Unit 3

Legislative Procedure in Indian Parliament

● The Constitution of India has laid down separate procedures for the enactment of
all four types of bills – Ordinary Bills, Money Bills, Financial Bills, and
Constitutional Amendment Bills.

Passing of Ordinary Bills

● An Ordinary Bill can be introduced in either House of Parliament, either by a
minister or by any other member of the House.
● In order to be declared passed and become an Act, every ordinary bill has to
pass through the following five stages in the Parliament.
First Reading
● The member who wants to introduce the Bill has to ask for the leave of the
House.
● Once the leave is granted by the House, the member introduces the Bill by
reading its title and objectives.
● Later, the Bill is published in the Gazette of India.
● The processes from the introduction of the Bill to its publication in the Gazette of
India constitute the First Reading of the Bill.
● No discussion on the bill takes place at this stage.

Note: A Bill may be directly published in the Gazette of India before its introduction in
any House of the Parliament. In such cases, leave of the House to introduce the bill is
not necessary.

Second Reading
● This stage involves general as well as detailed scrutiny of the Bill.

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 ● It is at this stage that the Bill assumes its final shape. Hence, it forms the most
important stage in the enactment of a bill.
● This stage involves three sub-stages which are as follows:
○ Stage of General Discussion,
○ Committee Stage, and
○ Consideration Stage.
Stage of General Discussion
● During this stage, the printed copies of the bill are distributed to all members of
the House.
● Here, the principles and provisions of the bill are discussed generally, but the
details of the bills are not discussed.
● At this stage, the House can take any of the following four actions:
○ Take the bill into consideration immediately or on some other fixed date,
○ Refer the bill to a Select Committee of the House,
○ Refer the bill to a Joint Committee of the two Houses,
○ Circulate the bill to elicit public opinion.

Note:

Select Committee – It consists of Members of only that House where the bill has
originated.

Joint Committee – It consists of Members of both the Houses of Parliament.

Committee Stage
● If the Bill is referred to a Select Committee or Joint Committee, the committee
examines the bill thoroughly and in detail, clause by clause.
● The committee can also amend its provisions, but without altering the principles
underlying it.
● After completing the scrutiny and discussion, the committee reports the bill back
to the House.
Consideration Stage

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 ● After receiving the Bill from the Committee, 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 acceptance or rejection of the bill as
a whole, and no amendments are allowed.
● If the majority of members present and voting accept the bill, the bill is regarded
as passed by the House.
● Thereafter, the bill is authenticated by the Presiding Officer of the House and
transmitted to the Second House for consideration and approval.

Note: 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 Second House

● In the Second House also, the bill passes through all three stages – first reading,
second reading, and third reading.
● The Second House has four alternatives before it:
○ Pass the bill as sent by the First House, without any amendments,
○ Pass the bill with amendments and return it to the First House for
reconsideration,
○ Reject the bill altogether,
○ Not take any action and thus keep the bill pending.
● If the Second House passes the bill without any amendments or the First House
accepts the amendments suggested by the Second House, the bill is deemed to
have been passed by both Houses, and the same is sent to the President for his
assent.

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 ● If the First House rejects the amendments suggested by the Second House, the
Second House rejects the bill altogether, or the Second House does not take any
action for six months, a situation of deadlock arises.
○ To resolve such a deadlock, the President can summon a joint sitting of
two Houses.
○ If the majority of members present and voting in the joint sitting approve
the bill, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses of
Parliament.
Assent of President
● Every bill after being passed by both Houses of Parliament (either singly or at a
joint sitting) is presented to the President for his/her assent.
● In the case of an Ordinary Bill, the President has three alternatives before
him/her:
○ Give his/her assent to the bill,
○ Withhold his/her assent to the bill,
○ Return the bill for reconsideration of the Houses.
● If the President gives his/her assent to the bill, the bill becomes an Act and is
placed on the Statute Book.
● If the President withholds his/her assent to the bill, it ends and does not become
an Act.
● If the President returns the bill for reconsideration and if it is passed by both
Houses again with or without amendments and presented to the President for
his/her assent, the President must give his/her assent to the bill.

Passing of Money Bills

● Money Bills are bills that contain ‘only’ provisions mentioned in Article 110 of the
Indian Constitution.
○ A detailed description of Money Bills is given in the section above.
● A Money Bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, only by a minister,
and only on the recommendation of the President.

