Election of the
President (Article 54 & 55)
·
The provision dealing with the election of the
President are provided in Articles 54 and 55 and the president and the Vice-
President (Elections) Act of 1952, which was amended in 1974.
·
The President is elected by the members of an
electoral college consisting of
(i)The elected members of
both the houses of Parliament, and
(ii)The elected
member of the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
·
The nominated members of both the Houses of
Parliament, the nominated members of the State Legislative Assemblies and the
members of the State Legislative Council (in case of a Bicameral Legislature),
do not participate in the election of the President.
·
The President election is held in accordance with a
system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote
and the voting is done by secret ballot.
·
Value of the vote of an MLA=
X
·
This means that value of the vote of an MLA differs from one
State to another. This is done to given equality of representation in terms of
the population.
·
Value of the vote of an MP=
·
For nomination of a person for the election of President,
minimum 50 electors need to be proposers and further 50 electors need to be
seconders of the nomination papers. In case of Vice-President Election 20
proposers and 20 seconders are required.
·
No elector shall subscribe whether as proposer or seconder, more
than one nomination paper at the same election.
·
The value of vote of an MLA and MP is such that a true federal
character of the office of the President is maintained, by striking a balance
between the states and the Centre.
·
To be declared elected to the office of the President, more than
50% of the valid votes are required by a Presidential candidate.
·
Amount deposited by a candidate shall be forfeited if at the
election, candidate is not elected and the number of valid vote polled by such
candidate does not exceed one sixth of the number of votes necessary to secure
the return of a candidate at such election.
·
In case of any dispute regarding the election of the President,
only the Supreme Court is authorized to intervene in the matter.
·
If the election of the President is declared void, acts of the
President till the declaration cannot be invalidated.
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Do you know?
·
Disputes regarding election of the President are
under the jurisdiction Supreme Court only.
·
No petition can be filed on account of vacancies
in Electoral College.
·
The dispute can be brought in front of Supreme
Court only after the elections are over.
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Qualifications for
Election as President (Art.58)
1. He must be
a citizen of India.
2. He must
have attained 35 years of age.
3. He must be
qualified to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
4. He must not
hold any office of profit under Central or State government or any local or
other authority. Exception for this are a sitting President or Vice- President
of India, Governor and minister of the Union or of any State.
Tenure of President
(Article 56)
·
President shall, not withstanding the expiration of
his term, continue to hold office until his successor enters upon his office.
The President shall hold office for five years in general. Removal of President
be as follows:
(i)
President may resign by writing to Vice- President.
(ii)
President may, for violation of the Constitution be
removed from office by impeachment (Article 61)
·
In case of vacancy caused by resignation, death or
impeachment, a new President should be elected within six months.
·
In above cases, the Vice- President acts as an acting
President till the new President enters the office. During such period
he receives the salary and the facilities of President’s post.
Impeachment (removal)
of the President (Art. 61)
·
Under Article 61 of the Constitution, the President of
India can be impeached for the violation of the Constitution, which is solely
to be decided by the Parliament.
·
The procedure for impeachment can be initiated in
either House of the Parliament.
·
The impeachment procedure is quasi-judicial in nature
because after a resolution to this effect is passed by the originating House,
by a 2/3rd majority (resolution supported by not less than 25% of
the members of the House and to be moved only after a prior notice of 14 days
to the President), the other House sets up a committee to investigate the
charges against the President.
·
The President can defend himself by taking service of
the Attorney-General of India or any other lawyer of his choice. If the second
House also passes the Resolution with the same 2/3rd majority, the
President stands impeached.
Powers and functions of
the President
·
The
executive power of the Union is vested in the President and all executive
functions are carried out in the name of the President (Article 53 &
Article 77).
·
He
has power to appoint the Prime Minister and on his advice to appoint other
Minister of the Union (Art.75).
·
He
also appoints, the Attorney general of India (AGI);Comptroller and Auditor
General of India (CAG); judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts; the
Governor of a State or the Lt. Governor or Chief Commissioner or Administrator
(Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Pondicherry and Andaman & Nicobar Island,
Chief Commissioner for Chandigarh, Administrator for Dadra & Nagar Haveli
and Daman & Diu) of a Union Territory; members of the Union Public Service
Commission and joint Commission; for a group of States, the Chief Election
Commissioner and other member of the Election Commission Finance Commission, a
Commission on official language; a special officer for the SC/ST area;
Commission to investigate the condition of Backward Classes and Special Officer
for linguistic minorities.
