indian polity book series 24

Indian Polity - Lok Sabha - Continued

If both houses pass the bill, and the President also approves, the bill becomes law.

The bill that has become law will be published in the Gazette.

Note: Money bills should be introduced only in the Lok Sabha first. The Rajya Sabha must approve the money bill within 14 days. The Rajya Sabha cannot reject a money bill, nor can it send it back for reconsideration. It can suggest amendments, but the Lok Sabha may accept (or) reject those amendments.

Examine the following related to the joint sittings of Parliament and identify the correct ones. (3) (TSLPRBT-2018)

1. If the Speaker is not present, the Deputy Speaker presides.
2. If the Deputy Speaker is also not present, the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman presides.
3. If the Deputy Chairman is not present, the Rajya Sabha Chairman presides.
4. The Speaker presides.

Joint Sitting of Both Houses (Article 108)

This concept was taken from the Australian Constitution. A joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament is held when there is a disagreement between the two Houses on an ordinary bill.

The President convenes a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

The Lok Sabha Speaker presides over the joint sitting of both Houses. If he is not present, the Deputy Speaker, and if he is also not present, the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman. If he is not present, the senior-most of the Panel Speakers presides over the Lok Sabha.

The quorum is 1/10th of the total members of both Houses.

Since 1952, only three bills have been passed in a joint sitting. They are:

1. Dowry Prohibition Bill (1960) - May 6, 1961, presided over by Ananthasayanam Ayyangar.
2. Banking Services Regulation Bill (1977) - May 16, 1978, presided over by K S Hegde
3. Prevention of Terrorism Act (2002) - March 26, 2002, presided over by PM Sayeed (Deputy Speaker)

Since the Rajya Sabha rejected these three bills, a joint sitting had to be held. In the case of these three bills, the opinion of the Lok Sabha prevailed.

The only member who attended all three meetings and voted in favor - A B Vajpayee

A joint sitting was not held for the following bills that were rejected by the Rajya Sabha -

1. Abolition of Privy Purses (1970)
2. Shifting of Tobacco Board from Guntur (1978)

Parliament - Committees

Parliamentary Committees are of two types.

1. Standing Committees
2. Ad Hoc Committees (Temporary Committees)

Standing Committees - These function continuously. Although the members in them keep changing. They are of two types.

1. General Committees
2. Financial Committees

General Committees

House Committee, House Business Committee, Rules Committee, House Privileges Committee, Government Assurances Committee, etc. are General Committees.

Financial Committees

Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee, Public Sector Undertakings Committee, etc. are Financial Committees.

Public Accounts Committee:

• Oldest Committee.
• Formed in 1921.
• Total Members - 22
• 15 Lok Sabha members, 7 Rajya Sabha members
• Ministers cannot be members of this committee.
• The Lok Sabha Speaker appoints the chairman of this committee.

Note: Since 1967, it has been a tradition to appoint an opposition member as the chairman. The chairman's term is 1 year.

Examines whether government spending is legally and properly spent and gives a report.

CAG (Comptroller & Auditor General) provides advice to this committee.

CAG is considered as the philosopher, friend, and guide to the Public Accounts Committee.

The Public Accounts Committee report is compared to a 'post-mortem'.

Current Public Accounts Committee Chairman - Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

Estimates Committee :

• Chairman - Girish Bapat
• Formed in 1950 on the recommendation of John Mathai.
• 30 members.
• All are Lok Sabha members.
• Members term - 1 year.
• Ministers cannot be members of this committee.
• The Speaker appoints the chairman of this committee.
• The function of this committee is to promote economy in view of government estimates and to suggest reforms in the administrative sector.
• Submits the report to the Lok Sabha.
• This is the largest committee among all committees (most members)
• This committee is called the Continuous Economy and Frugality Committee. Current Estimates Committee Chairman-Girish Bapat (BJP)

Note: The Public Accounts Committee and the Estimates Committee are called twin committees.

