Bills and Legislative Procedures in Parliament

‘The draft of a legislative proposal is known as bill. A bill, whether it is introduced by the minister or a private member, can become a law or an Act only when it receives the assent of the President. Broadly, speaking, bills are of two types:

• Government Bill: A bill is a government bill when it is introduced by the minister.
• Private Members’ Bill: When a bill is sponsored by a member who is not part of the Council of Ministers is referred to as a private member.

It can be introduced in either House of Parliament. Although most laws introduced are through government bills, private members’ bill serve the purpose of only highlighting changes in the existing laws or the need for a particular legislation. ‘The classification of the bills is also done on the basis of what the bills contain

Ordinary Bill:

Any bill which is not a Constitution amendment bill or is not a money bill is known as an ordinary bill. ‘The different types of ordinary bills, usually, are Original bills (embodying new proposals) (ii) Amending bills (to modify, amend or revise existing Acts), (iii) Bills to replace ordinances issued by the President.

Money and Financial Bills:

Money and financial bills are distinct from other bills, because they involve money matters. (c) ‘The Constitution (Amendment) Bills : ‘These are bills which seek to amend the articles/schedules of the Constitution.

Parliament of India:

Some procedural Terms

1. Adjournment: Adjournment of the House means termination of the sitting of the house which meets again at the fixed next sitting reassembling; adjournment sine die means termination of the house without any definite date for the next meeting.
2. Prorogation: Termination of the session of the House by an order made by the President under Article 85 of the constitution.
3. Dissolution: Dissolution of the House means the end of the life of the Lok Sabha either by an order made by the President under article 85 (2) (b) of the Constitution or on the expiration of the period of five years from the appointed for its first meeting.
4. Quorum: One-tenth of the total number of members of Rajya Sabha constitutes the quorum for a meeting of the House and the quorum to initiate a session of the Lok Sabha is 55 members (one-tenth of the total membership).
5. Question Hour: Question Hour is the first hour i.e., 11.00 AM. In India Lok Sabha devotes thus hour to questions. During this hour, members can raise questions about any aspect of administrative activity. ‘This sort of a process where elected representatives ask questions that are replied by the Prime Minister or other government ministers is part of Parliamentary tradition in many other countries. ‘There is a proposal to shift Question Hour after the Zero House, to began with, in the Rajya Sabha.
6. Zero Hour: During the ‘Zero Hour’ members raise matters of importance, especially those which cannot be delayed. Nobody knows which issue a member would raise during this hour. As a result, questions so raised without prior notice result in avoidable loss of precious time of the House. It also obstructs the regular proceedings and business of the House.
7. Half-an-Hour Discussion: A Half-an-Hour Disussion can be raised on a matter of sufficient public importance which has been the subject of a recent question in Lok Sabha irrespective of the fact whether the question was answered orally or the answer was laid on the Table of the House and the answer to which needs elucidation on a matter of fact. Normally not more than half an hour is allowed for such a discussion.
8. Types of Parliamentary Questions A. Question is one of the devices a available to a Member of Parliament to seek information on matter of public importance concerning subjects detail with by the Ministries and Departments and to force on the omissions and commissions of the government.

There are three types of Questions:

Starred Questions:

Starred questions are required to be answered orally by the concerned Minister. ‘These questions are distinguished by an asterisk mark. Members of Parliament have the option to raise the Supplementary Questions based on the replies to the starred Questions. ‘These questions for which a notice period of minimum 10 days and maximum 21 days has been prescribed are asked during the question Hour on the fixed days allotted to the Ministry/ Department. Started questions from Lok Sabha are printed on green paper and those of Rajya Sabha questions on pink paper.

Unstarred Questions:

Unstarred questions do not carry asterisk mark and are answered in a written form. ‘The notice period is the same as that for the starred questions and these are also asked on the allotted days of the Department/ Ministry during Question Hour. Lok Sabha Unstarred questions are printed during Question hour Lok Sabha Unstated Questions are printed on white paper and those of Rajya Sabha on yellow paper. ‘The relpies to the unstarred questions are laid on the table of the House.

Short Notice Questions:

Short Notice Questions relate to a matter of urgent public importance and can be asked with a notice shorter than 10 days. ‘These questions are answered orally by the Minister concerned and Supplementary Questions can also be asked. However a Short Notice Question can be asked only with the concurrence of the Minister.

9. Motions: A member of the Parliament may introduce a motion in the form of a proposal, a proposal for eliciting or expressing the opinion of the House on a matter of public importance. ‘The consent of the Speaker or the Chairman is essential to initiate a motion. A Motion passes through four stages, such as (i) Tabling of the motion; (ii) Posing of questions by the Speaker/Chairperson; (iii) Debate or discussion on permissibility of the motion; and (iv) Vote or decision of the House.

10. Division: ‘The mode of arriving at a decision on a proposal measure or question by recording the votes for or against it (Rule 367).
11. Expunction: Deletion of words, phrases or expressions from the proceedings or records of the House by an order of the presiding officer as being defamatory or unparliamentary or undignified. 12. Motion of “anks: A formal motion moved in the House expressing its gratitude for the Address delivered by the President (Article 87) to both the Houses. It provides an opportunity to discuss the matters referred to in the Address.