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UNION LEGISLATURE 2-Legislative procedure By: ATRISHEKHAR - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Challenges in our Parliamentary system
        
        Inadequate representation of women.
        
        Declining number of sittings of legislatures
        
        Issues with the functioning of parliament
        
        Reduced working hours
        of Parliament
        
        Frequent Adjournment
        of Parliament sessions
        
        Poor Checking System- bills passed without any scrutiny
        
        Delay in policy making
        
        No private member bill has been passed since 1970
        
        Un-parliamentary behaviour
        
        Absence of MPs
        
        Poor image in world media
        
        Measures to improve its efficiency.
        
        Proper training for members of parliament in conducting the business of the house.
        
        A minimum of 120 days of the meeting of both houses must be mandated through legislation.
        
        Empowering the Presiding Officers of the House
        with additional powers to punish unruly members.
        
        Enforcing a code of conduct and code of ethics for
        members of the house
        
        Making political parties more responsible for
        their conduct inside the Parliament.
        
        Setting up coordination committees with
        members from ruling party and opposition for smooth conduct of the House.
        
        Salaries and privileges of legislators must be
        linked to their performance. Penalizing the members including the imposition of fines,
        suspension from session etc. for unruly members.
        
        While introducing reforms in Parliament, it is all
        the more important that the reforms should cover the political parties and government
        
        Party affiliation of the Speaker makes him/her
        dependent on the party leadership for re-election prospects
        
        Parliamentary privileges under Article 105, are sometimes used to curb freedom of the press through Strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP).
        
        Insufficient time and research support to examine
        Bills.
        
        Frequent bypassing of committees
        
        High degree of absenteeism
        
        Persistent disruptions
        
        Growing number of legislatures with criminal
      - It was the brainchild of the speaker during the times of UPA-1, Somnath Chatterjee.
      - He found that the kind of contribution the MPs were making to Parliamentary debates were totally ill informed and innocent of technicalities. The MPs were not able to understand the complexity of these issues.
      - Parliamentary Forums as a platform for MPs to call for
        interaction with experts from concerned departments or domain experts from outside to enhance their knowledge.
      - to sensitize MPs about the latest information on these aspects
      - • Each Parliamentary Forum consists of 31 members (2 1 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha).
      - • A member can remain a member of the Parliamentary forum for a period of 5 years or resign anytime.
      - • Presently there are around eight such forums:
        
        Forum on Children
        
        Forum on Youth
        
        Fo rum on Disaster
        Management
        
        Forum on Water
        Conservation
        
        Forum on SDG
        
        Forum on
        Population and Public Health
        
        Forum on Global
        Wa rming and Climate Cha nge
        
        Forum on Artisans
        and C rafts-peo ple
        
        • Except, the Parliamentary Forum on Population and Public Health which is presided by the chairperson of Rajya Sabha, all other forums are presided by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
  - - - o Parliament with 245 members in one house and 543 members in the other makes it for elaborate discussions on an issue.
      - o As committees are smaller bodies, they can deliberate better. Eg. Public Accounts Committee has 22 members; some other committees have as less as 15 members.
    - - o It can invite domain experts from outside while preparing reports.
    - - o They can provide a platform for people's participation.
      - o It can involve the people and stakeholders who will be directly impacted by the policy.
      - o It can include the leaders of interest groups, pressure groups, industrial lobbies, civil society, etc.
    - - o In the last 10 years on an average, effective sittings in a year have drastically come down to just 67 days.
      - o Whereas Parliamentary committees function throughout the year and are not subjected to Parliamentary sittings.
    - - o Parliamentary committees have proportional representation from almost all political parties.
      - o It provides a better forum to build consensus.
      - o Parliamentary committee meetings are not telecast live hence there is less chance of debate on political lines.
    - - Inadequacy of expert assistance:
      - Floating membership:
      - Background of members is not considered while appointing them to a committee:
      - MPs have started to move along party lines in the committees
      - Bills not being referred to DPSC
  - - - Rules of the House:
        
        They make provisions for certain types of committees like Departmentally Related Standing Committees, Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee, etc.
      - Constitution:
        
        Article 344 - It provides for setting up from time to time an Official Language Commission. Whenever the report of this commission is submitted, a joint committee is constituted to examine the report of the Official Language Commission and further to report their opinion to the President.
        
