Articles 79 to 122 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the organization, composition, during, officers, procedures, privileges, powers and so on of the parliament.

ORGANISATION OF PARLIAMENT

• Under the Constitution, the Parliament of India consists of three parts viz, the President the Council of States and the House of the people. In 1954, the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and ‘Lok Sabha’

COMPOSITION OF THE TWO HOUSES

• The maximum Strength of the Rajya Sabha is fixed at 250, out of which, 238 are to be the representatives of the states and union territories (elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated by the president.
• At present, the Rajya Sabha has 245 members of these, 229 members represent the states. 4 members represent the union territories and 12 members are nominated by the president.
• The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the states and union territories.

1. REPRESENTATION OF STATES

• The representatives of states in the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of state legislative assemblies. The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The seats are allotted to the states in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of population.
• USA has 50 states and the Senate has 100 members – 2 from each state.

2. NOMINATED MEMBERS

• The President nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha from people who have special knowledge or practical experience in art, literature, science and social service.

COMPOSITION OF LOK SABHA      

• The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 552. Out of this, 530 members are to be the representatives of the states. 20 members are to be the representatives of the union 2 members are to be nominated by the president from the Anglo-Indian community.
• At present, the Lok Sabha has 545 members of these, 530 members represent the states,13 members represent the union territories and 2 Anglo-Indian members are nominated by the President.

1. REPRESENTATION OF STATES

• The voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 years by the 61^st Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988.

READJUSTMENT AFTER EACH CENSUS

• After every census, a readjustment is to be made in (a) allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the States, and (b) division of each state into territorial constituencies. Parliament is empowered to determine the authority and the manner in which it is to be made. Delimitation commission acts in 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 for this purpose.
• The 42^nd 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 level. This ban on readjustment was extended for another 25 years (ie.upto year 2026) by the 84^th Amendment Act of 2001
• Later the 87^th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census.

Duration  of Rajya Sabha

• It is a permanent body and not subject to dissolution. However one-third of its members retire every second year.

Duration of Lok Sabha

• Its normal term is five years from the date of its first meeting after the general election.

Qualification

1. He must be a citizen of India.
2. He must posses other qualifications prescribed by Parliament.

Disqualification   

1.If he holds any office of profit under the Union or state government (except that of a minister or any other office exempted by parliament)

2.If he is so disqualified under any law made by parliament

Speaker of Lok Sabha

• The speaker is elected by the Loksabha from amongst its members (as soon as may be, after its first sitting). The date of election of the Speaker is fixed by the President.

Role, Powers and Functions

The speaker is the head of the Lok Sabha.

1. He maintains order and decorum in the Houses for conducting its business and regulating its proceedings.
2. He is the final interpreter of the provisions of (a) the constitution of India (b) the rules of procedure and conduct
3. He adjourns the House or suspends the meeting in absence of a quorum.
4. He does not vote in the first instance But he can exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.
5. He presides over a joint setting
6. He can allow a ‘secret’ sitting
7. He decides whether a bill is a money bill or not
8. He decides the questions of disqualification of a member of the Lok Sabha.
9. He appoints the chairman of all the parliamentary committees.

DEPUTY SPEAKER

• It should be noted here that the Deputy Speaker is not subordinate to the Speaker. He is directly responsible to the House.

CHAIRMAN OF RAJYA SABHA

• The presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha is known as the Chairman. The vice-president of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF RAJYA SABHA

• The Deputy Chairman performs the duties of the Chairman’s office when it is vacant or when the Vice-President.

LEADERS IN PARLIAMENT

Leader of the House

• Under the Rules of Lok Sabha, the ‘Leader of the House’ means the prime minister. ‘Leader of the House’ in the Rajya Sabha. He is a minister and a member of the Rajya Sabha and is nominated by the prime minister

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

• The leader of the largest Opposition party having not less than one-tenth scats of the total strength of the House.
• Therefore, the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were accorded statutory recognition in 1977. They are also entitled to the salary, allowances and other facilities equivalent to that of a cabinet minister.

WHIP

• Every Political party, whether ruling or Opposition has its own whip in the parliament. He is appointed by the political party to serve as an assistant floor leader.

SESSIONS OF PARLIAMENT

The president from time to time sumons each House of Parliament to meet.

1.The Budget Session (February to may)

2.The Monsoon Session (July to September)

3.The Winter Session (November to December).

Adjournment Sine Die

• Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period.

Prorogation

• The presiding officer declares the House adjourned sine die, the business of a session is completed. Within the next few days, president issues a notification for prorogation of the session.

Dissolution

• Rajya Sabha being a permanent House is not subject to dissolution. Only the Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution.

Quorum

• It means that there must be at least 55 members, present in the Lok Sabha and 25 members, present in the Rajya Sabha.

Language in Parliament

• The Constitution has declared Hindi and English. However, the presiding officer can permit a member to address the House in his mother-tongue.

Lame-duck Session: Last session of the existing Lok Sabha.

