Types of motions in Indian Parliament

There are various types of motions which are as under: -

• Privilege Motion
• Censure Motion
• Call-Attention Motion
• Adjournment Motion
• No-Day-Yet-Named Motion
• Cut Motions
• No Confidence Motion
• Confidence Motion

Privilege motion
The Constitution grants certain powers, privileges and immunities to the
Parliament, its members and committees. Such powers and privileges are
regulated as per laws made by the House. [4]

According to Erskine May, “Parliamentary privilege is the sum of certain

rights enjoyed by each House collectively… and by members of each House
individually, without which they could not discharge their functions, and
which exceed those possessed by other bodies or individuals. “Breach of
privilege is punishable under the Law of the Parliament.

A privilege motion is introduced by the opposition against a minister in case

the minister has misled the House by providing false information. Its purpose
is to censure the concerned minister.

A privilege motion can be moved against a non-member as well as a

member.

Censure motion
Censure motion is moved by the opposition against a specific policy of the
government or against a minister or against the whole council of ministers. It
can be moved only in the lower house of the parliament. The motion should
be specific and self-explanatory so as to record the reasons of the censure
precisely and briefly.
No leave of the House is required to move a censure motion. If it is passed,
the Council of Minister is bound to seek the confidence of the Lok Sabha as
early as possible.

Call attention motion

A member may, with the previous permission of the Speaker, call the
attention of a Minister to any matter of urgent public importance by moving a
motion. The Minister may make a brief statement or ask for time to make a
statement at a later hour or date. The number of call-attention motion is
restricted to two motions by one member in a single sitting.

Adjournment motion
A motion for an adjournment of the business of the House for the purpose of
discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance may be made with
the consent of the Speaker. The Adjournment motion if admitted leads to
setting aside the normal business of the House for discussing the matter
mentioned in the motion. The motion shall be restricted to a specific matter
of recent occurrence involving the responsibility of the Government of India.

No Day Yet Named motion

If the Speaker admits notice of a motion and no date is fixed for the
discussion of such motion, it is called No-Day-Yet-Named motion. The
Speaker may, after considering the state of business in the House and in
consultation with the Leader of the House or on the recommendation of the
Business Advisory Committee allot a day or days or part of a day for the
discussion of any such motion.

Cut motions
Motions can be moved to reduce demand for grants. Such motions are called
cut motions. If a cut motion is adopted by Parliament and the government
does not have the numbers, it is obliged to resign. There are three types of
cut motions: -

Disapproval of Policy Cut is moved to reduce the amount of the demand to

INR 1/-’ representing disapproval of the policy underlying the demand. A
member giving notice of such a motion has to indicate in precise terms the
particulars of the policy which the member proposes to discuss. The
discussion shall be confined to the specific point or points mentioned in the
notice and it shall be open to members to advocate an alternative

policy;

Economy Cut motion is moved to reduce the amount of the demand by a

specified amount representing the economy that can be effected. Such
specified amount may be either a lump sum reduction in the demand or
omission or reduction of an item in the demand. The notice to move this
motion indicates briefly and precisely the particular matter on which
discussion is sought to be raised and speeches are confined to the discussion
as to how economy can be affected;

Token Cut motion is moved to reduce the amount of the demand by INR
100/- in order to ventilate a specific grievance which is within the sphere of
the responsibility of the Government of India. The discussion on this motion
is confined to the particular grievance specified in the motion.

No Confidence motions
This motion is introduced in the Lok Sabha by the opposition. It is a motion
expressing want of confidence in the Council of Ministers. No-confidence
motions are subject to following restrictions, namely:—

(a) leave to make the motion shall be asked for by the member when called
by the Speaker;

(b) the member asking for leave shall, that day give to the Secretary-
General a written notice of the motion which such member proposes to
move.

If the Speaker is of opinion that the motion is in order, he shall read the
motion to the House and request those members who are in favour of leave
being granted to rise in their places. At least fifty members are required to
rise if the leave is to be granted. The motion has to be taken up within 10
days from the date on which leave is asked for. After the discussion, the
Speaker puts every question necessary to determine the decision of the
House on the motion. A Government can be dismissed by passing a direct
vote on a no-confidence motion.

