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Role and Functions of the Indian Parliament

INTRODUCTION
Parliament is the apex legislative body in India.At a broad level, it can be said
that the parliament plays an important role in securing to the citizens the ideals
of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, as resolved in the preamble to the
constitution of India. At a more functional level, parliament is a representative
body that makes laws, hold other organs of the government accountable,
sanctions and monitors the public expenditure, among other roles and functions.
Modern legislature in India evolved from the 19th century as when the
legislative councils were formed.These bodies were made more representative
and powerful through GOI Acts of 1919 and 1935. Later, the framers of our
constitution decided to follow the Westminster model and the first parliament of
the Indian Republic was formed in 1952.
The Parliament consists of (1) The House of People; Lok Sabha (2) The
Council of States; Rajya Sabha (3) The President of India.The Constitution of
India provides for a parliamentary form of government, both at the Centre and
in the states. Articles 74 and 75 deal with the parliamentary system at the
Centre and Articles 163 and 164 in the states.
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STRUCTURE OF THE PARLIAMENT

The Indian Parliament has a bi-cameral legislature. Although parliamentary

practice in India has a great deal in common with the British parliament,
bicameralism of the union legislature of India has nothing to do with
that.Rather, it is based on the federal practice, starting with the USA.Firstly, the
upper house; rajya sabha has 233 elected members by state legislatures and 12
members nominated by the president for their contribution in the fields of
science, art, sports, literature, public service.Such nomination can also be seen
in the British house of lords.Unlike in the USA, where representation of states
to the senate is uniform, in India the strength of the state representative varies
state to state according to the strength of the population.Such numbers are fixed
in the 4th schedule of the Indian Constitution. Similar to the British Parliament,
the lower house in India has a larger role in the division of power.Secondly, the
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lower house; lok sabha has 543 members (earlier there were 545 but anglo
indian reservation was removed).The number of seats allotted to the states
varies according to the strength of their population in even ratio.This is further
spilt into territorial constituencies in an even proportion to the population as
ascertained by the previous census. This is all done by the delimitation
commission.By the 84th Amendment to the constitution in 2001, the next
readjustment of constituencies is fixed for after 2026.There are reservations
present in the parliament for the SCs, STs, OBCs.Such provisions for
reservation and nomination are temporary. Initially only for a period of 10
years, now are successively extended through amendments.A bill for
reservation of women in the parliament has been pending for years.Lastly, the
President of India, the head of state, is a component of Parliament. Under
Article 60 and Article 111, the President's responsibility is to ensure that laws
passed by the Parliament are in accordance with the constitutional mandate and
that the stipulated procedure is followed before according his/her approval to
the bills. The President of India is elected by the elected members of the indian
parliament and the state legislature and serves for a term of 5 years.

MEMBERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION

Members to both the houses of the parliament are elected in different ways.
In order to seek election to be a member of the Lok Sabha, one has to be (1) A
citizen of India (2) Minimum 25 years of age (3) Must be a voter for any
parliamentary constituency in India (4) Candidate of a recognised political party
needs one proposer from his constituency for his nomination (5) Candidates are
required to make a security deposit of ₹25,000.
Lok Sabha means that people’s union, which itself signifies that it is a body of
representatives of the people. Its members are directly elected, normally once in
every five years by the adult population who are eligible to vote. The minimum
qualifying age for membership of the house is twenty-five years and the present
number of people in the Lok Sabha is 543.
In order to seek election to be a member of the Rajya Sabha, one has to (1) He
must be a citizen of India.(2)He must not be less than 30 years of age (3) He
must be Parliamentary elector in the state from which he is seeking election (4)
He must make and subscribe before some person authorised in that behalf by
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the Election Commission an oath or affirmation asserting his allegiance to the
constitution of India (5) he must possess such other qualifications as may be
prescribed by the Parliament for that purpose from time to time.
The upper house of the Parliament; Rajya Sabha has not more than 250
members and they are elected by the people indirectly as they are elected by the
Legislative Assemblies of the various states.Every state is allotted a number of
members there should be no member below the age of thirty years. Twelve
members of the Rajya Sabha are nominated by the President. These twelve
people are generally the ones who have a distinction in the fields of literature,
art, science and social service. Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and is not
subject to dissolution but one-third of its members retire every two years.

DISQUALIFICTION

The following are the grounds of disqualification:

1. Holds any office of profit under the Government of India (other than an
office permitted by Parliament of India by law).
2. Is of unsound mind.
3. Is an undischarged insolvent.
4. Has ceased to be a citizen of India.
5. Is so disqualified by any law made by the Indian parliament.
6. Is so disqualified on the ground of defection(Article 102).
7. Has been convicted, among other things, for promoting enmity between
different groups.
8. Has been convicted for offence of bribery.
9. Has been punished for preaching and practising social crimes such as
untouchability, dowry, or sati.
10. Has been convicted for an offence and sentenced to imprisonment of
more than two years.
11. Has been dismissed for corruption or for disloyalty to the state (in case of
a government servant).