Question Hour: The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is slotted for this.

Zero Hour: The Zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day.

No-Confidence Motion

• Article 75 of the Constitution says that the council of ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. It means that the ministry stays in office so long as it enjoys confidence of the majority of the members of the Lok Sabha.

Ordinary Bills

• Every ordinary bill has to pass through the following five stages in the Parliament before it finds a place on the Statute Book.

1.First Reading

An ordinary bill can be introduced in either House of Parliament.

2.Second Reading

During this stage, the bill receives not only the general but also the detailed scrutiny and assumes its final shape.

3.Third Reading

At this stage, the debate is confined to the acceptance or rejection of the bill as a whole and no amendments

4.Assent of the President

a)He may give his assent to the bill

b)He may withhold his assent to the bill

c)He may return the bill for reconsideration of the Houses.

Money Bills

1.The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax.

2.The regulation of the borrowing of money by the Union government.

3.The custody of the Consolidated Fund of India or the contingency fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of money from any such fund.

4.The appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India.

5.Declaration of any expenditure charged increasing the amount of any such expenditure.

6.The receipt of money on account              

• If any question arises whether a bill is a money bill or not, the decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• A Money bill can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha and that too on the recommendation of the president. Every such bill is considered to be a government bill and can be introduced only by a minister
• It is transmitted to the Rajya Sabha for its consideration. The Rajya Sabha has restricted powers with regard to a money bill. It cannot reject or amend a money bill. It can only make the recommendations. It must return the bill to the Lok Sabha within 14 days.
• Finally, when a money bill is presented to the president, he may either give his assent to the bill but cannot return the bill for reconsideration of the Houses.

Financial Bills

1.Money Bills – Article110

2.Financial Bills (I) – Article 117(1)

3. Financial Bills (II) –Article 117 (3)

JOINT SITTING OF TWO HOUSES

• Joint sitting is an extraordinary machinery provided by the Constitution to resolve a dead lock between the two Houses over the passage of a bill.
• It must be noted here that the provision of joint sitting is applicable to ordinary bills or financial bills only and not to money bills or Constitutional amendment bills.
• It is clear that the Chairman of Rajya Sabha does not preside over a joint sitting as he is not a member of either House of Parliament.

1.Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1960

2.Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bills, 1977

3.Prevention of Terrorism Bill,2002

BUDGET IN PARLIAMENT

• The Constitution refers to the budget as the ‘annual financial statement’. In other words the term ‘budget’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution. It is the popular name for the ‘annual financial statement’ that has been dealt with in Article 112 of the constitution.

1. Estimates of revenue and capital receipts
2. Ways and means to raise the revenue
3. Estimates of expenditure
4. Details of the actual receipts and expenditures of the closing financial year and the reasons for any deficit or surplus in that year
5. Economic and financial policy of the coming year, that is, taxation proposals, spending.

• The Railway Budget was separated from the General Budget in 1921 on the recommendations of the Acworth. To introduced flexibility in railway finance.

Constitutional Provisions

• The President shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before both the Houses of parliament a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure of the Government of India for that year. Parliament can reduce or abolish a tax but cannot increase it.

Presentation of Budget: Presented  to the Lok Sabha by the finance minister on the last working day of February.

FUNDS

1.Consolidated Fund of India (Article 266)

2.Public Account of India (Article 266)

3.Contingency Fund of India (Article 267)

Consolidated Fund of India

• Fund to which all receipts are credited and all payments are debited. No money out of this fund can be appropriated except in accordance with a parliamentary law.

Contingency Fund of India

• The Constitution authorized the Parliament to establish a ‘Contingency Fund of India’, into which amounts determined by law are paid from time to time.

COMMITTEES OF PARLIAMENT

Public Accounts Committee

• This committee was setup first  in 1921 under the provision  of the Government of India Act of 1919 it consists of 22 members (15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha).

1. To examine the appropriation accounts and the finance accounts of the Union government and any other accounts laid before the Lok Sabha. The appropriation accounts compare the actual expenditure.
2. In scrutinizing the appropriation accounts and the audit report of CAG.

Estimates Committee

All the thirty members are from Lok Sabha only

1. To report what economics, improvements in organization, efficiency and administrative
2. To suggest alternative policies in order to bring about efficiency and economy in administration.

Committee on Public Undertaking

This committee was created in 1964 22(15 from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha)

1. To examine the reports and accounts of public undertakings.
2. To examine the reports of the comptroller and auditor general on public undertaking.
3. To examine whether the affairs of the public undertaking are being managed in accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices.

Individual Privileges

1. They cannot be arrested during the session of parliament and 40 days before the beginning and 40 days after the end of a session. This privilege is available only in civil cases and not in criminal cases or preventive detention cases.
2. They have freedom of speech in parliament. No member is liable to any proceedings in any court for anything

They are exempted from jury service. They can refuse to give evidence and appear as a witness in a case pending in a court when parliament is in session