CIVICS

CHAPTER - 1
THE UNION PARLIAMENT

FEDERAL SETUP IN INDIA

A Federal system of government involves a dual government, i.e., the national
government and the government of the component states.
➢ India is a Union of States.
➢ It is federal in form but unitary in spirit.

THE UNION LEGISLATURE / PARLIAMENT

It comprises of the President and the two Houses of Parliament :
The LOK SABHA (House of the People) and The RAJYA SABHA (Council
of states).
 LOK SABHA

● Also known as the ‘Lower House’ or the ‘House of the People’.

● Its members are directly elected by the people of India.

TERM
● The term of Lok Sabha is 5 years.
● It can be dissolved before the expiry of its normal term by the President
on the advice of the Prime Minister.
● During Emergency its period can be extended by parliament for one
year at a time.
The new Lok Sabha must be elected within six months after the
emergency is over.

COMPOSITION
● Maximum Strength of Lok Sabha is 550 members, where
530 members represent the States and 20 members represent the Union
Territories.
● The 104th Constitutional Amendment Act of January 2020 removed
the provision of nomination of 2 Anglo-Indians to the Lok Sabha.
● The allotment of members to the various States is done on a population
basis. (E.g Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members while Sikkim sends only 1
member.)

ELECTION
● The members of Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people of India
on the basis of Universal Adult Franchise.

QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS
● Should be of 25 years of age or above.
● Should be an Indian citizen.
● Should be a registered voter in any of the Parliamentary Constituencies.
● Should not hold any office of profit under the government.
● Should not be of unsound mind.
● Should not be an insolvent.
 DISQUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS (Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha)
● If he is not a citizen of India.
● If he holds any office of profit under the government.
● If he is of unsound mind.
● If he is an undischarged insolvent.
● If he is disqualified under any law made by Parliament.

VACATION OF SEATS (Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha)

● Due to death.
● Resignation (given to the Presiding Officer.)
● If a member, without permission of the House, is absent from all
meetings for a period of 60 days.
● If he is disqualified under any law made by Parliament.
● If he is disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law. According to this law,
when a member gives up the membership of his party or votes against the
direction given by the party to which he belongs. Then he shall be
disqualified from the House.

NOTE
➔ No person shall be a member of both the Houses of the Parliament at
the same time.
➔ No person can be a member of the Union Legislature and the State
Legislature at the same time.
 RAJYA SABHA

● Also known as the ‘Upper House’ or the ‘Council of the States’.

● Unlike the Lok Sabha, it is a permanent house as it can never be
dissolved.

TERM
● The term of Rajya Sabha is 6 years.
● One-third of its members retire after every two years.
● It's a permanent house and can never be dissolved.

COMPOSITION
● Maximum Strength of Rajya Sabha is 250 members
(238 members are elected and 12 members are nominated) .
● 12 nominated by the President from among distinguished persons from
diverse fields like science, art, literature, sports etc.
● 238 elected by the State and Union Territories.
● Seats are allocated to the States and Union Territories on the basis of their
population.

ELECTION
● The members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the Legislative Assemblies
of the State and Union Territories in accordance with the system of
Proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS
● Should be of 30 years of age or above.
● Should be an Indian citizen.
● Should be a registered voter in any of the Parliamentary Constituencies.
● Should not hold any office of profit under the government.
● Should not be of unsound mind.
● Should not be an insolvent.

DISQUALIFICATION OF MEMBERS
Same as the points given for Lok Sabha.
 Presiding Officers

RAJYA SABHA
● Chairman is the presiding officer.
● The Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya
Sabha.
● He presides over its meetings and exercises his casting vote only in case
of a tie.
● The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha from among its
members. In the absence of the Chairman, he acts as the Chairman and
performs his functions.

LOK SABHA
● Speaker is the presiding officer.
● He is elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its own members after the
newly elected House meets for the first time.
● He is elected for a term of 5 years. He presides over the meetings of the
Lok Sabha.
● He may resign from his office by giving his resignation to the Deputy
Speaker Or he can also be removed by the Lok Sabha if the majority of
the members pass a resolution.
● The Deputy Speaker performs the duties of the Speaker when the
Speaker is absent or when his seat is vacant. The Deputy Speaker is
elected or removed in the same way as given for the Speaker.
 SPEAKER OF THE LOK SABHA

● He is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha.

● He conducts the business of the House and is responsible for the
discipline and decorum of the House.
● He does not vacate the office when the Lok Sabha is dissolved and
remains in office till the new speaker is elected.