Such questions of disqualification shall be referred to the president, and the

president’s decision will be finale.Before giving his/her decision, president shall
obtain opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such
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opinion(Article 104).However, according to the tenth schedule; on the question
of defection, the presiding officer of a house is a final authority.

Besides such disqualifications, membership of the MPs ma cease also in the

following eventualities:

1. Death
2. Resignation
3. Continuous absence for more than 60 days without permission of the
house
4. Election to a House of Parliament while being member of another house
or state legislature.
5. The member can also be expelled on grounds on unethical and
unbecoming behaviour

WORKING OF THE PARLIAMENT

The Council of States in India is generally referred to as the second chamber or

the upper house, the justification of the same is that; its the second chamber
because, in common person’s view, a nationally representative body is the first
and foremost part of the democratic legislature and its the upper house because
it is composed with a more restricted membership, it is also fashionable in the
media to describe the house as the House of elders.Rajya Sabha is the
permanent body of the Parliament; its never fully dissolved. One-third of its
membership is renewed every two years through elections.
The House of People, on the other hand, is the first chamber or the lower
house.It has the maximum life of five years(only once, due to emergency,
extended by one year in 1997)The house id constituted by notification of the
election commission and dissolved by the president on advice of the council of
ministers.

Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet. The
President summons each House of the Parliament from time to time. The gap
between two sessions of the Parliament cannot exceed 6 months, which means
the Parliament meets at least two times in one year.
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A session of the Indian Parliament is the period during which a House meets
almost every day uninterruptedly to manage the business. There are typically
three sessions in one year.A session will have many meetings.In general, the
sessions are as follows:
1. Budget session (February to May)
The budget session was usually held from February to May every year.It is
considered to be a highly crucial session of the Parliament.The Budget is
usually presented on the last working day of the month of February.Here, the
members discuss the various provisions of the budget and matters concerning
taxation, after the Finance Minister presents the budget.The budget session is
generally split into two periods with a gap of one month between them.This
session every year starts with the President’s Address to both Houses.
2. Monsoon session (July to September)
The monsoon session is held in July to September every year.This is after a
break of two months after the budget session.In this session, matters of public
interest are discussed.
3. Winter session (November to December)
The winter session of Parliament is held in mid-November to mid-December
every year.It is the shortest session of all.It takes up the matters that could not
be considered upon earlier and makes up for the absence of legislative business
during the second session of the Parliament.

An adjournment terminates a sitting of the House.The House then meets again

at the appointed time for the next sitting.The adjournment can be for a few
hours, days or weeks, depending on the specified time.If the adjournment is
done (sitting terminated) without any time scale, it is known as adjournment
sine die.The power of adjournment sine die is only with the presiding officer of
the House.

Prorogation means the end of a session.Prorogation implies the end of the

sitting as well as the session and not the dissolution of the House. Point to note:
The Rajya Sabha is not dissolved as it is a permanent House, only the Lok
Sabha is dissolved.The President can prorogue the House while in session
also.Generally, the President issues a notice for the session’s prorogation a few
days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer of the
House.All pending notices lapse on the prorogation of the House.However,
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there is no impact on bills upon prorogation.The time between prorogation and
reassembly is called Recess.Prorogation means the termination of a session of
the House by an order made by the President under article 85(2)(a) of the
Constitution.Generally, the President issues a notice for the session’s
prorogation a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding
officer of the House.All pending notices lapse on the prorogation of the
House.Prorogation implies the end of the sitting as well as the session and not
the dissolution of the House.

Quorum is the minimum number of members required to be present in the

House before it can transact any business. It is one-tenth of the total number of
members in each House including the presiding officer. It means that there must
be at least 55 members present in the Lok Sabha and 25 members present in the
Rajya Sabha, if any business is to be conducted. If there is no quorum during a
meeting of the House, it is the duty of the presiding officer either to adjourn the
House or to suspend the meeting until there is a quorum.

The Language used in the Parliament is Hindi or English.Though the speaker

may permit a member without proficiency in either of these languages, to speak
in his/her mother tongue, the proceedings are recorded only in these two
languages

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES

The committee system is not created by the constitution but is acknowledged by

Article 105. Committees are multi party bodies where discussion and
consensus, rather than voting, is the rule. The main idea behind the committee
system is to examine the functioning and finances of the government
irrespective of party affiliation.
Indian Constitution mentions two kinds of Parliamentary Committees
(1) Standing Committees and (2) Ad Hoc Committees. Any subject related to
these committees is dealt with Article 118 (1) of the Indian Constitution.

