Composition of Parliament :

 Though the origin of the concept of Parliament traces to European

nations since medieval ages, it has been an indispensable part of
the Indian democratic structure since the inception of democracy in
India.
 The Parliament of India (IAST: Bhāratīya Sansad) is the
supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It occupies a pre-eminent and
central position in the Indian democratic political system due to the adoption of
the Parliamentary form of Government (‘Westminster’ model of government).

 Frame of Reference for Parliament: The framers of the Indian Constitution relied
on the British pattern for Parliament rather than the American pattern.

 Constitutional Provisions: Articles 79 to 122 in Part V of the Constitution deal

with the organisation, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges and
powers of the Parliament .
 Legislature of the Union, which is called Parliament, is
a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses:
the upper house is designated as Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and
the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The two Houses respectively function
to preserve the integrity of the units and to secure the integration of the
Union. All these three organs are essential to the process of legislation by
parliament
 First Parliament: The first general elections under the new Constitution of India
were held during the year 1951-52 and the first elected Parliament came into
existence in April, 1952.

President of India[edit]
The president of India, the head of state, is a constituent part of Parliament. Under Article
60 and Article 111 of the constitution, the president's responsibility is to ensure that laws passed
by the Parliament are in accordance with the constitutional mandate and that the stipulated
procedure is followed before indicating approval to the bills. The president of India is elected by
the elected members of the Parliament of India and the state legislatures and serves for a term of
five years.
Despite the fact that the President of India is not a member of either House of
Parliament and does not attend its meetings, he is an important part of it. This is
because without the President's assent, a bill enacted by both Houses of Parliament
cannot become law. He also fulfils various tasks related to Parliamentary processes,
including as summoning and proroguing both Houses, dissolving the Lok Sabha,
addressing both Houses, and issuing ordinances when they are not in session,
among other things..

The two houses of parliamentary India differ from each other in many
respects. They are constituted on entire different principles and from a
functional point of view they do not enjoy coequal status

Composition of Lok Sabha

It is the popular chamber call the Democratic Chamber electric directly

by the people

 The provisions of Article 79 of the Indian Constitution provides for the

existence of the house of the people.

 Tenure:
Lok Sabha: The normal term of Lok Sabha is five years. But the
President, on the advice of the Council of Ministers, may dissolve it
before the expiry of five years.
In the case of national emergency, its term can be extended for one
 year at a time. But it will not exceed six months after the emergency
is over.
 Composition:
MEMBERS:
Article 81 states its composition.
The Lok Sabha's maximum strength is set at 552 .
The current strength of Lok Sabha is 543, out of which 530
members represent the states and 13 represent the UTs.

 State Representation: According to art. 81(1)(a), there shall be not more than
530 members representing the territorial constituencies in the States. Each
state is divided into 10 to the constituencies in such a manner that the ratio
between the population of a constituency and the number of seats allotted to
it so far as practicable is the same throughout the state. For the re
adjustment in allocation of the seats, to be made after each census the
parliament has enacted the delimitation commission Act 2002. State members
in the Lok Sabha are directly chosen by the people from the states' territorial
seats. According to art. 326, The election is based on the universal adult
franchise premise and first-past-the-post system. Every Indian citizen over the
age of 18 who is not disqualified by the rules of the Constitution or any
legislation is eligible to vote in such an election.

 Union Territory Representation: According to art, 81(1)(b),there shall be not

more than 20 members representing the union territories The Constitution
empowers Parliament to specify the manner .i.e. provide for a law for electing
union territory MPs to the Lok Sabha. As a result, the Union Territories (Direct
Election to the House of the People) Act, 1965, was adopted, allowing
members of the Lok Sabha from the union territories to be elected .

This composition is subject to the provisions of art. 331 which states that :

 Nominated Members: The president may nominate ,not more than two
members of Anglo Indian community to the House of the people if he’s of the
opinion that this community this community is not adequately represented in
this house. This clause was supposed to last until 1960, but the 95th
Amendment Act of 2009 extended it until 2020.

Some seats are also reserved in Lok Sabha for the Scheduled Caste and
Scheduled tribes communities .

