Parliamentary Sessions Of Indian Parliament
Introduction
For parliamentary proceedings during a legislative session, the Indian Parliament's two houses have separate mechanisms. These methods are used to compel lawmakers to abide by the regulations of their separate chambers.
Parliamentary Sessions: Summoning
The President may ask both Houses of Parliament to convene whenever and wherever he considers suitable, as long as no more than six months pass between the final session's sitting and the first session's. Consequently, the Parliament must convene at least twice a year. There are often three sessions per year, including:
• The Budget Session (February to May).
• The Monsoon Season (July to September).
• The winter session (November–December).
Adjournment of Parliamentary Sessions
• A legislative session is made up of numerous meetings, with two sittings held each day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• There are several ways to adjourn or adjourn sine die, prorogue, or dissolve a Parliamentary session (in the case of the Lok Sabha). When a session is adjourned, the work is suspended for a certain period of time, which could be hours, days, or weeks.
Adjournment Sine Die: Session of Parliament
• It involves putting an end to a Parliamentary session indefinitely. When the House adjourns without announcing a date for reconvening, this is known as an adjournment sine die.
• A House sitting can be called before the day or time to which it has been postponed or at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die. The presiding officer of the House has the right to adjourn as well as adjourn sine die.
Prorogation of Parliamentary Sessions
• When the agenda for a session is finished, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha proclaims the House adjourned sine die.
• The prorogation of the session is then announced by the President within a few days.
• The President is able to prorogue the House while it is in session.
Differences between Adjournment and Prorogation
|
Adjournment |
Prorogation |
|
It only ends a sitting, not an entire House session. |
It not only ends a sitting, but also ends a House session. |
|
The presiding officer of the House is in charge of this. |
It is carried out by the President of India. |
|
It has no bearing on the bills or any other work before the House, and it can be resumed when the House reconvenes. |
It also has no bearing on any bills or other matters currently before the House. However, on prorogation, all current notices (save those for proposing bills) expire, and new notices must be issued for the next session. |
Dissolution of Parliamentary Sessions
• A dissolution, as opposed to a prorogation, ends the tenure of the current House and results in the formation of a new House following the holding of general elections.
• Rajya Sabha cannot be dissolved because it is a perpetual House. Therefore, only the Lok Sabha can be dissolved.
• The Lok Sabha may be dissolved in one of two ways, including when its five-year term expires or when its terms are automatically dissolved because of a national emergency.
• Whenever the President, who has the authority to do so, decides to dissolve the House.
• If the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the end of its regular term, the dissolution is final.
• All work pending before the Lok Sabha or its committees, such as bills, motions, resolutions, notices, petitions, and so on, dies when the Lok Sabha is dissolved. They need to be introduced again in the recently constituted Lok Sabha.
• When the Lok Sabha is dissolved, some unfinished bills and any unfinished assurances that the Committee on Government Assurances needs to consider remain in effect.
The following criteria apply to bills expiring:
• Any bill that is pending in the Lok Sabha and was either introduced there or forwarded there by the Rajya Sabha expires.
• A measure that is in the Rajya Sabha but was passed by the Lok Sabha expires.
• A law does not expire if the President has announced the holding of a joint session before the dissolution of Lok Sabha and the two Houses could not agree on it.
• A measure that has been introduced but not yet passed by the Lok Sabha does not expire.
• The president must give his approval before a bill that has been approved by both Houses expires.
• A law that has been approved by both Houses but has been sent back by the president for a second reading does not expire.
Quorum
• The term "quorum" describes the minimum number of members required for the House to take any action.
• It represents a tenth of all members in each House, including the presiding officer.
• There must be at least 25 members in the Rajya Sabha and 55 members in the Lok Sabha present for any business to be conducted.
• If there is not a quorum present when the House meets, the presiding officer has the duty to adjourn the meeting or suspend it.
Voting In The House: Parliamentary Sessions
• At any session of either House or during a joint session of both Houses, all questions are decided by a majority of votes cast by the members in attendance and voting, excluding the presiding officer.
• Some issues that are particularly listed in the Constitution, such as the dismissal of the Parliament's presiding officers, revision of the Constitution, and the impeachment of the President, require a special majority rather than the usual majority.
• The head of the House does not cast a vote in the first round but uses a casting vote if there is a tie in the number of votes.
Language Used In The Parliament
• The Indian Constitution specifies Hindi and English as the official languages for conducting business in Parliament.
• A member may, however, address the House in his or her native tongue with the presiding officer's approval.
Lame-Duck Session
• Lame-duck session refers to the final meeting of the current Lok Sabha before a new Lok Sabha is elected.
• Lame-ducks are current Lok Sabha members who did not succeed in winning re-election to the subsequent Lok Sabha.
Conclusion
The most crucial element of India's legislative system, the largest democracy in the world are the Parliamentary Sessions. The various tools used in legislative processes let legislators create, alter, and correct legislation in an effective way. It is important to give credit to the Constitution's authors for creating such a well-organized system of parliamentary proceedings.