Confidence motion
It is also called “trust vote”. Confidence motions have evolved as a counter
by the government when it wants to demonstrate its majority. There is no
special provision in the rules for a confidence motion — such a motion is
moved as an ordinary motion. In recent times, when no party has had a clear
majority, the president has appointed a prime minister who he believed had
the majority support. This person is expected to prove his majority through a
confidence motion.[5]

If both, the motion for no-confidence and a motion for confidence are tabled,
the speaker is to give precedence to government business and take the
motion of confidence.

If the prime minister loses a motion of confidence, he is obliged to resign,

and the president should try to identify another person who enjoys the
confidence of the Lok Sabha.

What Are the Important Steps in Making of a Law in India?

There are separate procedures for the enactment of the four types of bills. These procedures to
enact the bills are laid down by the Indian Constitution. They are given below:

• Stages of passing an Ordinary Bill

There are five stages through which an ordinary bill has to go through before it finally becomes
an act:

Stages Details

First Reading A minister or a member introduces the bill in either house of the Parliament. He asks for
leave before introducing the bill. He reads the title and objective of the bill.
After the introduction, the bill is published in the Gazette of India
Note:

1. No discussion on the bill takes place in this stage

2. If the bill is published in the Indian Gazette before its introduction, the
minister/member does not have to ask for leave

Second Reading Stage of General Discussion- Four actions can be taken by the house on the bill:

1. It may take the bill into consideration immediately or on some other fixed date
2. It may refer the bill to a select committee of the House
3. It may refer the bill to a joint committee of the two Houses
4. It may circulate the bill to elicit public opinion

Note:
 1. Select Committee- Has members of the house where the bill is introduced
2. Joint Committee- Has members from both the houses

Committee Stage:

1. Select Committee examines the bill thoroughly and in detail, clause by clause.
2. It can also amend its provisions, but without altering the principles underlying it.
3. After completing the scrutiny and discussion, the committee reports the bill back
to the House.

Consideration Stage:

1. The House, after receiving the bill from the select committee, considers the
provisions of the Bill clause by clause.
2. Each clause is discussed and voted upon separately.
3. The members can also move amendments and if accepted, they become part of
the bill.

Third Reading One of the two actions take place:

1. Acceptance of the Bill (If the majority of members present and voting accept the
bill, the bill is regarded as passed by the House)
2. Rejection of the Bill

Note:

1. No amendments to the bill are allowed

2. A bill is deemed to have been passed by the Parliament only when both the
Houses have agreed to it, either with or without amendments.

Bill in the The first three stages are repeated here i.e.:
Second House
1. First Reading
2. Second Reading
3. Third Reading

The second house can take one of the four actions:

1. It may pass the bill as sent by the first house (ie, without amendments)
2. It may pass the bill with amendments and return it to the first House for
reconsideration
3. It may reject the bill altogether
4. It may not take any action and thus keep the bill pending

Note:
 1. The bill is deemed to have been passed if both the houses accept the bill and the
amendments
2. If the second house takes no action for 6 months, a deadlock appears which is
acted upon through a joint sitting (summoned by President) of both the houses

Assent of the One of the three actions can be taken by him:

President
1. May give his assent to the bill (The bill becomes an act and is placed on
statute book)
2. May withhold his assent to the bill (The bill ends and does not become an act)
3. May return the bill for reconsideration (The houses can/cannot make
amendments and send it back to the President after which he has to give assent)

Note:
President only enjoys ‘Suspensive Veto.’

What is Closure Motion?

• As the name suggests it is a motion used to bring closure to the ongoing
debate in the house.
• If the house agrees to the motion proposed the debate is ended and a bill or
resolution is put to vote.
• The debate ended irrespective of members yet to make their speech.

Types of Closure Motion

• Simple Closure: If the matter is sufficiently discussed then the member
might move a Simple closure motion.
• Closure by Compartments: For discussion, the bill or a resolution is grouped
together into compartments. Therefore, a particular section or group of
sections in a bill can be put to vote.
• Kangaroo Closure: When this type of closure motion is passed, only the
important clauses of a bill are discussed and voted. The remaining clauses
are deemed to be passed
• Guillotine Closure: When the time allocated for discussion of a particular bill
or resolution is over, all the undiscussed clauses are put to vote along with
the discussed ones on the Guillotine.