OFFICERS OF THE PALIAMENT:

 Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha

Art. 93 provides for it. To preside over sessions of the house, the Speaker
and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha is elected among the sitting members
of the house. He/she is generally elected in the first meeting of the Lok
Sabha and serves a tenure of 5 years along with that particular Lok Sabha.
And as normally practiced, the Speaker is a member of the ruling party or
alliance.

Composition of Rajya Sabha

It is the Upper House (Second Chamber or House of Elders) and

it represents the states and union territories of the Indian Union.

 Tenure:

Rajya Sabha: Every member of Rajya Sabha enjoys a safe tenure of six
years.
One-third of its members retire after every two years. They are entitled to
contest again for the membership.The Rajya Sabha is called
the permanent House of the Parliament as it is never fully dissolved.
 Composition:
MEMBERS:
Article 80 of the constitution deals with the composition of Rajya Sabha.
The provisions of Article 79 of the Indian Constitution provides for the
existence of the Council of States.

Clause 1 provides that the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha

is 250 ( out of which 238 members are representatives of the states & UTs
(elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated by the President).

Current strength of the house is 245, 229 members

represent the states, 4 members represent the UTs and 12 are
nominated by the president.
.
 The IV Schedule of the Indian Constitution deals with the allocation
of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the states and UTs. . As a result, the
number of representatives varies each state. Uttar Pradesh, for example, has
31 members, whilst Tripura only has one.

Kuldeep Nayyar vs. union of India :

the word representative simply means a person choosing by the people

or by the elected members of the legislative assembly to represent
their several interests in one of the houses of parliament .in order to
be eligible to be elected to the Council of states. a person need not be
a representative of the state beforehand not an elector or a voter
register nor a resident in the state itself .It is only when he is elected
to represent the state that he becomes a representative of the state

 State Representation in the Rajya Sa bha: State representatives in the Rajya

Sabha are elected by state legislative assemblies. According to 80(4),the
election shall be held according to the proportional representation system,
with a single transferable vote.
 Union Territory Representation in the Rajya Sabha: Members of an electoral
college particularly established for the purpose elect the representatives of
each union territory in the Rajya Sabha in an indirect election. According tp
art. 80(5), the Constitution empowers Parliament to specify the manner .i.e.
provide for a law for electing the members as UT do not have legislatures of
their own. This election is also being held under a proportional
representation system with a single transferable vote.
Only three UTs (Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu & Kashmir) have
representation in Rajya Sabha (others don’t have enough population).

 Nomination by President : According to art. 80(3), Members of the Rajya

Sabha who have special knowledge or practical experience in art, literature,
science, or social service are nominated by the president. In making
nominations to Rajya Sabha ,the president acts on the advice of the Council
of Ministers .further, the courts do not interfere with the presidential power to
make nominations. The rationale behind this nomination principle is to
provide distinguished people a seat in the Rajya Sabha without having to go
 through the electoral process. It's worth noting that there are no nominated
members of the American Senate.

 Common provision:

Article 84 of the Indian Constitution provides for the qualification to become

a member of Parliament, i.e. one must have the nationality of India, doesn’t
holds any office of profit and must have completed 30 years of age.

Article 102 of the Indian Constitution provides for conditions on which one
can be disqualified from either of the houses. It says that one must be
disqualified as a member of the house if,

 he/she holds any office of profit;

 he/she is of unsound mind;
 he/she is discharged insolvent;
 he/she is not a citizen of India and has voluntarily accepted the
nationality of other nations;
 he/she is disqualified under any law made by the Parliament.

Art. 98 provides for each house of the parliament to have a separate

secretarial staff.

OFFICERS OF PARLIAMENT:

Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha

Art. 89 provides that in Rajya Sabha, the Vice-President of India presides of

its sessions and is ex-officio chairperson of the house.

However, to take care of its day-to-day affairs, and to preside over the
sessions in the absence of the Chairperson, i.e. the Vice-President, a member
of the house itself is chosen internally by the Rajya Sabha as Deputy
Chairperson of the house.

The utility of the Rajya Sabha

The utility of the Rajya Sabha can be understood by this hypothetical
situation. Suppose, after general elections, a single political party comes to a
thumping majority in the lower house.

