed from time to
time since 1952.
¡ Question. Do you think representation of States in in Rajya Sabha should be Equal?
DEBATES AROUND CONTINUING THE SECOND CHAMBER
¡ Utility of Rajya Sabha
¡ Extensive debate took place in the Constituent Assembly regarding the utility of a Second
Chamber in Independent India.
¡ Ultimately, it was decided to have a bicameral legislature for independent India.
¡ This is because a federal system was considered to be most feasible form of Government
for a large country with large diversities.
¡ A single directly elected House was considered inadequate to meet the challenges before
free India.
DEBATES AROUND CONTINUING THE SECOND CHAMBER
¡ Thus, a second chamber known as the ‘Council of States’ was created with altogether
different composition and method of election from that of the directly elected House of the
People.
¡ It was meant to be the federal chamber i.e., a House elected by the elected members of
Assemblies of the States and two Union Territories in which States were not given equal
representation.
¡ Apart from the elected members, provision was also made for the nomination of twelve
members to the House by the President.
¡ The minimum age of thirty years was fixed for membership as against twenty-five years for
the Lower House.
¡ The Vice-President of India was made the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
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PUNCHHI COMMISSION ON RAJYA SABHA
¡ On Rajya Sabha to be a Chamber to protect States' rights
¡ The essence of federalism lies in maintaining a proper balance of power in governance and in
this respect the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) occupies a significant role.
¡ There is no doubt that Rajya Sabha is representative of States of the Union and is supposed to
protect States' rights in Central policy making.
¡ The Commission is of the considered view that factors inhibiting the composition and
functioning of the Second Chamber as a representative forum of States should be removed or
modified even if it requires amendment of the Constitutional provisions.
¡ This is felt more important now when centralization tendencies are getting stronger and
fragmentation of the polity is becoming intense.
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¡ On Rajya Sabha to be a Chamber to protect States' rights
Whenever Central policies are formulated in relation to one or more States, it is only proper
that Committees of Rajya Sabha involving representatives of concerned States are allowed
to discuss and come up with alternate courses of action acceptable to the States and the
Union.
¡ Thus, compensating the mineral rich States or the Hill States can well be negotiated in the
Rajya Sabha Committee.
¡ Similarly, States adversely affected by the Centre entering into treaties or agreements with
other countries can get appropriate remedies if the forum of the Rajya Sabha is utilized for the
purpose. In fact, Rajya Sabha offers immense potential to negotiate acceptable solutions to the
friction points which emerge between Centre and States in fiscal, legislative and
administrative relations.
¡ On Equal representation of States in Rajya Sabha
¡ The principle of equality and equal representation in institutions of governance is
as much relevant to States as to individuals in a multi-party, diverse polity.
¡ Equally applicable is the idea of preferential discrimination in favour of backward
States in the matter of fiscal devolution from Union to States.
¡ There are other federations which give equal number of seats to the federating
units in the Council of States irrespective of the size of their territory and
population. [U.S.]
¡ On Equal representation of States in Rajya Sabha
¡ The number of seats in the House of People (Lok Sabha) anyway is directly linked to the
population and there is no need to duplicate the principle. A balance of power between
States inter se is desirable and this is possible by equality of representation in the Rajya
Sabha. If the Council of States has failed to function as representative of States as
originally envisaged, it is because of the asymmetry of coalition politics and the way the
party system developed.
¡ The functioning of Rajya Sabha can be reformed to achieve the original purpose of
federal equilibrium. The Commission, therefore, strongly recommends amendment of
the relevant provisions to give equality of seats to States in the Rajya Sabha, irrespective
of their population size.
¡ On Equal representation of States in Rajya Sabha: The Commission is also of the
considered opinion that the reasoning of the Supreme Court in Kuldip Nayyar V. Union of
India, 2006 rejecting the status of Rajya Sabha as a Chamber representing the States in the
federal Union is faulty and deserves review.
¡ Meanwhile, Parliament should act restoring section 3 of the Representation of People Act
as it originally stood to redeem the federal balance in shared governance.
¡ The territorial link as prescribed by the Representation of People Act is necessary and
desirable to let the States realize that they are equal partners in national policy making and
governance.
ABUSE OF RAJYASABHA
¡ Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 provides that
¡ ‘A person shall not be qualified to be chosen as a representative of any state in the Council
of States unless he is an elector for a parliamentary constituency in that state.