Public Sector Undertakings Committee :

• Formed in 1953.
• Recommended by Lanka Sundaram to form it in the Lok Sabha
• Formed on the recommendation of the V.K. Krishna Menon Committee.
• 22 members.
• 15 from Lok Sabha, 7 from Rajya Sabha
• Ministers cannot be members of this House.
• The Lok Sabha Speaker appoints the committee chairman.
• Currently the Chairman of the Public Sector Undertakings Committee is Smt. Meenakshi Lekhi (BJP)

Note: If the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, or Deputy Chairman is a member of the financial committees, they will be the chairman of that committee.

Budget

The word budget is not in the constitution.

Mentioned as Annual Financial Statement in Article 112.

The budget is introduced with the prior permission of the President.

Introducing the budget - started in 1860.

In 1921, the Railway Budget was separated from the General Budget on the recommendations of the Ackworth Committee.

Note: Currently, since 2017-18, the Railway Budget has been merged with the General Budget again. (Vivek Debroy Committee)

A general discussion takes place after the budget is introduced. After the discussion, the departmental committees conduct scrutiny. Then voting on grants takes place. At this time, members can introduce cut motions opposing the budget.

New Railway Budget was introduced in 1924.

Cut Motions :

A cut motion is a proposal to reduce a specified amount in the budget.

The main purpose of cut motions is to draw the attention of the House to the specified issues.

If a cut motion is passed, the government should resign.

There are three types of cut motions.

1. Policy Cut Motion:

   The motion to reduce the amount requested from the grants to one rupee.

   Its main objective is to oppose the government's policy.

2. Economy Cut Motion:

   Reducing a specified amount from the grants.

3. Token Cut Motion:

   Motion to reduce 100 rupees from grants.

Appropriation Bill:

• Even after the budget is passed, the government does not have the power to spend. The Appropriation Bill gives the power to spend money related to grants from the Consolidated Fund of India without the need for Parliament's approval.

Government Funds :

The Indian Constitution explains about 3 types of funds. They are

1. Consolidated Fund (or) Consolidated Fund
2. Contingency Fund of India
3. Public Account of India

Consolidated Fund of India (Article 266) :

The account opened by the Central Government in the Reserve Bank to conduct its revenue and expenditure transactions is called the Consolidated Fund of India.

Parliament's approval is mandatory for payments from this fund.

At the state level, there will be a Consolidated Fund of the State Government.

Contingency Fund:

• The Constitution mentions the Contingency Fund in Article '267.
• This fund is sanctioned to meet the unforeseen expenditure incurred by the government.
• Ex: Expenditure incurred when natural calamities occur.
• This fund is called the Contingency Fund (or) Accidental Fund.

Public Account of India :

• Deposits collected by the government from the public, Provident Fund, other savings amounts, and fines are deposited into this fund.
• Parliament's permission is not required for payments from this account.

Central Government Grants:

Article 275 explains about the financial assistance given by the Central Government to the State Governments.

Grants given by the Center to the states do not need to be repaid.

Parliamentary Procedures

Motion of Thanks to the President's Address :

• In the first meeting after the general elections and at the beginning of the budget session every year, the President addresses both houses.
• The text of the President's address is prepared and approved by the Cabinet.
• After discussion on the President's address, a motion of thanks to the President's address is introduced.
• If the motion of thanks to the President's address is defeated in the Lok Sabha, the cabinet has to resign.

Question Hour :

• The first hour of every day when both houses are in session is called Question Hour.
• During Question Hour, members ask questions after giving notice to the Speaker. The concerned ministers give answers to them.

There are three types of questions. they are

1. Starred Questions (Star Questions)
2. Unstarred Questions (Unstar Questions)
3. Short notice questions

1) Starred Questions:

• The concerned ministers give oral answers to these questions.
• Supplementary questions can be asked.
• A maximum of 20 questions are allowed per day.

2) Unstarred questions:

• The concerned minister gives written answers to these questions.
• There is no scope to ask supplementary questions.

3) Short Notice Questions:

Oral questions asked on urgent public interest matters are called short notice questions.

A notice should be given to the Speaker 10 days in advance to ask these questions.

Note: The Speaker decides on starred questions, unstarred questions, and short notice questions.

Zero Hour :

• The short time between the end of question hour and the start of the agenda is called Zero Hour.
• Zero Hour starts at 12.00 pm.
• This practice has been in use since 1962. Actually, this is not in the Parliament Rules Procedures.