·
The
President is the Supreme Commander of the defence forces; however the
Parliament can regulate military powers (Art.53).
·
All
treaties and international agreement are negotiated and concluded in the name
of President though subject to ratification by Parliament. President receives
and sends Ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives.
·
President
has power to summon and prorogue the Parliament and dissolve the Lok Sabha
(Art.85).
·
The
President can call a joint session in case of a conflict between the two Houses
on ordinary bill (Art. 108).
·
President
addressed the Houses of Parliament separately or jointly after each general
election and at the first session, each year (Art. 87).
·
Certain bills require prior approval of the
President for introduction in the Parliament. These are Money Bill, Finance
Bill of first class, Bill for the recognition of new State, or alteration of
State boundaries or a State Bill for imposing restriction on freedom of trade
and commerce.
·
The
President enjoys veto power usually called pocket veto, which can be for
withholding bill for any time (Art.111).
·
President
may promulgate ordinances under Article 123 except when both the Houses are in
session.
·
Ordinance
issued under Art. 123 must receive approval of Parliament (both the houses)
within six weeks of the reassembly of the Parliament.
·
The
President causes to lay before the Parliament certain reports. These are,
Report of Comptroller & Auditor General, Recommendations of finance
Commission, Union Public Service Commission Report, Report of Special Officer
of Schedule tribes and other backward castes and linguistic minorities.
·
The
President has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions or
punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentences of any person in all
case. The President is the only authority to grant pardons in case of death
sentence on the advice of Council of Ministers (Art.72).
Power’s of President
under Article 72
|
Power
|
Feature
|
|
Pardon
|
Completely
absolves the offender
|
|
Commutation
|
Substitution of
one form of punishment to lighter form
|
|
Remission
|
Reduction of the
amount without changing its character
|
|
Respite
|
Awarding a lesser
punishment on special ground e.g. pregnancy.
|
|
Reprieve
|
Temporary
suspension of death sentence.
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Power of President during Emergency
President has been
given extraordinary power to declare emergency to meet any kind of threat to
country. Constitution provides three types of emergencies:
(i)
National Emergency: Due to war, external aggression or
armed rebellion (Art. 352).
(ii)
State Emergency: Due to failure of Constitutional
machinery in States (Art. 356)
(iii)
Financial emergency: Due to financial instability (Art.
360).
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Do You Know?
·
During National Emergency all Fundamental Rights
except those under Article 20 and 21 are suspended.
·
Promulgation under Article 352 can be made only
when Union cabinet ministers headed by the Prime Minister asked him in
writing.
·
Proclamation of emergency must be passed by both
Houses with special majority within one month of proclamation.
·
A proclamation once approved shall remain in force
for a period of six months.
·
While proclamation of emergency is in operation
following effects are seen:
(i)
Extension of Centre’s power to enact laws on any
matter of State List [Art. 353 (b)].
(ii)
Centre is empowered to alter the method of
distribution of revenues between Union and States [Art.354].
(iii)
President may extend the normal life of Lok Sabha
by a year each time [Art.83 (2)].
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THE VICE PRESIDENT
·
Article 63 provides that there shall be a Vice-
President of India.
·
Article 64 says that the Vice- President shall be
ex-officio Chairman of the Council of states and shall not hold any other
office of profit.
·
Vice-President gets salary for being Chairman of Rajya
Sabha and not for being Vice- President.
·
Vice- President is elected by Electoral College
consisting all the members (elected + nominated) of the Parliament.
·
He holds office for 5 years or until his successor
enters upon the office.
·
Vice-President may be removed by a resolution of the
Council of States passed by a majority and agreed to by the Lok Sabha. A
resolution seeking removal of Vice-President can only be initiated in Rajya
Sabha.
·
For election as Vice- President a person must (a) be a
citizen of India, (b) has completed the age of 35 years, (c) be qualified for
election as a member of Rajya Sabha and (d) not hold any office of profit,
under the Central or State Government.
