UPSC COURSE

VIDEO- 58

POLITY

PARLIAMENT

PART 1
 The Parliament

Article 79-122 deals with (Parliament) of Part V (Union Government)

ARTICLE 79 : CONSTITUTION OF PARLIAMENT

There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consists of the President and two Houses to be
known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People.
Though President is not the
member of either house of
the parliament, he is an
integral part of it.

• Principle function of
Parliament is to legislate i.e. to
make laws on all subjects
enumerated in Union and
Concurrent list (also on residuary
subjects) & in some cases on
state list subjects for the benefit
of the country
 RAJYA SABHA
ARTICLE 80 : COMPOSITION OF THE COUNCIL OF STATES –

The Rajya Sabha was constituted in the year 1952.

✓ This is a permanent house. It is not subjected to dissolution.

✓ The fourth schedule of the Indian Constitution deals with the allocation of seats in the
Rajya Sabha to the states and Union Territories.

✓ The seats are allotted to the states in Upper House on the basis of population.
The maximum strength of Rajya Sabha is 250 members.

Out of 250 members 238 are the representatives of the states and Union Territories.

These 238 are elected indirectly by the elected members of Legislative Assemblies of the concerned states.

Article 80 (3) of the Indian Constitution permits that 12 members are nominated by the President with the special knowledge or
practical experience in the fields like Science, Arts, Literature and Social Service.

The present strength of the Upper House is 245

Out of 245 members 233 are the representatives of the states and Union Territories.

12 members are nominated by the President with the special knowledge or practical experience in the fields like
Science, Arts, Literature and Social Service.
RS members are elected by legislative assembly of states & UTs by means of single transferable vote through
proportional representation (Based on population)

1/3rd members retire at the end of every second year.

The members are eligible for re-election after completion of the term.

The term of a member of Rajya Sabha is 6 years.

No seat is reserved for SCs & STs

Retired members of RS are eligible for re-election & re-nomination

 What is Process of Rajya Sabha Election

Let assume that the Number of Vacancies is 2

The Number of MLA going to vote is 90. BJP- 55 , Congress- 35

Remember that the value of Vote of one MLA is taken as 100

Value of votes required for a candidate to win the election is called ‘Quota’. It is calculated by,

Now to win the election a candidate has to achieve 3001 value

of votes. We know that the value of Vote of one MLA is 100, so
to win the election a candidate needs the support of around
31 MLA’s which will bring him of her around 3100 votes.

Therefore 1 seat each bjp & congress.

How the vote gets transferred?

• Till now we know that a

candidate will require 3001
value of votes to win the
election. For example, if there
are 5 candidates and two
vacancies, then the top two
people who will get 3001 +
votes will win.
 QUALIFICATIONS:

A citizen of India.

Not be less than 30 years of age.

Must possess other qualifications as prescribed by the Parliament.

The Parliament has laid down additional qualifications in the Representation of Peoples Act of 1951.

As per the provisions of the law existing now, an outsider can be elected from a Rajya Sabha seat in a state. Prior to
2003, the legal provisions then existing did not allow an outsider to be elected to a Rajya Sabha seat from a state.
However, in 2003, the relevant provisions existing in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, were amended
to allow an outsider to get elected to a Rajya Sabha seat from a state. Must be registered as an elector for some
parliamentary constituency in India.
 DISQUALIFICATIONS (Article 102):

Article 102 of the Indian Constitution provided disqualification of a person who is a member of the Parliament.

If holds any office of profit under the Union or State government.

If the person is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court.

If the person is an un-discharged insolvent.

If the person is not a citizen of Indian or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign state.

If so disqualified under any law made by the Parliament.

NOTE: The members of Rajya Sabha are disqualified by the President after seeking the opinion from the Election Commission.
 LOK SABHA
ARTICLE 81 : COMPOSITION OF THE HOUSE OF THE PEOPLE

This is also called the Lower House of the parliament / Lok Sabha

The maximum strength of Lok Sabha is 552.

Out of this 530 are the representatives of states directly elected by the people.

20 members are the representatives of Union Territories directly elected by the people.

Remaining 2 members are nominated by the President from the Anglo-Indian community
 Present strength of Loksabha is 545 (530 (states) +13 (UT’S) + 2 (nominated).

All the citizens of India who are above the age of 18 are eligible to vote. Initially the voting age was
fixed at 21. Through 61st constitutional amendment 1988 this was reduced to 18.

Who are Anglo-Indians?

“An Anglo-Indian means a person whose father or

any of whose other male progenitors in the male
line is or was of European descent but who is
domiciled within the territory of India
Article 331 of the Constitution. It says: “Notwithstanding anything in Article
81, the President may, if he is of opinion that the Anglo-Indian community is
not adequately represented in the House of the people, nominate not more
than two members of that community to the House of the People.”

