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DAILY
CLASS NOTES
Indian Polity

Lecture - 30
The Parliament (Part-II)
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The Parliament (Part-II)

Officers of the Lok Sabha:
Speaker:
❖ He is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha.
❖ He is elected by the house amongst its members.
❖ He performs two functions, that is he presides over the proceedings of the Lok Sabha and is responsible for
the smooth functioning of Lok Sabha and he is responsible for maintaining Orders and decorum in the
house under article 122.
❖ He is not answerable to any Court of law in the exercising of his functions while discharging his official
duties.
❖ He is also the administrative head of the Lok Sabha secretariat since it is not a part of the sovereign
functions of the Lok Sabha.
❖ He is answerable to a court of law while discharging his function as the administrative head of the Lok
Sabha secretariat.
Special Powers of the Lok Sabha Speaker:
1. It is the speaker who preside over joint sitting of both the houses of the Parliament
2. It is the speaker who decides whether a bill is a money bill or not. His decision in this regard is final and
binding and cannot be questioned in any Court of law.
3. The committee's of the Parliament essentially function under the control of the speaker. Wherever the
chairperson of a parliamentary committee is to be appointed or to be nominated it is the speaker who does
so.
4. If the speaker becomes a member of the parliamentary committee then he becomes the ex-officio chairman
of the committee.
Special Position of the Speaker:
❖ When the Lok Sabha is subjected to dissolution then all its members cease to be members of the Lok
Sabha. However, the speaker continues in his office till the next Lok Sabha is constituted. Because the
Lok Sabha has an institution always remains whether it is a dissolution or not, so to represent Lok Sabha as
an institution the speaker remains in the position till a new series of Lok Sabha is constituted.
Protem Speaker:
❖ He is appointed by the president among the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha.
❖ He is the senior most member of the Lok Sabha in terms of the number of years served as a member of
the Lok Sabha.
❖ His oath as the member of the Lok Sabha is conducted by the president.
❖ The Protem speaker presides over the newly elected Lok Sabha and conducts the oath to the members of
the Lok Sabha and presides over the election of the speaker.
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Disqualification of members of parliament:

Under Article 102 (1) (a) a person shall be disqualified for being a member of parliament:
❖ If he holds any office of profit under the central or a state government except in case of any office declared
by the Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder.
❖ The constitution provides for such disqualification to avoid a conflict between the duties and interest of elected
representatives and to ensure they do not come under the influence or obligation under the executive while
discharging their legislative functions.
❖ In exercise of its power, under Article 102 (1) (a) the Parliament enacted this law Parliament (Prevention of
Disqualification) Amendment Act, 1959 which declares the holders of a certain office of profit shall not be
disqualified from being a member of either House of the Parliament.
❖ However, the law did not defined office of profit but the Supreme court in a Shibu Soren Case 2001 held
that a person is holding the office of profit under the central or State Government if any of the following
criteria fulfilled or satisfied:
1. Whether the government makes appointments to the office.
2. Whether the government has the right to remove the holders of the office from the office.
3. Whether the government pays remuneration.
4. Whether the functions performed by the holder of the office are government in nature.
5. Whether the government exercises any control over the performance of those functions.
❖ The court also clarified that the office in question, that is the office of profit in question need not to confer
pecuniary benefit.
❖ It is sufficient if it confers the administrative or the executive function on the person who holds the office.

The other grounds for disqualification under Article 102:

1. If a member of parliament is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court but such a
declaration is not permanent.
2. If he is an undischarged insolvent.
3. If he is not a citizen of India or he is under any acknowledgement of allegiance to a foreign state.
4. If he is disqualified under any Law made by the Parliament.
5. If a person is disqualified for being a member of any house of parliament, if he so disqualified under anti
defection law.

Vacation of seats:
Article 101 contains the following Grounds under which the member of a parliament is deemed to have
vacated his seat in the house:
1. No person shall be a member of both the houses of Parliament simultaneously: Under a law made by the
Parliament if such a person does not resign his seat in one of the houses within 14 days after being elected to
both the houses then he is deemed to have vacated his seat in the houses to which he was elected earlier.
2. No person shall be member of either House of Parliament and either House of a state legislature under a
rule made by the Parliament if such a person does not resign one of his seats within 14 days then it is deemed
that he has vacated his seat in the Parliament.
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3. If a person is subjected to disqualification under any one of the grounds mentioned under Article 102.
4. If he resigns he sits by writing to the presiding officer.
5. If for a period of 60 days a member of a parliament abstains from the proceedings of the houses without
permission of the presiding officer of the house the seat may be declared vacant by the house.

Session of the parliament:

❖ The Parliament must meet twice a year.
❖ Under Article 85, The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months. In
other words, the Parliament should meet at least twice a year.
❖ The regular and a special session of the Parliament are summoned by the president on the advice of the
Council of Ministers.
❖ Under the convention, the Parliament meets in 3 regular sessions in a year and the Parliament may also
meet in a special session.
❖ They are:
➢ Budget Session
➢ Monsoon Session
➢ Winter Session

Regular Sessions of the Parliament:

The Regular Sessions of the Parliament are as follows:
❖ Budget Session:
➢ It is the first session of the year.
➢ It is the longest and the most important of the three sessions. It usually begins in the last week of
January and lasts till May.
➢ It generally begins with an address by the President to the joint sitting of both the houses of the
Parliament.
➢ When the Lok Sabha passes a vote of thanks to the president's address subsequently it amounts to the
houses expressing its confidence in the Council of Ministers.
➢ In the budget session a confidence motion is passed every year in the form of vote of thanks to the
president's address.
➢ Further, it is in this session the budget is presented and passed, for this reason the session is
considered most important.
❖ Monsoon Session:
➢ It is the second session of the Parliament and is held in the month of July to August.
❖ Winter Session:
➢ It is held in the month of November to December and it is the shortest of the three sessions.
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Special Session of the Parliament:

❖ It is held to transact a particular business.
❖ It is called under the convention
❖ It can be held within a session and outside the session of the Parliament.
❖ In this session only the specified business is taken up for the transaction by the Parliament.

Special session of the Lok Sabha:

❖ It is provided under the Constitution.
❖ Under Article 352, if not less than 1/10th of the members of the Lok Sabha gives in writing expressing
their intention to move a resolution for the discontinuance of the National Emergency to the Speaker, then
a special session of the Lok Sabha may be held. This is the case when the Lok Sabha is already in a session
❖ If the Lok Sabha is not in a session then the members of the Lok Sabha give in writing to the President
expressing their intention to move a resolution for the discontinuance of the National Emergency.
❖ A special session of the Lok Sabha shall be conveyed within 14 days after the notice is served in that
session.
❖ If the Lok Sabha passes the resolution then the president shall revoke the national emergency.
❖ A special session of the Parliament is held under convention and is convinced by the president on the advice
of the council of ministers.
❖ Special session of the Lok Sabha is held under the realm of constitution and under it only one business is
conducted that is the discontinuance of National Emergency.

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