·
Vice- President while discharging the functions of the
President, have all the powers and immunities of the President and be entitled
to such emoluments, allowances and privileges of the President.
The Presidents of India
|
Sl.
|
Name
|
Period
|
|
1.
|
Dr. Rajendra Prasad
|
January 26, 1950 to May 13, 1962
|
|
2.
|
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
|
May 13, 1962 to May 1967
|
|
3.
|
Dr. Zakir Hussain (died in office)
|
May 13, 1967 to May 3, 1969
|
|
|
Varahagiri Venkat Giri (acting)
|
May 3, 1969 to July 20, 1969
|
|
|
Justice M. Hidayatullah (acting)
|
July 20, 1969 to August 24, 1969
|
|
4.
|
Varahagiri Venkat Giri
|
August 24, 1969 to August 24, 1974
|
|
5.
|
Fakruddin Ali Ahmed (died in office)
|
August 24, 1974 to February 11, 1977
|
|
|
B.D. Jatti (acting)
|
February 11, 1977 to July 25, 1977
|
|
6.
|
Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy (elected unopposed)
|
July 25, 1977 to July 25, 1982
|
|
|
M. Hidayatullah (acting)
|
Oct. 6, 1982 to Oct. 31, 1982
|
|
7.
|
Giani Zail Singh
|
July 25, 1982 to July 25, 1987
|
|
8.
|
R. Venkataraman
|
July 25, 1987 to July 25, 1992
|
|
9.
|
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma
|
July 25, 1992 to July 25, 1997
|
|
10.
|
K. R. Narayanan
|
July 25, 1997 to July 25, 2002
|
|
11.
|
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
|
July 25, 2002 to July 25, 2007
|
|
12.
|
Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil
|
July 25, 2007 to July 25, 2012
|
|
13.
|
Pranab Mukherjee
|
July 25, 2012 to Present
|
|
Vice-
Presidents of India
|
||
|
1.
|
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
|
1952-1962
|
|
2.
|
Dr. Zakir Hussain
|
1962-1967
|
|
3.
|
Varahagiri Venkata Giri
|
1967-1969
|
|
4.
|
Gopal Swarup Pathak
|
1969-1974
|
|
5.
|
B.D. Jatti
|
1974-1979
|
|
6.
|
Mohammad Hidayatullah
|
1979-1984
|
|
7.
|
R. Venkataraman
|
1984-1987
|
|
8.
|
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma
|
1987-1992
|
|
9.
|
K.R. Narayanan
|
1992-1997
|
|
10.
|
Krishan Kant
|
1997-2002
|
|
11.
|
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat
|
2002-2007
|
|
12.
|
Maohammad Hamid Ansari
|
2007-till date
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ATTORNEY GENERAL OF
INDIA
·
Article 76 states that the President shall appoint a
person who is qualified to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court to be
the Attorney General of India.
·
He is the first legal officer of the Govt. of India.
·
The term of office of the AGI is not fixed by the
constitution of India.
·
It is convention that, after the change of the
government, the Attorney-General resigns and the new government appoints one of
its own choice.
·
He advises the Government of India on any legal
matter. He performs any legal duties assigned by the President of India. He
discharge any function conferred on him by the Constitution or the President.
·
In the performance of his duties, the Attorney General
shall have right of audience in all Courts in the territory of India.
·
He shall
neither advice nor holds a brief against the Government of India in cases in
which he is called upon to advice the Government of India. Nor should be defend
accused persons for criminal prosecutions without the permission of the
Government of India.
·
He is prohibited to take appointed as a Director in
any company without a permission of the Government of India.
·
The Attorney General represents the Union and the
State before the Courts but is also allowed to take up private practice
provided, the other party is not the State.
·
He is not paid a salary but a retainer that is
determined by the President.
·
Although he is not a member of the either House of the
Parliament, he enjoys the right to attend and speak in the Parliamentary
deliberations and meetings (of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha), without
a right to vote.
·
He is entitled to all the privileges and immunities as
a Member of the Parliament.
·
The retainer of the Attorney General is equal to the
Salary, of a judge of the Supreme Court.