Article 333 deals with representation of the Anglo-Indian community in Legislative

Assemblies. It says: “Notwithstanding anything in Article 170, the Governor of a
State may, if he is of opinion that the Anglo-Indian community needs
representation in the Legislative Assembly of the State and is not adequately
represented therein, [nominate one member of that community to the Assembly].”

The provision to nominate Anglo-Indians was to operate till 1960 only. Periodically it has been extended 10
years through the constitutional amendments. Note- 95th C.A 2009 – Extended to 25 th Jan 2020.
Article 334 originally provided that reservation of seats for sc/st in lok sabha & Legislative assembly &
would cease 10 years after the commencement of Constitution. But this was extended every 10 years
(8th,23rd,45th,62nd,79th and 95th amendment 2009)

The reservation for Anglo-Indians in the form of “nomination” (Article 331 & 333) is set to expire on
25th Jan 2020.

Reservation of seats for SC & STs in the Lok Sabha (Article 330) and state assemblies (Article 332)
is set to expire on 25th Jan 2020 .

Parliament on Thursday passed a Constitutional amendment giving a 10-year extension to reservations for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and State assemblies and ending the provision for
nomination of two Anglo-Indians to the Lower House and assemblies. (104th C.A 2020)
 ARTICLE 82 : READJUSTMENT AFTER EACH CENSUS

The number of seats in Lok Sabha must be readjusted after every census.

In India the Census operation is Conducted every 10 years

Accordingly the Parliament enacted the Delimitation Commission Acts in 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 for this purpose.

42nd Constitutional amendment Act of 1976 froze the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the states and the
division of each state into territorial constituencies till the year 2000 at the 1971 census level.

84th Constitutional amendment Act of 2001 it was readjusted and the number of seats in Lok Sabha frozen
up to the year 2026.

The Constitution provided the reservation of seats for Schedule castes and Scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha on the
basis of population ratio.
 The term of Lok sabha is 5 years from the date of its first meeting after general elections.

The President can dissolve the Lok Sabha at any time before the completion of 5 years. (Mid term election).

The term of Lok Sabha can be extended by the Parliament during National
Emergency. This is for one year at a time for any length of time.
 QUALIFICATIONS:

Must be a citizen of India.

Must not less than 25 years of age.

Must possess other qualifications as prescribed by the Parliament.

The Parliament has laid down additional qualifications in the Representation of

Peoples Act of 1951.

Must be registered as an elector for some parliamentary constituency in India.

 DISQUALIFICATIONS (Article 102)

If holds any office of profit under the Union or State government.

If the person is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court.

If the person is an un-discharged insolvent.

If the person is not a citizen of Indian or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign state.

If so disqualified under any law made by the Parliament.

With relation to the above disqualification the decision of the President is final after obtaining the opinion of the election
commission.
 Resignation (RS & LS)

May submit resignation to the speaker of Lok Sabha / Chairman of Rajya Sabha respectively
Speaker of Lok Sabha

1) Chief presiding officer of the Lok Sabha.

2) The Speaker presides over the meetings of the House & his rulings on
the proceedings of the House are final.

3) Elected by members of LS among themselves (Simple Majority)

Speaker & deputy speaker may resign by writing to each other

The Speaker & Deputy Speaker may be removed from their offices by a resolution passed by the House by an effective
majority of the House after a prior notice of 14 days to them.

When such a notice is in consideration against the speaker, He can not

preside over the proceedings of the house. He can, however,
participate in proceedings of the house & can even vote in 1st instance,
though not when there is an equality of votes

When the office of Lok Sabha speaker falls vacant, the

members elect another speaker on a date fixed by the
President.
 Speaker continues in his office even after LS is dissolved, till newly elected LS is constituted.

Pro term Speaker

As provided by the Constitution, Whenever Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker continues to remain in
office until immediately before the first meeting of Lok Sabha after it is reconstituted.

Therefore, the President appoints a member of the Lok Sabha as the Pro tem Speaker.

The President himself administers oath to the Pro tem Speaker.

The Pro tem Speaker has all the powers of the Speaker.

He presides over the first sitting of the newly elected Lok Sabha. His main duty is to
administer oath to the new members and enable the house to elect a new speaker.

Usually, the senior-most member is elected as Protem speaker

 Powers of Speaker
His powers and functions are derived from Constitution, Rules of procedure (Lok Sabha) and Parliamentary conventions.

Primary duty of the speaker is to maintain order and decorum in Lok Sabha.

His interpretations of constitutional provisions, rules and regulations related to Lok Sabha are final.

The quorum to constitute a meeting of the Lok Sabha is one-tenth of the membership of the house. If there is no
quorum, speaker decides to suspend the meeting.