        This committee shall have 30 members, of whom 20 would be from Lok Sabha and 10 members from Rajya Sabha.They would be elected by their respective houses, based on proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote
      - Laws
        
        The Salary & Allowances of Parliament Act, 1954 itself creates a Joint committee on salary and allowances of MPs (having 10 members from Lok Sabha and 5 from Rajya Sabha).
      - • Adoption of motion or resolution:
        
        o Usually Ad-hoc committees are set up through motions or resolutions.
      - • Inherent powers of the presiding officer:
        
        o The presiding officer can set up a temporary committee to deal with a specific issue.
      - • Communication between presiding officers of the two houses:
        
        o A joint committee can be set up through this mechanism.
    - - These are the committees which are permanent in nature. They are further categorized under different
        headings as follows:
        
        Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DPSC):
        
        Committee on Private Member Bills/Resolutions:
        
        Committee on Absence of Members:
        
        Housekeeping Committees:
        
        Committees to scrutinize:
        
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        o House Committee
        
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        o Library Committee
        
        o Present only in Lok Sabha.
        
        o It scrutinizes the cases of those MPs which have been absent for 60 days without the permission of the House. It also considers applications of MPs for leave of absence.
        
        o In the Rajya Sabha, as there is no such committee, the issue of absence of members is dealt with by the House collectively.
        
        In the Rajya Sabha this matter comes under the Business Advisory Committee of Rajya Sabha.
        
        Present only in Lok Sabha.
        
        Financial Committees:
        
        o Public Accounts Committee
        
        o Estimates Committee
        
        o Committee on Public Undertakings
        
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        • It is entirely the committee of the Lok Sabha.
        
        • It has 30 members and all of them are drawn from the Lok Sabha.
        
        • They are subject to election every year. Election is based on the principle of proportional
        
        representation by means of a single transferable vote.
        
        • Estimates Committee is also referred to as "The twin sister of Public Accounts Committee"
        
        Functions of Estimates Committee:
        
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        • It was created forthe firsttime in 1921. In the earlier times, it was headed by the Finance Minister.
        
        • Since its reconstitution after the Constitution of India came into force, a minister cannot be its member or a chairperson.
        
        • Since 1967, following the British convention, a member of the Opposition has been the chairperson of the PAC.
        
        • It is subject to annual election based on proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
        
        • It has 22 members - 15 from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha. PAC would still function if the Rajya
        
        Sabha fails to send 7 members. Hence, it can be said that PAC is a committee of the Lok Sabha.
        
        Functions of the PAC:
        
        o To scrutinize the report of the CAG, to ensure that the money spent was available and applied to the purpose for which it was intended.
        
        o To ensure that the re-appropriation has been done in accordance with the rules.
        
        o It also scrutinizes the excess demands.
        
        o It also establishes whether the expenditure conforms to the authority that governs it. It checks whether the sanction given to spend the money was given by the authority which has the power to do so.
        
        o It has the power to enforce the production of documents, records, reports from the concerned Ministry.
        
        o It can also call for interrogation of the civil servants in the government.
        
        Advantages of having a PAC:
        
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        As the CAG assists the PAC, he is often called the 'friend, philosopher and guide' of the PAC
        
        There are 24 DPSCs in total
        
        • Departmental committees also exercise some financial control as the budgetary estimates of the concerned ministries in the third stage of the budgetary enactment are sent to these departmental standing committees.
        
        • They were started in India in the year 1993 under the Narsimha Rao government. In those days, there were 17 DPSC with each consisting of 45 members (30 from Lok Sabha and 15 from Rajya Sabha).
        
        • Presently there are 24 DPSCs with each consisting of 31 members (21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha).
        
        • The members are nominated for a period of one year and there is no provision for election like other financial committees.
        
        • Of these 24 committees, 16 are under the administrative control of the Speaker of Lok Sabha and 8 are under the administrative control of the Chairperson of Rajya Sabha.
        