·
He is assistant by two Solicitors-General and four
assistant Solicitors-General.
·
The Attorney- General hold office during the pleasure
of the President, and receive remuneration as the President may determine.
Prime Minister & Council of
Ministers
·
The position of prime Minister in the Council of
Ministers is described as ‘Primus Inter Pares’ i.e. first among the equals.
·
The Prime Minister (PM) is appointed by the President
and other minister are appointed by the President on the advice of Prime
Minister [Art. 75 (i)]
·
Minister may be taken from members of either House and
minister who is member of one House has the right to speak and take part in the
proceeding of the other House but cannot vote in the House of which he is not
member [Art.88].
Prime Minister of India
|
Sl.
|
Name
|
Party
|
Tenure
|
|
1.
|
Pt. Jawaharlal
Nehru
|
INC
|
Aug. 15, 1947 to
May 27, 1964
|
|
|
Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
|
INC
|
May 27, 1964 to
June 9, 1964
|
|
2
|
Lal Bahadur
Shastri (died in office)
|
INC
|
June 9, 1964 to
Jan. 11, 1966
|
|
|
Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
|
INC
|
Jan. 11, 1966, to Jan.
24, 1966
|
|
3.
|
Indira Gandhi
|
INC
|
Jan. 24, 1966 to
March 24, 1977
|
|
4.
|
Morarji Desai
|
Janta Party
|
March 24, 1977 to
July 28, 1979
|
|
5.
|
Chaudhary Charan
Singh
|
Janata Party (S)
|
July 28, 1979 to
Jan. 14 1980
|
|
6.
|
Indira Gandhi
(died in office)
|
Congress (I)
|
Jan 14, 1980 to
Oct. 31, 1984
|
|
7.
|
Rajiv Gandhi
|
Congress (I)
|
Oct 31, 1984 to
Dec. 2, 1989
|
|
8.
|
Vishwanath Pratap
Singh
|
Janata Dal
|
Dec.2 1989 to Nov.
10, 1990
|
|
9.
|
Chandra Shekhar
|
SJP/ Janata Dal
(S)
|
No. 10, 1990 to
June 21, 1991
|
|
10.
|
P.V. Narsimha Rao
|
Congress (I)
|
June 21, 1991 to
May 16, 1996
|
|
|
Atal Bihari
Vajpayee
|
BJP
|
May 16, 1996 to
June 1, 1996
|
|
11
|
H.D. Deve Gowda
|
Janata Dal
|
June 1, 1996 to
April 21, 1997
|
|
12
|
Inder Kumar Gujral
|
Janata Dal
|
April 21, 1997 to
March 19, 1998
|
|
13
|
Atal Bihari
Vajpayee
|
BJP
|
March 19, 1998 to
May 22, 2004
|
|
14.
|
Manmohan Singh
|
INC
|
May 22, 2004-till
date
|
·
A person who is not a member of either House can also
become a minister but he cannot continue as minister for more than 6 month
unless he secures a seat in either House of Parliament (by election or
nomination) in the mean time [Art. 75 (5)].
·
Art. 75 (2) envisages principle of individual
responsibility which says that a minister shall hold office during the pleasure
of the President.
·
Art. 75 (3) says ministers shall be collectively
responsible to House of people. It is the principle of collective
responsibility.
·
If Prime Minister resigns or passes away, entire
ministry goes out automatically.
·
Art. 78 envisage duties of Prime Minister in respect
of furnishing information to the President.
Types of Ministers
·
Cabinet Ministers: Senior
most ministers constitute the cabinet and have the right to attend all the
cabinet meetings. Only cabinet ministers deliberate and decide on the policy
matter. 44th
Constitution Amendment Act, 1978 incorporated the word ‘Cabinet Ministers’ in
Article 352 of the Constitution.
·
Ministers of State: Lower in rank to cabinet Minister
and assist, the latter. They can attend the cabinet meetings and assist, the
latter. They can attend the cabinet meetings only if invited for any particular
meeting.
·
Deputy Ministers: They cannot hold independent charge
and always assist cabinet or state ministers or both. They never attend the
cabinet meeting.