Adjournment of Lok Sabha is done by Speaker.

During voting in the house on a bill or other matters, he first does vote. However, if there is a tie due to equal
votes, speaker exercises the casting vote to resolve the deadlock.

Joint sittings of both the houses of parliament are although called by President but presided by Lok Sabha
speaker.

On the request of the Leader of the House, Speaker may allow a secret meeting. None other than those
permitted by speaker can be present in secret mee

“Leader of the House” means the Prime Minister, if Prime Minister is a member of the House, or a Minister who is a
member of the house and is nominated by the Prime Minister to function as the Leader of the House. So by
definition, Prime Minister is the Leader of House in Lok Sabha if (s)he is the member of Lok sabha.

Currently our PM, Narendra Modi is the Leader of the house in Lok Sabha because he is a member of Lok Sabha.
 Whether a bill is money bill or not, is decided by Speaker and
his decision in this matter is final.

Speaker decides the question of disqualification of Lok Sabha members in matters of tenth schedule / anti-
defection law. This decision is subject to judicial Review.

Chairmen of all the parliamentary committees of Lok Sabha are

appointed by Speaker, provided such committees don’t need
elected chairmen.

Speaker himself is the chairman of Business Advisory

Committee, Rules Committee and General Purpose Committee.

His salary & allowances are fixed by parliament by law &

charged from consolidated fund of India & are not subjected to
annual vote of parliament
 The Secretary General of the Lok Sabha is appointed by the Speaker.

Secretary General of Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha has its own secretariat and its Secretary General is appointed by Lok Sabha speaker.

His functions are to provide a link between changing members and keeping the records.

Snehlata Shrivastava
 Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha
When Speaker of Lok Sabha is not available, his duties are carried out by Deputy Speaker.

A Deputy Speaker is elected by the Lok Sabha members from amongst

themselves. Election of Deputy Speaker is done after election of Speaker.

The date of election of Deputy Speaker is fixed by Speaker.

Speaker & deputy speaker may resign by writing to each other

The Speaker & Deputy Speaker may be removed from their

offices by a resolution passed by the House by an effective
majority of the House after a prior notice of 14 days to them.\
Presently Vaccant

Whenever he is appointed as a member of parliamentary

committee , he automatically becomes it chairman.
 Panel of Chairpersons in Lok Sabha

Ten-member Panel of Chairpersons in Lok Sabha appointed by Speaker of lok sabha

Acc to ‘Rules of procedure and conduct of business in Lok Sabha’ a member of the panel may preside over the
House when the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are absent.

It must be noted that in case of a vacancy a member of the panel cannot preside over the House. In such a case,
president appoints a member of the house for the purpose.

Vacancy is said to have arisen in case of Death, resignation and removal of the concerned.
 Rajya Sabha Chairman
According to the Constitution of India, the Vice President is the Rajya Sabha Chairman.

VP / Chairman of RS presides over the proceedings of RS as long as he does not act as President of India

Presiding officer of each house has the final power to interpret

the rules of procedure of the house

The Rajya Sabha Chairman does not have the power to

vote in any matters of the House.

He can only put vote when there is a tie.

 Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

The Deputy Chairman is elected by Rajya Sabha from amongst its members.

The Deputy Chairman office may vacate his office if cease to be member of RS or resigns or removed by
resolution passed by effective majority of Rajya Sabha with giving 14 days prior notice to him.

He performs duties of Chairman in his absence or when office fall vacant.

Resignation- Chairman of Rajya sabha.

Both chairman & deputy chairman cannot preside over a sitting of the
house, when resolution of their removal is under consideration.

Harivansh Narayan Singh

 Panel of Vice Chairpersons of RS

The Chairman nominates a Panel of Vice Chairpersons amongst member of Rajya Sabha. Any of them can
preside over sitting of the house, in the absence of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

They can’t preside over house when office of Chairman/deputy Chairman is vacant. In that case, President can
appoint any member to preside over house.

Note- Salary & allowances of

Speaker , Deputy speaker of lok
sabha & Chairman & Deputy
Chairman of Rajya sabha charged
from consolidated fund of India &
are not subjected to annual vote of
parliament
 ARTICLE 87 : SPECIAL ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT

At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the House of the People and at the
commencement of the first session of each year the President shall address both Houses of Parliament
assembled together and inform Parliament of the causes of its summons.

ARTICLE 88 : RIGHTS OF MINISTERS AND ATTORNEY-GENERAL AS RESPECTS HOUSES

Every Minister and the Attorney-General of India shall have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take
part in the proceeding of, either House, any joint sitting of the Houses, and any committee of Parliament
of which he may be named a member, but shall not by virtue of this article be entitled to vote.