Now, having this majority, they can pass any bills or piece of legislation even
if the same is not fruitful to the people and democracy unless there is a
system of check.So, this second house serves as a safety valve and a system
of check regarding all the functions of the lower house.

Leader Of The House

The prime minister, if he is a member of the Lok Sabha, or a minister who is a

member of the Lok Sabha and is nominated by the prime minister to serve as the
Leader of the House, is the 'Leader of the House,' according to the Lok Sabha Rules.
In the Rajya Sabha, there is also a 'Leader of the House.' He is a minister and a
member of the Rajya Sabha, and the prime minister has nominated him to serve in
that capacity. In either House, the leader of the house is a key functionary who has
direct control over how business is conducted. He also has the power to appoint a
House deputy leader. In the United States, the same official is known as the'majority
leader.'

Leader of The Opposition

There is a 'Leader of the Opposition' in each House of Parliament. The leader

of the largest Opposition party with at least one-tenth of the total number of
seats in the House is recognised as the Opposition Leader in that House. The
leader of the opposition has a key role to play in a parliamentary form of
governance. His main responsibilities are to provide constructive critique of
the government's policies and to offer an alternative government. As a result,
in 1977, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha
received formal status. They are also entitled to the same pay, allowances,
and other benefits as cabinet ministers. For the first time, a formal head of
the opposition was recognised in 1969. In the United States, the same
functionary is known as the 'minorityleader.'.

Whip
the office of 'whip,' on the other hand, is not mentioned in the Indian Constitution, the
House Rules, or any Parliamentary Statute. It is based on the parliamentary government's
conventions. In Parliament, each political party, whether ruling or opposition, has its own
whip. The political party has appointed him as a deputy floor leader. He is in charge of
ensuring that a big number of his party's members attend meetings and winning their
support for or against a certain subject. He supervises and governs their behaviour in the
House of Commons. The members are expected to follow the whip's instructions.
Disciplinary action may be imposed if this does not occur.

DURATION OF PARLIAMENT:
Duration of Lok Sabha – In normal times
and in times of emergency
 according to article 83 the House of the people, unless sooner. dissolved shall continue
for the duration of five years. The date of its first meeting marks the beginning of 5 years.
This is followed by the procedure of general elections and the ending with an automatic
dissolution.

 The Lok Sabha can, however, be dissolved anytime by the president. . But the President,
on the advice of the Council of Ministers, may dissolve it before the expiry of five years. The
president has the authority to do this even before the end of the 5-year term. This
process cannot be challenged in court.

 If there is any case where proclamation of emergencies in operation, a law of Parliament

can extend the Lok Sabha term one year at a time for any length of time.

 this extension cannot last longer than six months after the proclamation has ceased to
operate

 One such example of the dissolution of Lok Sabha before the end of its term was in
1999. It was the 12th Lok Sabha that got elected in 1998 and was dissolved in 1999.

What is the Dissolution of Lok Sabha?

 Although the duration of Lok Sabha is five years, it can be dissolved earlier also.

 The Lower House or the Lok Sabha is dissolved after the completion of five years from
the first day of its meeting [Article 83 (2)].

 Elections are held for choosing the new members of parliament in this case.

 The dissolution of the Lok Sabha can take place before the five-year term by the
President if he feels that no appropriate government can be formed after the fall of a
regime.

What will happen to the Bills in case of Dissolution?

 Whether the bills originated in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, the pending ones will
terminate after dissolution.

 There will also be a termination of those bills passed by Lok Sabha but are pending in
Rajya Sabha.
  Duration of rajya sabha:

Rajya Sabha is a continuing body and is not subject to dissolution .Article of 83 (1)
provides that the Council of state should not be subject to dissolution but as nearly
as possible 1/3 of the members thereof shall retire as soon as may be on the
expiration of every second year in accordance with the provisions made in that
behave by Parliament by law.

the term of a member of Rajya Sabha is six years; but a member

elected in a bye-election serves for the remainder of the term of the
vacancy caused.
The rotational system ensures continuity of Rajya Sabha while still enabling each
legislative assembly to elect periodically a few members to the house so that the
prevailing party strength and contemporary views and attitudes in the state are
reflected therein