¡ A person must be ordinarily resident in a constituency of the assembly in order to qualify
for enrolment as a voter in that assembly constituency and thus in the parliamentary
constituency of which it is a part.’
ABUSE OF RAJYASABHA
¡ Representation of Peoples Act, 1950 prescribes a detailed procedure for enrolment as voter
in an assembly constituency.
¡ The electoral roll for every parliamentary constituency consists of the electoral rolls of all
the assembly constituencies in that parliamentary constituency.
¡ No person shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for more than one assembly
constituency or in its roll more than once.
¡ Two conditions prescribed for enrolment- minimum age of 18 years and that the person is
‘ordinarily resident in a constituency’. Such residence must be obtained at the time of
enrolment (i.e ordinarily resident).
ABUSE OF RAJYASABHA
¡ A person shall not be deemed to be ordinarily resident in a constituency on the ground that
he owns, or is in the possession of, a dwelling house therein. But this has precisely been the
one ground advanced in recent years by almost all the delinquents to claim ordinary
residence.
¡ The issue of MPs securing election by false declarations on their ‘ordinary residence’
concerns both federalism and the probity of public life.
¡ Moreover, section 31 of the Representation of the peoples Act of 1950 makes it a criminal
offense, punishable with imprisonment for one year or with fine or both, to make false
declarations with the inclusion or exclusion of any entry in or from an electoral roll.
¡ This offense also falls within the ambit of Section 199 of the Penal Code and constitutes the
offense of giving false offense which is punishable with a 7 year tem and is not subject to
any period of limitation.
AMENDMENT
¡ REMOVAL OF DOMICILE REQUIREMENT
In 2003, the Parliament passed the amendment to Section 3[1] of the Representation of
People’s Act. The qualification for membership to Council of States stated that, for
qualification to Council of States, the requirement was that one should be an elector for a
Parliamentary constituency ‘in India’ as opposed to ‘in that State or territory’ which was the
previous position. Thus, the earlier domicile requirement was removed by effect of this
amendment.
PROCESS FOR ELECTION/NOMINATION TO RAJYA SABHA
¡ Electoral College:
¡ The representatives of the States and of the Union Territories in the Rajya Sabha are
elected by the method of indirect election.
¡ The representatives of each State and two Union territories are elected by the elected
members of the Legislative Assembly of that State and by the members of the Electoral
College for that Union Territory in accordance with the system of proportional
representation by means of the single transferable vote.
¡ The Electoral College for the National Capital Territory of Delhi consists of the elected
members of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi, and that for Puducherry consists of the
elected members of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly.
¡ Biennial/By-election
¡ Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution.
¡ However, one-third Members of Rajya Sabha retire after every second year.
¡ A member who is elected for a full term serves for a period of six years.
¡ The election held to fill a vacancy arising otherwise than by retirement of a member on the
expiration of his term of office is called ‘Bye-election’.
¡ A member elected in a bye-election remains member for the remainder of the term of the
member who had resigned or died or disqualified to be member of the House under the
Tenth Schedule.
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¡ Representation of States:
àThe representatives of states in the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected
members of state legislative assemblies.
àThe election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation
by means of the single transferable vote.
àThe seats are allotted to the states in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of population.
Uttar Pradesh has 31 members while Tripura has 1 member only.
¡ Hence, the number of representatives varies from state to state.
¡ Representation of Union Territories: Out of the seven union territories, only two
(Delhi and Puducherry) have representation in Rajya Sabha.
¡ The representatives of each union territory in the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by
members of an electroral college specially constituted for the purpose.
¡ This election is also held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by
means of the single transferable vote.. The populations of other five union territories are
too small to have any representative in the Rajya Sabha.
¡ The system of election of members to the Rajya Sabha is by proportional
representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV).
¡ The STV system is similar to the one followed in the election to the President of India
and members of the legislative council in states. The vote is transferred from one
candidate to another.
¡ In STV, each voter ranks the list of candidates in order of preference. In the ballot
paper,
àthey place a ‘1’ beside their most preferred candidate,
àa ‘2’ beside their second most preferred, and so on.
¡ The completed ballot paper therefore contains the candidates in the order of
preference as marked by the voter.