Half-an-hour discussion:

• This takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for the last half hour.
• Every day for the last half hour in the Rajya Sabha.
• The Speaker allows this discussion to discuss issues of public importance.

Short Duration Discussion:

• At the end of the House proceedings, the Speaker allows this discussion.
• This discussion will last for about 2 hours.

Calling attention - motion :

• To draw the attention of the House to any matter of public importance, any member with the permission of the Speaker can seek an official statement from the concerned minister.

Adjournment Motion:

• To draw the attention of the House to an urgent matter of public importance, this motion is used.
• The support of 50 members is required to introduce this motion.
• Written notice should be given to the Speaker, Secretary General, and the concerned minister before 10 am.
• If the discussion is allowed, the business of the day will be adjourned and the discussion will be taken up at 4 pm.
• Voting will take place after the discussion.
• There is no scope for introducing an adjournment motion in the Rajya Sabha. Should Adjourn the motion? Don't? That is decided by the Speaker.

Confidence Motion :

• The ruling government introduces a confidence motion to prove its majority in the Lok Sabha.
• If the confidence motion is won in the Lok Sabha, the government will survive.
• If the confidence motion is lost in the Lok Sabha, the government falls. The Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers have to resign.
• Charan Singh proposed the first confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

Note:

1. Charan Singh resigned without discussion on this motion in the Lok Sabha. After Morarji Desai resigned as Prime Minister, the then President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy gave a chance to the then Deputy Prime Minister Charan Singh to form the government and imposed a condition to prove confidence in the Lok Sabha in 30 days. But Charan Singh resigned in 24 days and asked for the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
2. Charan Singh, the Prime Minister who did not set foot in Parliament.

• The first Prime Minister to lose his Prime Ministership due to the defeat of the confidence motion - V.P. Singh (1990)
• The second Prime Minister to lose his Prime Ministership due to the defeat of the confidence motion - H.D. Deve Gowda (1997)
• The last Prime Minister to lose his Prime Ministership due to the defeat of the confidence motion - Vajpayee (1999)
• The last Prime Minister to face a confidence motion was Manmohan Singh.

No-Confidence Motion:

• Opposition members can introduce a no-confidence motion against the Council of Ministers.
• A notice signed by 50 members must be given to the Speaker in advance to introduce this motion.
• If the Lok Sabha Speaker allows, within 10 days of the permission, the Speaker will fix a date for discussion on the motion.
• Voting will take place on the no-confidence motion after the discussion. If the majority of the members present in the House and voting approve the motion, the government will fall.
• If the no-confidence motion is defeated, the government will continue.

Note: Usually the no-confidence motion is not passed in the House because the majority members in the Lok Sabha belong to the government.

• A no-confidence motion should be introduced in the Lok Sabha itself. Because the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
• The first Prime Minister to face a no-confidence motion - Nehru

A no-confidence motion was not discussed for the first time in 1962. On August 13, 1963, J.B. Kripalani's no-confidence motion was allowed. This motion got 61 votes in favor and 346 votes against.

A no-confidence motion was introduced 15 times against Indira Gandhi's government.

There is no time limit to introduce a no-confidence motion at the Centre. But at the state level, a no-confidence motion is allowed only once in 6 months.

Quorum:

• The minimum number of members required to be present for the meetings to take place is called quorum.
• Quorum = 1/10th of the total members (including the Speaker).

Note: If there is no quorum, the Speaker adjourns the House.

Additional Information

Agenda:

• List of business to be discussed in the House. The proceedings of the House take place according to the agenda.

Unattached Member:

• If a member defies the whip and is suspended from the party, that member is called an unattached member.

Adjourn:

• To postpone the House. The Speaker adjourns the House. - Speaker

Sine die (Indefinite Adjournment):

• Postponing the meetings indefinitely without specifying a time.
• The power to adjourn indefinitely and reconvene rests with the Speaker. - Speaker

Prorogue:

• After the meetings are over, prorogation means ending the session for a long period until another meeting is held.
• The power to prorogue rests with the President.
• The power to reconvene the House that has been prorogued rests only with the President.

Point of Order:

• If any member feels that the proceedings of the House are not going according to the rules and regulations, he will express his objection. This is called Point of Order.
• The power to give a ruling on this rests with the Speaker.