        Functions of DPSCs:
        
        o They consider the budgetary estimates of various ministries.
        
        o They also consider bills of concerned ministries.
        
        o They scrutinize the annual reports of concerned ministries.
        
        o They also consider a long term policy document of the concerned ministry. For E.g. National Health Policy.
        
        o A unique provision with respect to DPSCs is that the minister concerned has to present a 6 monthly statement to the house in terms of to what extent the recommendations made by the concerned DPSC have actually been implemented.
        
        PROBLEMS IN FUNCTIONING OF PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES
        
        Parliamentary Committees Gradual Marginalization
        
        Scrutiny By The Legislature Has Weakened
        
        Absence Of The Deputy Speaker Of Lok Sabha
        
        Parliamentary Sessions are Getting Shorter, a New Trend
        
        According to PRS Legislative Research, the percentage of bills referred to Departmentally Related Standing Committees (DRSCs) has decreased from 71 percent in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14) to 27 percent in the 16th Lok Sabha, and only 11 percent in the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-present).
        
        During the course of the 17th Lok Sabha, only 14 Bills have been referred for further examination so far.
    - - Nomination: In the majority of the committees, members are appointed through nomination by the Presiding officer, after consultation with the Leader of the House and the Leader of Opposition.They are appointed on the basis of proportional representation.
      - Election: There are few committees which are subject to annual elections like the Estimates Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Committee on Public Undertakings, committee to examine reports of Official Language Commission, Committee on Welfare of SC/STs.
      - : Ministers generally are not allowed to be members of committees as it would give rise to conflict of interest because the committees are responsible for scrutinizing the conduct of the government.
        
        Ministers cannot be members of financial committees, department related standing committees, Committee on Petitions, Committee on Subordinate Legislations, Committee on welfare of SC/STs, Committee on Empowerment of Women, Committee on Government Assurances, etc.
    - - • They can be set up occasionally.
        
        • For e.g. the Railway Convention Committee is a joint ad-hoc committee of the two houses, it examines aspects of Railway Ministry's finances or ad-hoc committee on MPLADS scheme, under which Rs.5 crores are given to each MP to carry out local constituency developmental work.
      - • Certain Ad-hoc committees have also been set up to investigate specific corruption allegations or scams in the country.
        
        For e.g. Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe on the Bofors Scandal set up in 1987, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Harshad Mehta scam set up in 1992, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Ketan Parekh Scam in 2001, Joint Parliamentary Committee on pesticides in Colas set up in 2004.
      - • In 20 11 JPC on 2G scam, in 2013 JPC on Augusta Westland helicopter purchase scam.
- - - - Introduction of bill
        
        ‘Either’ house of Parliament
        
        By a ‘Minister’ or ‘any other member’
        
        First Reading
        
        Bill Published in the ‘official gazette’
        
        No discussion takes place at this
        
        Second Reading
        
        Committee Stage, Consideration
        
        General Discussions takes place
        
        Third Reading
        
        Final Acceptance or Rejection (voting)
        
        After being passe in the 1st house
        
        2nd House
        
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    - - Financial bills are those bills that deal with fiscal
        matters, that is, revenue or expenditure.
        
        Money bills — Article 110
        
        exclusively deals with any or all of the following matters
        
        o the ‘imposition’, ‘abolition’, ‘remission’, alteration’ or ‘regulation’ of any tax
        
        o the regulation of borrowing of money by the Government;
        
        o the custody of the ‘Consolidated Fund’ or the ‘Contingency Fund’ of India
        
        o the appropriation of money out of the ‘Consolidated Fund of India’;
        
        o the declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the ‘Consolidated Fund of India’ or the increasing of the amount
        of any such expenditure
        
        the receipt of money on account of the ‘Consolidated fund of India’ or ‘Public account of India’ or the ‘custody’ or ‘issues’ of such money or audit of accounts of Union or States.
        
        Any matter incidental to any of the matter
        specified above.
        
        Whether a Bill is a ‘money
        Bill’ or not, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok
        
        His decision in this respect cannot be questioned
        in a Court of law, or by either House of Parliament
        
        Introduction:
        
        A Money Bill cannot be introduced in the Rajya Sabha (Article 109).
        
        This means it can be introduced only in the ‘Lok Sabha’.
        
        It cannot be introduced without the ‘recommendation of the President’.
        