20/01/2018
Single Transferrable vote Explained:
NOTA
© JATIN VERMA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 74
Out of 31 Rajya
Sabha members
from UP, Memebrs
would be chosen
by MLAs of
different political
parties
Recent Controversy
v Page-1: NOTA option to stay in Rajya Sabha polls. [August 4, 2017]
[Polity & Governance- Parliamentary Functioning]
¡ The Supreme Court refused to stay an Election Commission circular issued in January 2014 that
introduced NOTA in the Rajya Sabha elections.
¡ Refusing to also quash a circular to include NOTA in the ballot papers, the court paid scant regard to
submissions made by a senior advocate that NOTA would be a “recipe for corruption”.
¡ Senior Advocate raised the concern that MLAs could defy the party whip and invalidate their votes
by opting for NOTA.
¡ The court issued notice to the Election Commission of India, saying the poll body should be heard
in detail as any judicial decision on NOTA may have a ripple effect on elections conducted from
January 24, 2014, to the present day.
¡ The court asked why the Congress was challenging the circular now, while noting that so many
elections were held since January 24, 2014.
v Arguments against NOTA in Rajya Sabha: The system of NOTA makes the system of
proportional representation by means of single transferable vote nugatory and otiose and cannot
be made applicable in Rajya Sabha elections.
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78
¡ Page-11: Congress, BJP not in favour of NOTA
in Rajya Sabha polls.
Since there was no secrecy in Rajya Sabha
election, NOTA is not of much Rajya Sabha,
parties issue whip for these elections and NOTA
option went against the nature of the whip.
Party A. Party B
NOTA
¡ Kuldip Nayar case: The Supreme Court’s
judgment in Kuldip Nayar vs Union Of India &
Ors is significant in this regard.
¡ In the Kuldip Nayar case, amendments
introducing the open ballot system were under
challenge, but were dismissed by the court.
¡ The Supreme Court observed: “The contention
that the right of expression of the voter at an
election for the Rajya Sabha is affected by open
ballot is not tenable, as an elected MLA would
not face any disqualification from the
membership of the House for voting in a
particular manner.
¡ The Court said the member “may at the most
attract action from the political party to which he
belongs.”
¡ Impact of NOTA:
The impact of the decision of MLAs to exercise the NOTA (none of the above) option in elections to the
Rajya Sabha will be the same as that of an abstention.
¡ Nor does it attract the anti-defection law, though it can be a sign that an MLA is dissatisfied with his party
leadership or official candidate.
¡ Process of Rajya Sabha election:
-In the Rajya Sabha polls, a winning candidate should get a required number of votes calculated
through a formula.
-The total number of votes are divided by the number of seats going to the polls from the State, adding one
vote to the number. To this whole, a value of one vote is again added.
¡ The polls are held by means of a single, transferable vote, and the candidates reaching the requisite
number are declared elected.
If a candidate from a party exercises the NOTA option, the total votes will go down and this will bring
down the number required to win.
¡ This can benefit a candidate from another party, in case MLAs from that party vote for their official
candidate, neither abstaining nor exercising the NOTA option.
¡ Abstentions — an option even before NOTA — produced the same results by bringing down the total
number of votes.
PRESIDING OFFICERS - CHAIRMAN AND DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
¡ The Presiding Officers of Rajya Sabha have the responsibility to conduct the proceedings of
the House.
¡ The Vice-President of India is ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Rajya Sabha also
chooses from amongst its members, a Deputy Chairman.
¡ There is also a Panel of Vice-Chairmen in Rajya Sabha, the members of which are
nominated by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
¡ In the absence of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, a member from the Panel of Vice-
Chairmen presides over the proceedings of the House.
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SPECIAL POWERS OF RAJYA SABHA
¡ Article 249: If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of
members present and voting saying that it is “necessary or expedient in the national interest”
that Parliament should make a law on a matter enumerated in the State List, Parliament
becomes empowered to make a law on the subject specified in the resolution, for the
whole or any part of the territory of India.
¡ Such a resolution remains in force for a maximum period of one year but this period can be
extended by one year at a time by passing a similar resolution further.
¡ Article 312. All India Services
If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members
present and voting declaring that it is necessary or expedient in the national interest to create
one or more All India Services common to the Union and the States, Parliament becomes
empowered to create by law such services.
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¡ The President is empowered to issue Proclamations:
[i] in the event of national emergency,
[ii]in the event of failure of constitutional machinery in a State, or
[iii]in the case of financial emergency.
¡ Every such proclamation has to be approved by both Houses of Parliament within a stipulated
period.