THE PARLIAMENT
·
Article 79 provides that there shall be a Parliament
for the Union which shall consist of the President and two houses to be known
as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha or
Upper House) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha or Lower House).
·
Parliaments make legislations.
·
Parliament has financial control over the executive
and it is the sole authority to raise the taxes.
The Council of States
(Rajya Sabha)
·
As per Article 80 (ii): The Council of State shall
consist of not more than 238 elected members and 12 nominated members for a
period of six years.
·
At present the strength of Rajya Sabha is 245, of
which 233 are elected and 12 are nominated.
·
The members to be nominated by the President are
persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of
literature, science, art and social service.
·
The elected members of each State legislature elect their
representative on the basis of proportional representation with a means of
single transferable vote.
·
Rajya Sabha is permanent House while one third of its
members retire every two years by rotation.
·
The members of Rajya Sabha participate in the election
and impeachment (removal) of the President, except the nominated ones.
·
In case of emergency declaration under Art. 352 and
Art. 356 by the President, the resolution must be approved by both the Houses
of Parliament.
·
The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman
of the Rajya Sabha. He presides over the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha as long
as he does not act as the President of India during vacancy in the office of
the President.
·
The Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha is elected by the
members from amongst its members. In the absence of the Chairman, Deputy
Chairman presides over the functions and proceedings of the House. Deputy
Chairman shall vacate his office if he ceases to be member of the Council and
he may be removed by a resolution of the Council passed by majority of all the
members of the council.
·
Each federating unit is represented by at least one
member.
·
UP has largest number of Rajya Sabha seats (31) &
Maharashtra second largest (19) while all the NE States, except Assam have one
seat each.
·
Some resolution can be initiated only in Rajya Sabha
e.g.
(i)
A resolution seeking the removal of the Vice-President
(Article 67).
(ii)
Any resolution seeking creation of one or more All-
India services (Article 312).
(iii)
A resolution seeking legislation on any subject of the
State List (Art. 249).
Qualification for Election of Rajya
Sabha Members
·
He should be a citizen of India.
·
He should not be less than of 30 years of age.
·
He must be a registered voter, ordinary citizen in the
State or Union territory from where he is intended to be chosen.
·
He should not hold any office of profit.
The House of the People
(Lok Sabha)
·
As per Art. 81 there shall be not more than 530
representatives from the States ; 20 from the UTs and not more than 2 nominated
members from Anglo Indian Community (Art. 331), in total 552.
·
At present there are 545 members in Lok Sabha, of
which 530 are from States, 13 from UTs and 2 nominated by the President.
·
The Parliament has frozen the representation of States
and UTs in Lok Sabha at 543 till 2026 AD.
·
The Constitution through Art, 83 provides normal
tenure of Lok Sabha to be 5 years. However, Parliament by 42nd
Constitution Amendment Act, 1976 extend it to 6 years, but the 44th
Constitutional Amendment Act, 1978 again fixed the original normal tenure of 5
years.
·
The Speaker is the Chief Presiding officer of the Lok
Sabha. The Speaker is elected from the members of the Lok Sabha after the new
Lok Sabha is constituted. He has the responsibilities to uphold the dignity
& privileges of the House.
·
Immediately after Lok Sabha is elected. President
appoints a Pro-tem Speaker who is senior most member in the House. He acts as
the Speaker till the Speaker is elected by Lok Sabha.
·
The party with largest member after ruling party and
having at least one-tenth of the strength of Lok Sabha is recognized as
Opposition Party. The Leader of opposition in both Houses of Parliament is
entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of a
Cabinet Minister.
·
Up has largest number of Lok Sabha seats (80) followed
by Maharashtra (48) and Andhra Pradesh & West Bengal (42 each).
Qualification for
Election of Lok Sabha members
·
He should be a citizen of India.
·
He should not be less than of 25 years of age.
·
He should be a registered voter in any of the
Parliamentary Constituencies in India.
·
He should not hold any office of profit.
Sessions of Parliament
The maximum gap between two
sessions of the Parliament can not be more than six months. It means that
Parliament should meet at least twice a year. However, there are usually three
sessions in year. The sessions are:
(i)
Budget Session (February to May)
(ii)
Monsoon Session (July to September)
(iii)
Winter Session (November to December)
Note: winter Session is the shortest session.