Standing Committees are the ones which are permanent in nature.There are six
types of standing committees in India.
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1. Financial Committees: committee on estimates of the house of people,
public accounts committees and committee on public undertaking
2. Department Standing Committee:There are a total of 24 Departmental
Standing Committees; 8 under Rajya Sabha and 16 under Lok Sabha.
3. Committees to Inquire:This includes Committee on Petitions,Committee of
Privileges and Ethics Committee.
4. Committees to Scrutinize and Control:This includes Committee on
Government Assurance, Committee on Subordinate Legislation, Committee
on Papers laid on the table, Committee on Welfare of SCs & STs
Committee on Empowerment of women and Joint Committee on Offices of
Profit
5. 5.House Committees:This is concerned with day to day business and
includes Business Advisory Committee,Committee on Private Members’
Bills and Resolutions, Rules Committee,Committee on Absence of
Members
6. 6.Service Committees:This committee provides the services to the members
and includes General Purposes Committee,House Committee, Library
Committee, Joint committee on salaries and allowances.

There are two types of ad-hoc committees. They are temporary in nature.
The details of these committees are given below:
1. Inquiry Committees:These committees can be proposed by either house or
can also be appointed by the speaker/chairman of the respective house.
2. Advisory Committees:These committees are select or joint committees
appointed for the matters of bills. They report on particular bills. They are
different from the inquiry committees as the procedure that they follow are
laid down in the Rules of Procedure and also are directed by the Lok Sabha
speaker or Rajya Sabha chairman.

ROLE AND POWERS OF THE PARLIAMENT

The role and powers of the Indian parliament can be categorised as the
following:
1. Legislative Powers
• The Parliament legislates on all matters mentioned in the Union List and
the Concurrent List.
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• In the case of the Concurrent List, where the state legislatures and the
Parliament have joint jurisdiction, the union law will prevail over the
states unless the state law had received the earlier presidential assent.
However, the Parliament can any time, enact a law adding to, amending,
varying or repealing a law made by a state legislature.
• The Parliament can also pass laws on items in the State List under the
following circumstances:
- If Emergency is in operation, or any state is placed under President’s Rule
(Article 356), the Parliament can enact laws on items in the State List as
well.
- As per Article 249, the Parliament can make laws on items in the State List
if the Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by ⅔ majority of its members
present and voting, that it is necessary for the Parliament to make laws on
any item enumerated in the State List, in the national interest.
- As per Article 253, it can pass laws on the State List items if it is required
for the implementation of international agreements or treaties with foreign
powers.
- According to Article 252, if the legislatures of two or more states pass a
resolution to the effect that it is desirable to have a parliamentary law on
any item listed in the State List, the Parliament can make laws for those
states.

2. Executive powers
In the parliamentary form of government, the executive is responsible to the
legislature. Hence, the Parliament exercises control over the executive by
several measures.
• By a vote of no-confidence, the Parliament can remove the Cabinet
(executive) out of power. It can reject a budget proposal or any other bill
brought by the Cabinet. A motion of no-confidence is passed to remove a
government from office.
• The MPs (Members of Parliament) can ask questions to the ministers on
their omissions and commissions. Any lapses on the part of the
government can be exposed in the Parliament.
• Adjournment Motion: Allowed only in the Lok Sabha, the chief objective
of the adjournment motion is to draw the attention of the Parliament to
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any recent issue of urgent public interest. It is considered an extraordinary
tool in Parliament as the normal business is affected.
• The Parliament appoints a Committee on Ministerial Assurances that sees
whether the promises made by the ministers to the Parliament are fulfilled
or not.
• Censure Motion: A censure motion is moved by the opposition party
members in the House to strongly disapprove any policy of the
government. It can be moved only in the Lok Sabha. Immediately after a
censure motion is passed, the government has to seek the confidence of
the House. Unlike in the case of the no-confidence motion, the Council of
Ministers need not resign if the censure motion is passed.
• Cut Motion: A cut motion is used to oppose any demand in the financial
bill brought by the government.

3. Financial powers
Parliament is the ultimate authority when it comes to finances. The Executive
cannot spend a single pie without parliamentary approval.
• The Union Budget prepared by the Cabinet is submitted for approval by
the Parliament. All proposals to impose taxes should also be approved by
the Parliament.
• There are two standing committees (Public Accounts Committee and
Estimates Committee) of the Parliament to keep a check on how the
executive spends the money granted to it by the legislature. You can also
read on parliamentary committees.

4. Constituent powers
The Parliament has the power to amend the Constitution of India. Both Houses
of the Parliament have equal powers as far as amending the Constitution is
concerned. Amendments will have to be passed in both the Lok Sabha and the
Rajya Sabha for them to be effective.

