Parliament
"The parliament of a country is the repository of the sovereign will of the people, and its successful functioning is a joint responsibility of both the government and its opposition"
Pratibha Patil
★ Rajya Sabha
★ Lok Sabha
★ Funds
★ Budget
Parliament -
- Part V, Chapter - II of the Constitution talks about the Union Legislature → Parliament (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha)
Functions of the Parliament
- Enactment of laws.
- Exercising political as well as financial control over the Council of Ministers (executive).
- Parliament contributes to the members of the Council of ministers as well as provides opportunity for the representation of people and a platform at which we can question the government through our representatives.
Houses of the Parliament
- Rajya Sabha (Upper house, House of States, Second Chamber or the House of elders)
- Lok Sabha (Lower house, House of people, First Chamber or Popular House)
Rajya Sabha
Maximum Strength of Rajya Sabha -
- As per the Constitution, it is 250 (238 elected & 12 Nominated)
- At present, Strength of Rajya Sabha - 245 (233 elected & 12 nominated); out of 233 elected, 229 are elected by the states whereas 4 are elected by the UTs of Delhi (3) and Puducherry (1).
Rajya Sabha is a representative body of the state at the federal level having two categories of members - elected and nominated.
Elected and nominated members are there for 6 years in a way that one-third of them retired every two year.
Constitution has prescribed for maximum of 238 elected and 12 nominated members and the parliament has fixed the strength of Rajya Sabha to 233 elected and 12 nominated.
Members of Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by the elected members of State legislative assembly by a system of proportional representation through single transferrable vote system. Elections are held under Open Ballot system.
Qualification to be a member of Rajya Sabha
- Must be a citizen of India
- Age not less than 30 years
- Does not hold the office of profit under state
- Must be a registered voter in any of the Lok Sabha constituency in the country
Federal Character of the Rajya Sabha
How Rajya Sabha strengthens the federalism in India?
- The very basis of the formation of the Rajya Sabha is to create a representative body for the state at federal level.
- House of state has been given almost as much importance as given to the house of representative/house of people since in all the case of all the bills other than money bill Rajya Sabha is as much powerful as Lok Sabha. Also in the matter of imposing emergencies, House of State is having equal importance as Lok Sabha.
- Rajya Sabha plays equal role in the elections and impeachment of the President.
- Even Article 249 is a federal feature of the Rajya Sabha since under Article 249 only House of State can allow the parliament to take over the legislative power of the state.
- Under Article 312 parliament can create new All India Services, only when asked by the Rajya Sabha reflecting the importance giving to the House of States in the matter of administration of state, reflecting the federal nature of the Rajya Sabha.
Non-federal character of the Rajya Sabha
- States in Rajya Sabha are not represented on the principle of equality of the states rather represented in proportion to the respective population which is unequal across different states. This type of federation is called Asymmetric federation.
- In Rajya Sabha, representation has also been given to non-state entities, i.e., UTs (Delhi and Puducherry) which don not enjoy the constitutional relationship of federation with the centre.
- Membership given to nominated members in Rajya Sabha also weakens the federal character of the Rajya Sabha since these members are appointed by the president (centre).
- Giving less importance to Rajya Sabha in many resolutions than Lok Sabha like money bills, revoking emergency, removing Council of ministers, etc.
Chairman of Rajya Sabha -
- Vice President is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha who presides over the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha.
- He does not cast his vote in the first instance to maintain political neutrality, however in the event of a tie he has the right to exercise casting vote.
Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha -
- Deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha is elected by the house from amongst the members of the Rajya Sabha who presides over the sitting of the house in case chairman is absent.
If chairman and deputy chairman both are absent from the office, then the Rajya Sabha members will choose one of the their members to act as presiding officer.
However if there is a vacancy in both the offices, then the president appoints any member of the Rajya Sabha as presiding officer.
Removal of Chairman (Vice-Chairman) and Deputy Chairman
- Bill of removal is introduced only in the Rajya Sabha though Vice President is elected by the electoral college consisting of both the houses.
- The bill seeking removal of Vice President must be approved by Effective majority.
When the proceeding to remove the chairman (i.e., Vice President) in the Rajya Sabha is on, then the chairman himself can't preside the session (because of the Principle of Natural Justice) nor he can vote since he is not a member of Rajya Sabha.
However, when the proceeding to remove the Deputy Chairman is on, deputy chairman himself can't preside the session however he can vote since he is a member of the Rajya Sabha but the voting can be done only in first instance not in case of a tie.
Special power of Rajya Sabha
- Article 249
- Article 312
- Removal of Vice President under Article 67(b)
Relevance of Rajya Sabha
- In a federal setup, the upper house of federal legislature is a constitutional necessity, through which an institutionalised form of representation can be given to states to protect their interest.
- Rajya Sabha has been created on the basis of principle of equality of houses (i.e., Lok Sabha = Rajya Sabha).
- Rajya Sabha has been created as a second chamber of the legislature but not as secondary (inferior) chamber of the legislature.
- Unlike legislative council of the states, Rajya Sabha can't be abolished thus provides for the continuity in administration.
- However if Lok Sabha enjoys certain powers which are not available to Rajya Sabha, it is because of the democratic compulsions where the members of the Lok Sabha are elected directly by the people and it is also because of the fact that in India we had to create a parliamentary form of government where council of ministers is responsible to Lok Sabha.
- Rajya Sabha has been created also as a revisory/advisory chamber prohibiting Lok Sabha from passing a hasty legislation as been the popular house.