        After it is passed by the Lok Sabha, it is transmitted
        to the Rajya Sabha with the endorsement of the After it is passed by the Lok Sabha, it is transmitted
        to the Rajya Sabha with the endorsement of the
        
        Role of Rajya Sabha:
        
        The Rajya Sabha cannot ‘reject’ or ‘amend’ a Money Bill by virtue of its own powers.
        
        Has only a ‘recommendatory’ role to play in the passing of a Money Bill.
        
        After receiving a Money Bill from the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha within a period of 14 days must return the Bill to the Lok Sabha with or without any recommendations.
        
        The Lok Sabha ‘may’ or ‘may not’ accept any or all the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha.
        
        Role of President:
        
        After a Money Bill is passed by Parliament, with
        the endorsement of the Speaker that it is a Money Bill, it is presented to the President for his assent.
        
        Bill,The President cannot send back a Money Bill for the reconsideration of Parliament; he shall give his assent to the money bill.
        
        Financial bills (I) — Article 117 (1)
        
        A bill that contains matters of Articles 110 + other
        matters of general legislation
        
        It can be introduced in ‘Lok Sabha’ with ‘prior
        recommendation’ of President
        
        A bill that contains a borrowing clause, but does
        not exclusively deal with borrowing
        
        In two respects, a financial bill (I) is similar to a
        money bill:
        
        both of them can be introduced only in the
        ‘Lok Sabha’ and not in the ‘Rajya Sabha’, and
        
        both of them can be introduced only on the
        recommendation of the president.
        
        In all other respects, a financial bill (I) is governed
        by the same legislative procedure applicable to an ordinary bill.
        
        Hence, it can be either ‘rejected’ or ‘amended’ by
        the Rajya Sabha
        
        Except that an amendment other than for
        reduction or abolition of a tax cannot be moved in either House without the ‘recommendation of the President’
        
        In case of a disagreement between the 2 Houses
        over such a bill, the president can summon a joint sitting of the 2 houses to resolve the deadlock.
        
        Financial bills (II) — Article 117 (3)
        
        It doesn’t include any matters mentioned under
        article 110
        
        contains the provision involving expenditure from
        ‘consolidation fund of India
        
        it is governed by the same legislative procedure
        which is applicable to an ordinary bill
        
        Financial bill (II) can be introduced in either House
        of Parliament and the recommendation of the Financial bill (II) can be introduced in either House
        of Parliament and the recommendation of the
        
        It can be either ‘rejected’ or ‘amended’ by either
        House of Parliament.
        
        It can be either ‘rejected’ or ‘amended’ by either
        House of Parliament.sitting of the two Houses to resolve the deadlock.
        
        All ‘money bills’ are ‘financial bills’ but all ‘financial bills’ are not ‘money bills’.
        
        Only those financial bills are ‘money bills’ that
        contain exclusively those matters which are mentioned in Article 110 of the Constitution.
        
        These are also certified by the Speaker of Lok
        Sabha as money bills
      - Constitutional Amendment Bill
        
        A Constitutional Amendment Bill is a bill that seeks to change one or more provisions of the Constitution.
        
        Article 368 explains that, Parliament under Article 368 can alter any aspect of the Constitution including the Fundamental Rights but without compromising the 'basic structure' of the Constitution".
        
        Article 368 of Part XX of the Indian Constitution allows for two sorts of amendments.
        
        By a special majority of Parliament
        
        By a special majority of the Parliament with the ratification by half of the total states
        
        Unlike a money bill or a financial bill, it does not require the President's prior recommendation.
        
        It can be presented in either House and would require a special majority in each to pass.
        
        There can be a deadlock, but there can't be a joint sitting to resolve it.
        
        The bill must be signed by thepresident. He cannot withhold his assent to the law or return it to Parliament for reconsideration.
        
        The bill becomes an Act (i.e., a constitutional amendment act) after the president's assent, and the Constitution is altered in line with the text of the Act.
        
        If a constitutional amendment bill relates with the division of powers between the Centre and the States, it must be ratified by at least half of the states.
        
        The 24th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1971 established that the president would grant his consent to our Constitutional Amendment Bill after it had been duly enacted by the Houses.