5. Judicial powers
In case of breach of privilege by members of the House, the Parliament has
punitive powers to punish them. A breach of privilege is when there is an
infringement of any of the privileges enjoyed by the MPs.
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• A privilege motion is moved by a member when he feels that a minister or
any member 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. Read more on privilege motion.
• In the parliamentary system, legislative privileges are immune to judicial
control.
• The power of the Parliament to punish its members is also generally not
subject to judicial review.
• Other judicial functions of the Parliament include the power to impeach
the President, the Vice President, the judges of the Supreme Court, High
Courts, Auditor-General, etc.

6. Electoral powers
The Parliament takes part in the election of the President and the Vice
President. The electoral college that elects the President comprises of, among
others, the elected members of both Houses. The President can be removed by a
resolution passed by the Rajya Sabha agreed to by the Lok Sabha.

7. Other powers
• Issues of national and international importance are discussed in the
Parliament. The opposition plays an important role in this regard and
ensures that the country is aware of alternate viewpoints.
• A Parliament is sometimes talked of as a ‘nation in miniature’.
• In a democracy, the Parliament plays the vital function of deliberating
matters of importance before laws or resolutions are passed.
• The Parliament has the power to alter, decrease or increase the boundaries
of states/UTs.
• The Parliament also functions as an organ of information. The ministers
are bound to provide information in the Houses when demanded by the
members.

8. Special powers
• Special Powers of the Lok Sabha- The Lok Sabha enjoys a lot of special
powers which we might not even be aware of. The responsibility with the
collective note is a thing to be considered and the Lok Sabha enjoys special
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powers with respect to the “Collective Responsibility” of the government in
the financial matters. All the financial bills and the money bills are passed by
the Lok Sabha and not the Rajya Sabha. The Indian Constitution provides that
the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha
and the power to control the finances also lies with the Lok Sabha.
• Special Powers of the Rajya Sabha- the special powers to the Rajya Sabha
include that the Rajya Sabha is allowed to make law on any subject if the
Parliament agrees with not less than a two-third majority that the nation needs
a law on that particular subject as stated under Article 249 of the Indian
Constitution. Also, under article 312 of the Indian Constitution, the Rajya
Sabha with not less than two-thirds majority present and voting, can create an
All India Service if it believes it to be an urgent need. The Rajya Sabha
enjoys the benefit of a doubt in case of the proclamation of emergency and it
has the power to proclaim it.

FUNCTIONS OF THE PARLIAMENT

- Parliament of India serves as the highest deliberative body in the nation.

- It engages in the discussion of varied issues having national and international
significance.
- The Indian Parliament gives assent to all the three kinds of Emergency which
are National Emergency, State Emergency and Financial Emergency which
are proclaimed by the President of India.
- The Parliament can also make or remove the state legislative councils on the
advice of the concerned state legislative assembly.
- The Parliament also performs the function of increasing or decreasing the
area, alter the boundaries or rename the states of Union of India.
- The Parliament of India is also responsible for regulating the jurisdiction and
organization of the High Courts and Supreme Court of India and also owns
the power of establishing one common high court for two or more states of
India.
- The system of the Parliament of India puts together the legislative and the
executive organs of the state as much as the executive power is exercised by
a group of Members of the Legislature who control a majority in the Lok
Sabha.
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- To come up in a more specified manner the government functions through
different ministries under the control of different Ministers. The Indian
Parliament has provisions for the Ministers and considers them accountable
to the elected representatives of the people. The Ministers could be Member
of either of the two Houses of the Parliament. The true implementation of the
policies of the government as determined by the Parliament is carried out by
the bureaucracy supervised by a Secretary of the Department.
- The Parliament has provisions for the forum by way of which it is shielded
that the Cabinet stays in power only as long as it possesses majority support
in the Lok Sabha which consists elected representatives of the people. It is
one of the most vital and essential duties of the Parliament to bring about
consultations, deliberations and reproving analysis of the functions of the
government departments.
- The discussions safeguards that the flaws in terms of performance are
brought to notice of the Ministers and through them the collective executive
machinery functions in a good manner.
- The existence of opposition is also necessary as it certainly ensures that the
entire population of the country gets to know about the other substitute and
possible thoughts.
- The Indian Parliament is the strongest organ as far as the information about
the performance of the duties and tasks of the government is concerned. The
information presented in the Houses is reliable and dependent and it is
obligatory for the ministers to provide information on affairs concerning
government when so wanted and preferred by the members.
- The power to amend the Constitution vests with the Parliament. It is essential
for the constitutional amendments to be passed by each house by a majority
of the total membership and by the two-thirds majority of members present
in voting as well.
- In some cases, amendments need ratification from half of the Legislative
Assemblies of the States.
- The Parliament of India can as well penalize a person for defamation or
contempt of the House.
- The Indian Parliament also possesses a power to form new states or make
changes in the boundaries of the states which are in existence by legislation.

CONCLUSION - Please form it according to the content you write and the ques.