Role and Functions of the Speaker

● Business of the House

➔ The Speaker presides over the meetings of the Lok Sabha.
➔ He interprets the rules of the procedure of the House.
➔ All the bills passed by the Lok Sabha are signed by him before being sent
to the Rajya Sabha or to the President.
➔ He decides whether to allow a resolution or a question or admit a motion
of adjournment.
➔ He puts the issues to vote and announces the results.
➔ The Speaker decides whether a bill is a Money Bill or not.

● Administrative Functions
➔ He receives all petitions and documents in the House.
➔ He informs the decisions of the House to the concerned authorities.
➔ He decides the admission of visitors and Press correspondents to the
House.

● Disciplinary Functions
➔ He maintains order and decorum in the House. He may suspend a
member or even adjourn the House.
➔ He decides whether there is a Breach of privilege or Contempt of the
House.
➔ He has the authority to decide whether a member of Lok Sabha is
disqualified under Anti-Defection Law or not.
● Parliamentary Committees
➔ Speaker is the ex-officio Chairman of some of the Committees of the
House like the Rules Committee.
➔ He appoints Chairman of all the Committees of the House.
➔ He gives directions to the Chairmen about the working and procedure to
be followed.

● Other Functions
➔ The Speaker presides over the joint sessions of both the Houses of the
Parliament.
➔ He presides over the Conference of the Presiding Officers of the
legislative bodies in India.
➔ He in consultation with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha nominates
personnel for Parliamentary Delegations to various countries.
 PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURES.

SESSIONS :
➢ The meeting of the Parliament summoned by the President.
➢ There are 3 sessions in a year :
Budget Session (Feb - May)
Monsoon Session (July - Aug)
Winter Session (Nov - Dec)
➢ Each House shall meet atleast twice a year.
➢ There should not be a gap of more than 6 months between two sessions.
(i.e maximum gap - 6 months)

QUORUM : It is the minimum number of members required to be present in

the House in order to transact the business of the House.
It is 1/10th of the total membership of each House.

QUESTION HOUR : The first hour on every working day of the Lok Sabha is
reserved for questions from the government on matters of public interest. This
hour is known as the Question Hour. A 10 days notice is given for a question.

3 types of questions in Question Hour :

1. Starred questions : When a member desires an oral answer from the

Minister in the House. These questions have an asterisk mark.
Supplementary questions may be asked after replies to the question.

2. Unstarred Questions : Questions to which answers are given in written

form. Supplementary questions cannot be asked.

3. Short Notice Questions : These questions are asked with a notice of

shorter than 10 days and concern matters of urgent importance. The
Minister can accept or refuse these questions.
ZERO HOUR : During Zero Hour members can raise all types of questions
without any permission or prior notice.

MOTION : It is a formal proposal made by a member stating that the House

should take up some particular matter of public importance.

TYPES OF MOTIONS

Adjournment Motion : An Adjournment Motion is a proposal to lay aside all

other business and take up a ‘ definite matter of urgent importance’. E.g in case
of natural disaster, railway accident etc.

No-Confidence Motion : It is a proposal expressing lack of confidence in the

Ministry. It can be moved only in the Lok Sabha. It is moved by the opposition
when they have atleast 50 members supporting the motion. If this motion is
passed then the government has to resign.
The Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. They
stay in power as long as they enjoy the support of the majority.

Interpellation : The right of the members to ask questions from the

government is known as interpellation.

Prorogation means termination of the session of the Parliament. It is done by

the President.

Adjournment of the House means suspension of the sitting of the House. It is

done by the Speaker or the Chairman of the House.
The House can be adjourned in the following cases :
➢ after the business for the day is over.
➢ death of a sitting/ex-member of the House occurs
➢ Too much disorder in the House
➢ Want of quorum
➢ when ever the Speaker finds it necessary
 Powers and Functions of the Union Parliament

Legislative Powers
1) It enacts laws on the subjects in the Union List.
2) It can enact laws on the subjects in the Concurrent list. (In case of
conflict with the State Legislature, the Union Law prevails.)
3) It enacts laws mentioned in the Residuary list.
4) It can enact laws on subjects given in State List in theses conditions:
(a) During Emergency
(b) When Rajya Sabha passes such a resolution by 2/3rd majority
(c) When 2 or more States give consent, then Parliament may
make an Act on those subjects only for those States.
5) An Ordinance issued by the President must be approved by both the
Houses of the Parliament within 6 weeks of its re-assembly.