Joint Sitting
·
Under Art. 108, there is a provision of joint sitting
of both the Houses of the Parliament.
·
Lok Sabha speaker presides over the joint sitting
[Art. 118 (4)].
·
There are only three occasions in the history of Indian
Parliament that the joint session of the Parliament took place. They are as
follows:
(i)
In May 1961, for Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1959.
(ii)
In May 1978 for Banking Services Commission
(iii)
In March 2003 for POTA Bill.
·
Joint sitting cannot be called for resolving deadlock
regards to Money Bill and Constitution Amendment Bills.
·
Joint sitting of both Houses can be convened on two
occasions:
(i)
Special address by the President at the commencement
of first Session after each general election of Lok sabha; First Session of
each year (the Budget session).
(ii)
For resolving any dead lock over the passage of a Bill.
End of the session
(i)
Prorogation
The
presiding officer (speaker) declares the House adjourned sine die, when the business of the session is completed. Within the
next few days the President issues a notification for prorogation of the
session. The President can also prorogue the House while in session.
(ii)
Adjournment
This
is a short recess within a session of the Parliament, called by the presiding
officer of the House. Its duration may be from a few minutes to days together.
(iii)
Adjournment sine die
It is
a type of adjournment when the House is adjourned by the presiding officer
without fixing any date or time of the next meeting.
Note: The adjournment does not bring to
an end of a session, but merely postpones the proceedings of the House to a
future time and date.
|
Do You
Know?
·
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 Quorum consist 55 members in Lok Sabha.
·
The Constitution has declared Hindi and English to
be the languages for transacting business of the Houses. It can permit a
member to address the House in his Mother-tongue.
|
·
Legislative procedure is initiated in the form of a
Bill, when the Bill is passed by both Houses of Parliament and assented by the
President, it becomes a Law.
·
Bills can be classified under following categories:
(i)
Ordinary
Bills
·
These are concerned with any matter other than
Financial Bills, Money Bills and Constitutional Amendment Bills.
·
Such Bills can be introduced in either House of
Parliament without the recommendation of President. These bills are passed by
simple majority in both Houses.
(ii)
Money Bills
·
These are defined in Articles 110. These Bills deal
with the taxes, borrowings, consolidates & contingency funds, audit and
accounting, etc.
·
Art. 109 gives special procedure regarding Money
Bills.
·
A money Bill can originate only in Lok Sabha after the
recommendation of the President. Thought the Bill is sent to Rajya Sabha also
but even Rajya Sabha rejects/returns the Bill (within 14 days necessarily), the
Bill is deemed to be passed.
·
The Appropriation Bill and Annual Financial Bill
(Budget) are Money Bills.
(iii)
Financial
Bills
·
Any Bill dealing with revenues or expenditure but not
certified as Money Bill by the Speaker is a Financial Bill.
·
Financial Bill can only be introduced in Lok Sabha on
the recommendation of the President & should be passed by both Houses by
simple majority.
(iv)
Constitutional
Amendment Bills
·
Under Art. 368 with the powers of Parliament to amend
the Constitution, this Bill can be introduced in any of the two Houses without recommendation
of the President.
·
Such Bill must be passed by each House separately with
special majority (two third of the members present and voting which must be
more than absolute majority).
·
By 24th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1971
it is obligatory for President to give his assent to the Constitutions
Amendment Bills.
Types of Majorities
Broadly there are four types of majorities.
They are as follows:
(i)
Simply
Majority: more than 50% of the members present and voting (excluding
members abstaining)
(ii)
Absolute
Majority: More than 50% of the total members including abstaining
members.
(iii)
Effective
Majority: More than 50% of the effective strength of the House
(vacancies are not considered).
(iv)
Special
Majority: As per Art. 61, two third of the total strength of the
House (including vacancies).
As per Art. 249 two third of members of the House present and
voting.
As per Art. 368, two third of the members of the House
present voting as well as majority should be absolute majority of the House.