¡ Under certain circumstances, however, Rajya Sabha enjoys special powers in this
regard: If a Proclamation is issued at a time when Lok Sabha has been dissolved or the
dissolution of Lok Sabha takes place within the period allowed for its approval, then the
proclamation remains effective, if the resolution approving it is passed by Rajya Sabha within
the period specified in the Constitution under articles 352, 356 and 360.
RAJYA SABHA IN FINANCIAL MATTERS
¡ A Money Bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha.
¡ After it is passed by Lok Sabha, it is transmitted to Rajya Sabha for its approval or
recommendation.
¡ The power of Rajya Sabha in respect of Money Bill is limited.
¡ Rajya Sabha has to return such a Bill to Lok Sabha within a period of fourteen days from its
receipt.
¡ If it is not returned to Lok Sabha within that time, the Bill is deemed to have been passed by
both Houses at the expiration of the said period in the form in which it was passed by Lok
Sabha.
¡ Again, Rajya Sabha cannot amend a Money Bill; it can only recommend amendments and
Lok Sabha may either accept or reject all or any of the recommendations made by Rajya
Sabha.
¡ Apart from a Money Bill, certain other categories of Financial Bills also cannot be introduced
in Rajya Sabha.
¡ There are, however, some other types of Financial Bills on which there is no limitation on the
powers of the Rajya Sabha.
¡ These Bills may be initiated in either House and Rajya Sabha has powers to reject or amend
such Financial Bills like any other Bill.
¡ The Budget of the Government of India is laid every year before Rajya Sabha also and its
members discuss it.
¡ Though Rajya Sabha does not vote on Demands for Grants of various Ministries which is a
matter exclusively reserved for Lok Sabha - no money, however, can be withdrawn from the
Consolidated Fund of India unless the Appropriation Bill has been passed by both the
Houses.
¡ Similarly, the Finance Bill is also brought before Rajya Sabha.
¡ Also, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees that examine the annual
Demands for Grants of the Ministries/Departments are joint committees having ten members
from Rajya Sabha.
LEADER OF THE HOUSE
¡ Leader of the House is another functionary who plays important role in the efficient and
smooth conduct of the business in the House.
¡ The Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha is normally the Prime Minister, if he is its member
or any Minister who is a member of the House and is nominated by him to so function.
¡ The primary responsibility is to maintain coordination amongst all sections of the House for a
harmonious and meaningful debate in the House. For this purpose, he remains in close
contact not only with the Government but also with the Opposition, individual ministers and
the Presiding Officer.
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
¡ In Rajya Sabha until 1969, there was no Leader of the Opposition in real sense of the term.
¡ Till then, the practice was to call the Leader of the party in Opposition having the largest
number of the members as the Leader of the Opposition, without according him any formal
recognition, status or privilege.
¡ The office of Leader of the Opposition was given official recognition through the Salary and
Allowances of Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.
¡ This Act defines the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, as a member of the Council of
States who is, for the time being, the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to the
Government constituting the greatest numerical strength.
¡ He/she is recognized as the leader of the opposition by the Chairman of the Council of States.
¡ The Leader of the Opposition should satisfy three conditions, namely, (i) he should be a
member of the House (ii) the Leader in Rajya Sabha of the party in opposition to the
Government having the greatest numerical strength and (iii) be recognized as such by the
Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
PM FROM RAJYA SABHA
¡ The chief executive, be he the PM or the CM, has the power to select his colleagues in the
cabinet, advise the head of the state to dismiss them, advise dissolution of the lower House,
preside over the cabinet, besides the powers of patronage.
¡ A G Noorani says that it is absurd that he should not be a member of the House directly
elected by the people to whom he is responsible and which alone controls the public purse.
¡ He asks ‘what respect can he command in the eyes of the nation and the world outside if he
is seen to be avoiding his own election by the people?’
PRIME MINISTERS FROM RS
¡ First Rajya Sabha MP to become the PM was Indira Gandhi when she became the Prime
Minister on 24 January 1966. She took over the reins from caretaker PM Gulzarilal Nanda
who had to take charge for 13 days post Lal Bahadur Shastri’s assassination.
¡ Second Rajya Sabha MP to sit on the PM’s chair was H. D. Deve Gowra of the Janta Dal
government, who took the charge on 1 June 1996. He resigned not even completing 1 full
year as the Prime Minister on 21 April 1997.