Financial Powers
1) The Parliament passes the Union Budget.
2) Supplementary Grants are passed by the Parliament. The additional
grant required to meet the expenditure of the government is called
supplementary grant.
3) It decides the salaries and allowances of MP’s and Ministers.
4) No tax can be imposed by the government without the approval of
the Parliament.
5) If the Union Budget is not passed before 1st April, there would be no
money left with the government to spend. It then uses - ‘Vote on
Account’.
The approval given by the Parliament to withdraw a certain amount
of money from the Consolidated Funds of India is called Vote on
account.

Judicial Powers
1) Impeachment of the President.
2) Removal of the Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
3) Removal of Chief Election Commissioner and the CAG
(Comptroller and Auditor General of India).
4) Punishment for Contempt of the House by an individual or
institution.

Electoral Functions
1) The Parliament along with the State Legislatures elect the President
of India.
2) Both the Houses of Parliament elect the Vice President of India.
3) Lok Sabha elects its Speaker and Deputy Speaker from amongst its
own members.
4) Rajya Sabha elects its Deputy Chairman from amongst its own
members.

Amendment of the Constitution

1) Both Houses of Parliament can amend the Constitution.
2) Amendments must be passed by both the houses, by a majority of
total membership and 2/3rd majority of members present and voting
of each House.
3) In some cases it must be ratified by half of the State Legislatures.

Control over the Executive

1) Interpellation - The Parliament keeps the government under check
by asking questions of general public importance via devices like
Question hour, Zero our, Calling attention notices.
2) Vote of No-Confidence - The Council of Ministers is collectively
responsible to the Lok Sabha. If vote of no-confidence gets passed in
the Lok Sabha then the government has to resign.
3) Adjournment Motion - It is initiated by the members of the
opposition to check the acts of Ministers. It pinpoints the failure of
the government in performance of its duties.
4) Other Motion of Censure - Parliament controls the government by
other motions like motion of censure, rejection of a government bill,
passing of a private member bill against the wishes of the
government.
5) Monetary Controls - If there is a cut motion moved during the
budget session and gets passed, it amounts to no-confidence and the
government has to resign.

Other Powers
1) The Parliament may alter the name or boundary of the state.
2) It makes laws regarding the composition, jurisdiction and powers of
the Supreme Court.
3) It may establish a common High Court for two or more states.
 EXCLUSIVE POWERS of The Rajya Sabha

1) Creation of new All-India Services.

2) If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution by a 2/3rd majority, then the
Parliament can make laws on subjects given in the State List.
3) It is a permanent House. It never gets dissolved.
During Emergency, if the Lok Sabha is dissolved, then it becomes
‘de facto’ and ‘de jure’ Parliament.

EXCLUSIVE POWERS of The Lok Sabha

1) A Money Bill can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha.

2) No-Confidence Motion and Adjournment Motion can only be moved
in Lok Sabha.
3) The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok
Sabha.
4) In case of a deadlock over an ordinary bill there is a joint session.
The will of the Lok Sabha prevails as it has greater numerical
strength than the Rajya Sabha.
 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO HOUSES

dIFFERENCES

LOK SABHA RAJYA SABHA

1) A Money Bill can be 1) A Money Bill cannot be
introduced only in Lok Sabha. introduced in Rajya Sabha. It
also cannot reject a Money Bill.
2) No-Confidence Motion can 2) It cannot be introduced or
only be introduced and passed passed in Rajya Sabha.
in Lok Sabha.
3) In case of a deadlock, in the 3) In a Joint session it is in a
joint session Lok Sabha gets an weaker position.
upper hand because of its
greater numerical strength.
4) It can get dissolved before 4) It's a permanent House and
the expiry of its term. never gets dissolved.

Similarities

1) Ordinary Bills can originate in either House of the Parliament.

2) Both the Houses can amend the Constitution.
3) Both the Houses have the right to remove the President through a
procedure known as ‘Impeachment’.
4) Both the Houses can remove the Judges of the Supreme Court and
the High Court.
 Important

● Ordinary Bill -
➢ It can originate in either of the House.
➢ In case of deadlock, a join session is held of both the houses.
➢ The Lok Sabha gets an upper hand as its numerical strength is more.
➢ The joint session of Parliament is presided over by the Speaker of
the Lok Sabha.

● Money Bill -
➢ It can originate only in Lok Sabha.
➢ The Speaker of the Lok Sabha declares a bill as money bill.
➢ Rajya Sabha can never reject a money bill.
➢ It can only send recommendations within 14 days , which may or
may not be accepted by the Lok Sabha.