·
Any amendment in the following provisions requires
passing of bill by special majority and ratification by the legislatures of not
less than half of the States:
(i)
The manner of election of the President [ Art. 54 and
Art. 55]
(ii)
Extent of the executive power of the Union and the
State [Art.73 and Art. 162]
(iii)
The Supreme Court and High Courts [Art. 241, Chap. IV
of Part V, Chap. V of Part VI]
(iv)
Distribution of legislative powers between the union
and the States [Chap. I of Part XI]
(v)
Any of the Lists in the 7th Schedule
(vi)
Representation of the States in Parliament [
Art. 80 and Art. 81, 4th Schedule]
(vii)
Provisions of Art. 368 itself.
Parliamentary Terms
1.
Vote on
Account (Art. 116)
Lok Sabha can grant a limited sum from the Consolidated Fund
of India to the executive to spend till the Appropriation Act is passed by the
Parliament. There is no discussion on it.
2.
Question
Hour
The first hour of every sitting in both the houses is devoted
to asking and answering questions. The timing is from 11 to 12 noon. Questions
are of three types:
(i)
Starred
Questions: These questions are to be answered orally on the floor of
the House. Supplementary questions can also be asked here.
(ii)
Unstarred
Question: These questions are answered in writing and no supplementary
questions can be asked here.
(iii)
Short
Notice Question: These questions related to issues of public
importance and can be asked with notice shorter than 10 days prescribed for
ordinary question.
3.
Zero Hour
It is an Indian innovation and it is in existence since 1962.
This is the period between end of the question hour and the beginning of the
day’s proceedings. It starts at 12 noon and generally goes on upto 1 P.M. there
members raise any issue of public importance on very short or even without
notice.
4.
Half An
–Hour Discussion
This kind of discussion on matters arising out of the
questions already answered in the House can be held in the Lok Sabha during the
last half hour of the sitting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In Rajya Sabha
it can be held on any day.
5.
Types of
Motions
(i)
Calling
Attention Motion: A member may, with prior permission of the Speaker,
call the attention of a minister to any matter of urgent public importance. It
does not exist in the Rajya Sabha, which has instead “Motion of Papers”.
(ii)
Adjournment
Motion: This motion is to draw the attention of the House to a
recent matter of urgent public importance and having serious consequences. The
consent of the Speaker and support of 50 members of the House is required for
the admittance of such a motion.
(iii)
Censure
Motion or No Confidence Motion: it is an expression of lack of
confidence in the Ministry. At least 50 members shall rise support to permit
the move of a motion.
(iv)
Closure
Motion: To cut short the discussion on any subject a Closure Motion
can be moved by any member.
(v)
Cut motion: it can be
of three types:
(a)
Policy Cut: It disapproves the policy and says that
amount is reduced to Re. 1.
(b)
Economic Cut: it reduces the amount by a specific sum
so as to bring economy in the project.
(c)
Token Cut: it reduces amount by Rs. 100. The objective
here is to voice a particular grievance for which the government is
responsible.
6.
Special
Mention
A matter which cannot be raised under any established rule of
the House can be raised under the special mention in Rajya Sabha. It is similar
to the “Notice Mention under Rule 377 in the Lok Sabha.
7.
Guillotine
Certain “Demands for Grants” of various ministers are
accepted by the Lok Sabha without any discussion. This is basically done due to
paucity of time.
8.
Types of
Governments
(i)
Caretaker
Government: Usually, the
outgoing Government is asked to continue in the office till a new government
after election takes the charge.
(ii)
Interim
Government: In India, interim government came into power with the
Independence of India Act, 1947 on 15th August and lasted till March
1952. It was a full- fledged government and able to take any policy decision.
(iii)
Minority
Government: Government which do not have full confidence of Lok Sabha
on its own and survives on the support of other political parties outside
government.
(iv)
Coalition
Government: When two or more political parties form the government to
achieve their common goals.
(v)
National Government: it is ‘government
by consensus’ or a form of coalition government
in which all political parties participate with having no opposition.
Such a government was formed in Britain in 1940 by Winston Churchill during
world war II.
9.
Shadow Cabinet
It is a national cabinet formed by the main opposition party
in Parliament. Where in the members are assigned certain special function to
perform. Such members lead to the opposition during discussion in Parliament.
It is also called as “Cabinet –in
waiting”.