¡ Third person to be the PM from Rajya Sabha was Deve Gowra’s successor - Inder Kumar
Gujral of the Janta Dal government on the same day that Deve Gowra resigned.
Unfortunately, his tenure was also short lived, just completing 332 days, till 19 March 1998.
¡ The last (as of now) Rajya Sabha MP to become the PM of India is Dr. Manmohan Singh,
who lasted 2 full terms - from 22 May 2004 to 26 May 2014; before BJP swept the polls and
formed the government.
THE LOK SABHA
COMPOSITION OF LOK SABHA
¡ Lok Sabha is composed of representative of the people chosen by direct election on the basis
of adult suffrage.
¡ The maximum strength of the House envisaged by the Constitution is 552, upto 530 members
to represent the States, up to 20 members to represent the Union Territories and not more than
two members of the Anglo-Indian Community to be nominated by the President, if, in his
opinion, that community is not adequately represented in the House.
¡ The total elective membership is distributed among the States in such a way that the ratio
between the number of seats allotted to each State and the population of the State is
practicably the same for all States.
TERM OF LOK SABHA
¡ Unlike Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha has a fixed term.
¡ Lok Sabha, unless sooner dissolved, continues for five years from the date appointed for its
first meeting.
¡ However, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation, this period may be extended by
Parliament by law for a period not exceeding one year at a time and not extending beyond a
period of six months after the proclamation has ceased to operate.
PRESIDING OFFICERS
¡ Lok Sabha elects one of its own members as its Presiding Officer and he is called the Speaker.
¡ He is assisted by the Deputy Speaker who is also elected by Lok Sabha.
¡ The conduct of business in Lok Sabha is the responsibility of the Speaker.
LEADER OF THE HOUSE
¡ Leader of the Lok Sabha, is the Prime Minister by default if he is a member of the Lok
Sabha.
¡ If the Prime Minister is not a member of the Lower House of Parliament he can nominate
another minister as the Leader of the House.
¡ Currently, The Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi is the Leader of the House.
¡ Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha enjoys the rank of a cabinet minister and also
serves on crucial selection panels for the Lokpal, Chief Information Commissioners, Chief
Vigilance Commissioner, Central Bureau of Investigation Director, National Human Rights
Commission Chairman and so on.
¡ However, the largest opposition party must have at least 10% of the total strength of the
House (55 seats in the Lok Sabha). If any party fails to get 10% seats in opposition, the House
will not have recognised leader of the opposition.
¡ This is the case with the current 16th Lok Sabha. There is no formal leader of the Opposition.
LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION CONTROVERSY……
¡ Background
Leader of Opposition was accorded statutory status and defined under Salary and
allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.
¡ Importance of LoP:
• Constructive criticism on the policies of the government.
• Helps to represent a view contrary from that of government.
• LoP is required on the panels that recommend key appointments like Lokpal, CVC,
CIC etc.
• 2nd ARC recommended setting up of a Civil service Board- for transfer posting of top
bureaucratic posts, the members of this Committee, will be selected by PM and LoP.
© JATIN VERMA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 20/01/2018
99
MONEY BILL
¡ Article 110: Only those financial bills which contain provisions exclusively on matters
listed in article 110 of the constitution are called Money Bills.
vOn the basis of definition given in Art 110, a bill is money bill only if:
1. It results in imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax at union
or state level but NOT at local level. Thus, money bills exist in Parliament and State
legislature only. If a financial bill results in imposition, abolition, remission, alteration
or regulation at local level by a local body, it is not considered to be a money bill.
2. It results in regulation of borrowing of money or results in any guarantee by
Government of India.
3. Results in withdrawal of money from Consolidated or Contingency fund
4. Receipt of money in consolidated fund and public account.
Question of whether a financial bill is money bill or not, is decided by Speaker. Such bill
needs to be endorsed by Speaker when passed by Lok Sabha and sent to Rajya Sabha.
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0
MONEY BILL
¡ Procedure for Passing of the Money Bills
Ø The procedure for the passage of money bill in the Parliament is distinct:
A money bill can be introduced / originated only in Lok Sabha {or in legislative assembly
in case of bicameral legislature in states}.
Ø A money bill can be introduced only on prior recommendations of the President {or
governor in case of state}
10
1
¡ A money bill can be a government bill only i.e. it has to be introduced
by a Minister only. No private bill can be a money bill.