- Importance of Rajya Sabha can be understood from the fact that Lok Sabha generally agrees with the government and it is the Rajya Sabha which expresses a fair and balanced opinion on the policies of the government.
- Rajya Sabha exercises moral control on the government. Sometime this moral control is far more effective tool in controlling Council of minister than that available with the Lok Sabha.
- Rajya Sabha provides opportunity to recruit talent and experts from various field in Council of minister also, through nomination facility and they enrich law making process.
- Rajya Sabha does not allow a vacuum in the legislative working of the union. For example - when if emergency is proclaimed by the president and the Lok Sabha is dissolved then the Rajya Sabha alone can approve it and then the emergency will continue.
HOTs
Is there any reservation for SCs, STs or Women in Rajya Sabha?
- No
Is there any reservation for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha?
- Yes (according to the proportion in population)
Lok Sabha
Maximum Strength of Lok Sabha
- As per the Constitution, it is 552 (530 States, 20 UTs and 2 Nominated)
- At present, it is 545 (530 States, 13 UTs and 2 Nominated) → 104th Constitutional Amendment Act 2019 abolished the provision of reservation of seats for Anglo-Indians in Lok Sabha and State legislative assembly.
Lok Sabha is called the popular house of the parliament because bulk of its members are elected directly by the people from single member territorial constituency.
Special powers of the Lok Sabha
- No confidence motion can be introduced and passed against the Council of ministers only in Lok Sabha.
- Lok Sabha enjoys overriding powers in the passage of money bill since money bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha can't effectively reject it or amend it.
- The resolution asking for the disapproval of continuation of national emergency can be introduced and passed only in Lok Sabha.
- In joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, speaker of the Lok Sabha presides the session.
Speaker of the Lok Sabha - Speaker is elected by the house from amongst the members of the house. Speaker is responsible to Lok Sabha and performs two important functions -
- He presides over the session of the house.
- He is the administrative head of the secretariat attached to the Lok Sabha.
As the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha, Speaker performs the sovereign function of the house and thus he is not answerable to the Court of Law for discharging his duty/functions. However, as administrative head of the Lok Sabha secretariat he is answerable to Court of law.
i.e., Speaker → as presiding officer → can't be questioned in the Court of law
However, the action of the speaker can be questioned in the court of law, court if found irrelevant can nullified its action.
For example - When the Speaker dismissed any MP, then Speaker is not questioned but the ground of dismissal can be considered and if found irrelevant, then the action of the speaker can be nullified.
Also, speaker as administrative head is answerable to the court of law.
The presiding officer of the Lok Sabha does not cast his vote in first instance, but in case of a tie he may cast his vote which is known as Casting.
Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha - In case Speaker is absent from the office, deputy speaker can act as speaker, i.e., presiding officer of the house but if both are absent then the house shall choose one of his member to preside the session.
However if there is a vacancy in both the office then the president shall appoint one of the member of the house to act as presiding officer till the new speaker and deputy speaker is elected.
Removal of Speaker and Deputy speaker
The speaker can be removed form the office by MPs of Lok Sabha by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the house (i.e., Effective majority).
However before such a resolution is taken for voting a 14 days advance notice must be served on speaker. Also the resolution must be supported by a minimum of 15 members of parliament of Lok Sabha before it is accepted for processing in the house.
Same process is for the removal of Deputy Speaker.
Speaker, Deputy speaker when they are being removed from the post can't himself preside the session. However they can vote during their removal but only in the 1st instance and not after a tie since they are also the member of the house.
Special power of the Speaker
It is the speaker who certifies that the bill is a money bill and his decision in this regard is final and binding. For example - Speaker certifies that the Aadhar bill is a money bill.
He presides over the joint sitting of both the house of the parliament. In case he is absent in the joint sitting, the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over the meeting and if both are absent then only the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha (not the Chairman) presides the meeting.
Committees of the parliament are essential committees of the Lok Sabha and they functioned under the control of the speaker, i.e., if chairperson of the parliamentary committee is to be appointed then it is the speaker who does the job but if the speaker himself is a member of the parliamentary committee, then he shall be the ex-officio chairman of that committee.
Who administered the oath to the MPs of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha?
- Constitutionally, it is the President but
- In reality, Pro Tem speaker in case of Lok Sabha and Chairman (i.e., Vice President) in case of Rajya Sabha on behalf of the president.
Special position of the speaker
When Lok Sabha is dissolved all the members of the Lok Sabha ceases to be the member of the house however the speaker continues in his office till the next Lok Sabha is constituted This is because when Lok Sabha is dissolved Lok Sabha as an institution does not come to an end and the speaker continues in his office to represent the Lok Sabha.
Pro Tem Speaker - He is appointed by the president and administered oath by the president. He is generally the senior most member of the newly elected Lok Sabha in terms of number of years served as members of Lok Sabha.
He has two important functions -
- He conducts the oath of the office to the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha (on behalf of the president).
- Thereafter, he presides over the election of the speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Deputy Speaker election is presided by the Speaker.
Speaker and Deputy speaker do not take oath as speaker and deputy speaker.
Resignation - Speaker of the Lok Sabha hands over his resignation letter to the deputy speaker and the deputy speaker hands over his resignation to the speaker.
But in case of Rajya Sabha, Chairman (who is the Vice President) hands his resignation letter to the President. The deputy chairman hands over his resignation to the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Who administered the oath of Speaker and Deputy Speaker?
- None, as they do not take oath as the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.
Previous Article - Emergency
Next Article - Disqualification of MPs
Notes on other subjects
Optional Subject
Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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