10.
Hung
Parliament
When no political
party or pre- election coalition of political parties is in a position to form
a majority government.
Parliamentary
Committees
·
Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds – standing
committees and adhoc committees.
·
Standing committees are elected or appointed every
year or periodically and their work goes on, more or less on a continuous
basis.
·
The adhoc committees are appointed on an adhoc basis
as need arises and they ceases to exist as soon as they complete the task
assigned to them. Adhoc committees may be broadly classified into the inquiry
committees and select or joint committee on bills.
·
The Rules Committee of the Lok Sabha recommended
sitting up of 17 Department Related Standing committee (DRSCs). Accordingly on
8th April 1993, 17 DRSCs were set up. In July 2004, rules were
amended to provide for the constitution of seven more such committees, thus
raising the number of DRSCs from 17 to 24. Each Committee consists of 45
members (30 from Lok Sabha and 15 from Rajya Sabha).
·
Members of all Financial Committees, the Committee on
welfare of scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the Joint Committee on
Offices of profit are elected every year by members, according to the system of
proportional representation by a means of single transferable vote.
·
If speaker or, presiding officer himself is member of
the committee then he becomes the Chairman. If he is not a member but his
deputy is, then later is appointed as chairman.
·
Ministers can neither become members of the Financial
Committees nor can they be asked to appear before them for the purpose of
giving evidence.
Important Parliamentary
Committees
(i)
Committee on Estimates
·
The
first estimates committee in the post independence era was constituted in 1950
on the recommendation of John Mathai, the then finance minister.
·
This
committee consists of 30 members only, all the members are from Lok Sabha.
Originally it had 25 members, but in
1956 its membership was raised to 30. A minister cannot be appointed as its
member.
·
The
function of this committee is to examine whether the money is well laid out
within the limits of the policy implied in the estimates. It may suggest
changes if it think so.
·
The
committee acts as the continuous economy committee.
(ii)
Committee on Public Accounts
·
The
committee was constituted in 1964 on the recommendation of Krishna Menon
Committee. Originally it had 15 members (10 from Lok Sabha and 5 from Rajya
Sabha). However in 1974, it membership was raised to 22 (15 from Lok Sabha and
7 from Rajya Sabha). A minister cannot be elected as member of this committee.
·
The Speaker appoints the Chairman of this committee
from amongst its members. Until 1966-67 the Chairman of the committee belongs
to ruling party but since 1967 the Chairman of the committee is selected
invariably from the opposition.
·
The function of this committee is to examine the
Annual Finance Accounts and to examine the reports of CAG of India on revenue
reports.
(iii)
Committee
on Public Undertakings
·
Its composition is similar to that of Committee on
Public Account.
·
Only Lok Sabha member can become the Chairman of the
Committee.
·
Its function is to examine the reports and accounts of
public undertaking & to examine their efficiency & autonomous,
functioning.
(iv)
Committee
on Welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
·
This committee consists of 20 members from Lok Sabha
and 10 members from Rajya Sabha. The chairman is appointed by the speaker, but
a minister cannot be a member of the committee.
·
Its function is to examine the representation of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Various services and the
implementation of welfare programmes for them.
(v)
Business
Advisory Committee
·
Each House has one such committee. In Lok Sabha it has
15 members including Speaker as an ex-officio Chaiman and in Rajya Sabha 11
members including the Deputy Chairman. The Chairman of Rajya Sabha is the
ex-officio Chairman of the committee.
(vi)
Rules
Committee
·
Each house has such one committee. In Lok Sabha it is
consisted of 15 members, including the Speaker who is the ex-officio Chairman
of the committee. Rajya Sabha committee has 16 members including the Chairman
and the Deputy Chairman. The Chairman of Rajya Sabha is the ex-officio Chairman
of the committee.
(vii)
Other
Committees
·
Committee on Petitions, Committee of Privileges,
Committee on Government Assurance are in each house of Parliament. Each of the
above committees in Lok Sabha has 15 members, while in Rajya Sabha they have 10
members.
|
Do you
know?
·
The consultative committees which also consist of
members of Parliament are not parliamentary committees. They are the
committees attached to various minister and department of the Union
Government.
|
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