¡ Once a money bill is passed in Lok Sabha, it is transmitted to Rajya
Sabha for its consideration. But Rajya Sabha has limited powers in this
context. It can neither reject nor amend the money bill. It can make
only recommendations and has to return the bill with or without
recommendations to Lok Sabha in 14 days.
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2
¡ The Lok Sabha may or may not accept the recommendations of Rajya Sabha. Even if the Rajya
Sabha does not even return the bill in 14 days, it is considered passed in both houses.
¡ President has limited power: He can withhold assent to money bill but cannot return it for
reconsideration of the Lok Sabha.
¡ No Joint sitting: There is no question of joint sitting in case of money bills because opinion of
Rajya Sabha is immaterial in their case.
¡ Example of a money bill is Finance Bill which is introduced with Budget in India. Usually such
bill has provisions related to article 110 (1)(a) {imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or
regulation of any tax} and is certified as a money bill.
¡ It has its endorsement by speaker as money bill and Rajya Sabha has no power to change its
fate. The decision of the Speaker in this regard is final.
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3
¡ Financial Bill Category-I and Category-II
¡ Sometimes, a bill apart from being a money bill {i.e. having provisions of article 110}, may also
have other provisions. Example of such bill is Central Road Fund Bill (now Central Road Fund
Act), which proposed to establish a non-lapsable fund to impose cess/tax by the Union
Government on the consumption of Petrol and High Speed Diesel to develop and maintain
National Highways. This bill contained provisions of not only imposition of taxes but also putting
its proceeds in Consolidated Fund and withdrawing the same from it for development of roads. It
has other detailed provisions on how it will be used, what will be duties of government etc. etc.
Thus, apart from being a money bill, it also has other provisions and thus called Financial Bill of
Category-I.
¡ A financial bill of category-I is considered same as Money Bill and introduced in the Lok Sabha
on the recommendation of the President. However once it has been passed by the Lok Sabha, it is
like an ordinary Bill and there is no restriction on the powers of the Rajya Sabha on such Bills.
Rajya Sabha has powers to reject it and also there is a provision of joint sitting in this case.
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¡ A financial bill of category-II is one which although has provisions involving expenditure
from Consolidated Fund of India but does not have anything mentioned in article 110. We
may take the example of “President’s (Emoluments and) Pension Act” to understand this
kind of bill. This bill has provisions that money has to be taken out of the Consolidated
Fund to pay salary to president but there is nothing in the bill as per provisions of article
110.
¡ Such a bill is ordinary in all respects and both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha enjoy equal
powers in this bill. However, only special feature of this bill is that recommendation of
the President is essential for consideration and passing of these Bills by either House.
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¡ Financial Bill Category-I and Category-II
¡ Sometimes, a bill apart from being a money bill {i.e. having provisions of article 110}, may also
have other provisions. Example of such bill is Central Road Fund Bill (now Central Road Fund
Act), which proposed to establish a non-lapsable fund to impose cess/tax by the Union
Government on the consumption of Petrol and High Speed Diesel to develop and maintain
National Highways. This bill contained provisions of not only imposition of taxes but also putting
its proceeds in Consolidated Fund and withdrawing the same from it for development of roads. It
has other detailed provisions on how it will be used, what will be duties of government etc. etc.
Thus, apart from being a money bill, it also has other provisions and thus called Financial Bill of
Category-I.
¡ A financial bill of category-I is considered same as Money Bill and introduced in the Lok Sabha
on the recommendation of the President.
¡ However once it has been passed by the Lok Sabha, it is like an ordinary Bill and there is no
restriction on the powers of the Rajya Sabha on such Bills. Rajya Sabha has powers to reject it.
¡ There is a provision of joint sitting in this case.
¡ A financial bill of category-II is one which although has provisions involving expenditure from
Consolidated Fund of India but does not have anything mentioned in article 110.
Example: “The High Court And Supreme Court Judges (Salaries And Conditions Of Service) Amendment
Act, 2018.
This bill has provisions that money has to be taken out of the Consolidated Fund to pay salary to
president but there is nothing in the bill as per provisions of article 110.
¡ Such a bill is ordinary in all respects and both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha enjoy equal powers in
this bill.
¡ However, only special feature of this bill is that recommendation of the President is essential
for consideration and passing of these Bills by either House.

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Parliament

- The Parliament is the legislative organ of the Union government

● President is an integral part of the Parliament, because:

Composition of Lok Sabha

OUTCOME OF THE LESSON

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