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 ● If any question arises whether a bill is a Money bill or not, the decision of the
Speaker of Lok Sabha is final.
○ His decision in this regard cannot be questioned in any court or in either
house or even by the President of India.
● After a Money bill is passed by the Lok Sabha, it is transmitted to the Rajya
Sabha by the Speaker, endorsing it as a Money Bill.
● The Rajya Sabha has very restricted powers w.r.t. Money Bills:
○ Rajya Sabha cannot reject or amend a Money bill.
○ Rajya Sabha can only make recommendations.
○ Rajya Sabha must return the bill within 14 days, with or without
recommendations.
● The Lok Sabha can either accept or reject all or any of the recommendations of
Rajya Sabha w.r.t. a Money bill.
○ If Lok Sabha accepts any recommendation, the bill is deemed to have
been passed by both the Houses in the modified form.
○ If Lok Sabha does not accept any recommendation, the bill is deemed to
have passed by both the Houses in the form originally passed by Lok
Sabha.
● If the 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 Lok
Sabha.
○ Thus, unlike in the case of Ordinary Bills, where both the Lok Sabha and
the Rajya Sabha have equal powers, w.r.t. Money Bills, the Lok Sabha
has more powers than the Rajya Sabha.
● Once a Money Bill is passed by both the Houses, it is presented to the
President.
○ When a Money bill is presented to the President, he/she may either give
his/her assent or withhold his/her assent, but cannot return the bill for
reconsideration by the Houses of Parliament.

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 ○ Normally, the President gives his assent to a Money bill as it is introduced
with his/her prior permission.

Passing of Financial Bills

● Financial Bills refer to those bills that deal with fiscal matters i.e. revenue or
expenditure.
● The procedures for passing various types of Financial Bills are described below.
Financial Bills (I)
● A Financial Bill (I) is similar to a Money bill in the following two respects:
○ Both of them can be introduced only in Lok Sabha.
○ Both of them can be introduced only on the recommendation of the
President.
● In all other respects, a Financial Bill (I) is governed by the same legislative
procedure applicable to an ordinary bill. Accordingly,
○ It can be rejected or amended by the Rajya Sabha.
○ In case of a disagreement between the two Houses over such a bill, the
President can summon a joint sitting of the two Houses to resolve the
deadlock.
● When the bill is presented to the President, he/she can:
○ either give his/her assent to the bill,
○ withhold his/her assent to the bill or
○ return the bill for reconsideration by the Houses of Parliament.
Financial Bill (II)
● Financial bill (II) is treated as an ordinary bill in all respects and governed by the
same legislative procedure that is applicable to an Ordinary Bill.
○ Hence, a Financial bill (II) can be introduced in either House of
Parliament and a recommendation of the President is not necessary
for its introduction.

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 ● However, the Financial Bill (II) has one special feature – It cannot be passed
by either House unless the President has recommended to that House the
consideration of the bill.
○ Thus, although the recommendation of the President is not required at the
introduction stage, it is required at the consideration stage.
● Similar to an Ordinary Bill, a Financial Bill (II) can be either rejected or amended
by either House of Parliament.
● In case of a disagreement between the two Houses over such a bill, the
President can summon a joint sitting of the two Houses to resolve the deadlock.
● When the bill is presented to the President, he/she can:
○ either give his/her assent to the bill,
○ withhold his/her assent to the bill or
○ return the bill for reconsideration by the Houses of Parliament.

Passing of Constitutional Amendment Bills

The procedure for the Amendment of the Constitution of India as per Article 368 is
as follows:

● A bill for the amendment of the Constitution can be introduced only in either
house of the Parliament, not in the State Legislatures.
● The bill can be introduced either by a minister or by a private member and
does not require prior permission of the President.
● The bill must be passed in each House by a Special Majority, that is, a
majority (more than 50 percent) of the total membership of the House and a
majority of two-thirds of the members of the House present and voting.
● Each House must pass the bill separately. In case of a disagreement between
the two Houses, there is no provision for holding a joint sitting of the two
Houses for deliberation and passage of the bill.

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 ● If the bill seeks to amend the federal provisions of the Constitution, it must
also be ratified by the legislatures of half of the states by a Simple Majority,
that is, a majority of the members of the House present and voting.
● After duly passed by both Houses of Parliament and ratified by the State
Legislatures, where necessary, the bill is presented to the President for
his/her assent.
● The President must give his assent to the bill. He can neither withhold his
assent to the bill nor return the bill for reconsideration by the Parliament.
● After the President’s assent, the bill becomes an Act (i.e. a Constitutional
Amendment Act), and the Constitution stands amended as per the changes
made by the Act.