State Legislature

State Legislature

(State Legislative Assembly and State Legislative Council) 

Constitution of India does not provide for a uniform bicameral legislature for all the states.

Only 6 states have got bi-cameral legislature and the rest got unicameral legislature where the upper house (i.e., State Legislative Council) is absent.

The 6 State which have bicameral legislature are -

1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Bihar
3. Telangana
4. Uttar Pradesh
5. Maharashtra
6. Karnataka

State Legislative Council 

• It is the upper house of the state legislature.
• It does not enjoy equal power as that of the State Legislative Assembly.
• It is also known as the Second house or Second Chamber of the State legislature.
• Strength -
• Maximum Strength - One-third of State Legislative Assembly
• Minimum Strength - 40

The upper house in the state legislature has not been conceded on the principle of equality of houses unlike the parliement.

State legislative council has been created in the state not as the second chamber but as a secondary chamber of the state legislature.

The very existence of the state legislative council depends upon the will of the State legislative assembly.

Article 169 - It is the parliament that creates or abolishes the upper house of the state legislature.

However parliament can pass such a law (by simple majority) only upon a resolution is passed by the assembly of the state supported by a majority of not less than two-third of the members present and voting and the majority of the total strength of the house (i.e., Special majority).

If the assembly passes the resolution to disaffect (create or abolish) the resolution, then the parliament may or not act upon the resolution, i.e., the parliament is not bound to State legislative assembly.

Note - This change is not considered as a Constitutional Amendment under Article 368.

The council of the state can't effectively reject or amend any bill passed by the state assembly by the virtue of its own legislative powers, i.e., assembly has overriding legislative power to the council.

Relevance of the upper house in the State Legislature 

1. It acts as a revising chamber given important inputs in the law making the process in the state assembly as well as prevents the government from getting a bill passed in haste through the assembly.
2. State legislative council also provides opportunity for recruiting experts and talents who not only enrich in the law making process but also help in making the council of ministers efficient.
3. Council also provides an opportunity to give a platform to some sections of population which otherwise failed to get representation in the assembly.

Under the constitution of India, the strength of the council shall not exceed the one-third of the total strength of the state legislative assembly and shall not be less than 40 members and it is decided by the parliament while creating the State legislative council.

Composition of the State legislative council 

• One-third → elected by the members of local bodies (PRI & Municipalities)
• One-third → elected by the MLAs of the state
• One-twelfth → elected by the teachers of the state (not below the secondary grade)
• One-twelfth → elected by the graduates of the state
• One-sixth → nominated by the Governor

The membership of the council is picked up in the following ways -

1. About 1/3rd of the members of the council shall be elected by the members of local bodies, i.e., PRI and Municipalities as parliament may specify.
2. About 1/3rd of the members shall be elected by the members of the legislative assembly from amongst the person who are not themselves the members of the Sate legislative assembly.
3. About 1/12th of the members shall be elected by the graduates of at least 3 years standing who are ordinarily the resident of the at state.
4. About 112th of the member shall be elected by the teachers who are not lower in rank than the secondary grade teacher and ordinarily the resident of the state.
5. Rest of the members of the council are nominated by the governor from amongst the person having special knowledge or expertise in the field of Art, Science, Literature, Social Service and Cooperative movement.

Note - Ground for nomination in Rajya Sabha → expertise in Art, Science, Literature and Social service (no Corporative movement)

Difference between Bill, Motion and Resolution 

• Bill → proposed law → if passed, it becomes an Act.
• Motion → an act of parliament/state assembly other than law making 
• For example - No confidence motion, Confidence motion, Motion for the impeachment of the president, Motion for the removal of the judge of Supreme Court, etc.
• Resolution → it expresses the intention of the house
• For example - to impeach the president, a resolution approved by the one-forth of the members of the house is introduced → then after introduction it becomes a motion.

i.e., Bill is an legislative tool, Motion is a Non-legislative tool and the Resolution shows the intention of the house.

State Legislative Assembly

Composition of the State Legislative Assembly

The strength of the assembly can't be less than 60 and more than 500. But the president can provide sanction for having an assembly in the state with less than 60 members.

For example - Goa (40 members), Mizoram (40 members) and Sikkim (32 members)

Governor can nominate not more than 1 member of Anglo-Indian in the assembly if the community is not adequately represented in the assembly (this provision is removed by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act 2019)

Rest of the members of the assembly are elected directly from the single member territorial constituency.

HOTs 

In State Assembly, is there any scope of Joint Sitting?

• No (as effectively there is no deadlock)

Legislative procedure in the state

 

Money bills and financial bills in the state can introduced in the State Legislative Assembly only.

Ordinary bill can be introduced in either of the houses of the legislature.

If an ordinary bill is introduced and passed by the council then it is transmitted to the assembly. If the assembly passes it, then it is sent to the governor for his action but if the assembly rejects it, then the bill came to an end.

Money bill is passed in the state in the same way as it is passed in the parliament.

In case of the ordinary and financial bill introduced in the assembly and passed by the assembly, then it is transmitted to the council which has the following options -

1. Council may also pass the bill and the bill then sent to the governor for his action.
2. Council may reject the bill.
3. Council may not act upon the bill for a period of 3 months after receiving the bill.
4. The council may suggest some amendment in the bill.

In the above 2 cases (2 and 3), the bill will come back to the assembly and if the assembly passes it again, then the bill will be re-transmitted to the council and now the council must pass the bill within 1 months.

In case no. 4 when the council suggest some amendment in the bill, then the bill comes back to the assembly. If the assembly accepted the amendment then the bill is deemed to have been passed by both the houses and sent to the governor for his action.

        But if the assembly rejects the suggestion and passed the bill again in the original form then it is re-transmitted to the council and now the council has to approve the bill within 1 month.

Difference between State Legislature and Parliament 

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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. 

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