Lok Sabha - House of the People
The additional powers of Lok
Sabha compared to Rajya Sabha
• Motion of no confidence against
the Government can only be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha.
• Money bills can only be
introduced in the Lok Sabha.
• Lok Sabha has equal powers with
Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing any Bill of Constitutional Amendment,
passing a motion for the impeachment of President, Judges of Supreme Court and
High Court.
• The Rajya Sabha becomes the
only Parliament in the event that the Lok Sabha is dissolved, either before or
after a National Emergency is declared. It cannot be dissolved.
• The nominated members have the
right to cast their vote during confidence votes and other money bills. The
only exception is that nominated members are not allowed to vote during
presidential elections.
• Lok Sabha has its own TV
channel, Lok Sabha TV, headquartered within the Parliament premises.
Speaker
The presiding officer of the
lower house is the speaker. The Speaker is the ex-officio chairman of the
Business Advisory Committee and the Rules Committee. The Speaker is elected by
the members of the Lok Sabha from among themselves. The Speaker oversees the
privileges of Lok Sabha members. If the office of speaker becomes vacant, the
Lok Sabha elects a new member. The President determines the Speaker's election
date. He resigns by writing to the Deputy Speaker. If the two houses cannot
agree on approving a law other than a money bill, the president shall call a
joint session of the two houses to resolve the disagreement, and the Speaker
shall preside over the meeting. Normally, the Speaker has no voting rights in
the House, but he can utilize a casting vote if there is a tie in adopting a bill,
resolution, etc. Whenever the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the speaker remains in
office until the newly elected Lok Sabha meets. The Speaker decides whether a
bill is a money bill, and his decision in this question is final. His
decision to accept motions, resolutions, bills, amendments, notifications of
questions, etc., is final. He is not expected to give reasons for his decisions
which cannot be questioned by any member.
In the absence of Speaker, Deputy
Speaker will perform his duties, and he is elected by the members of Lok Sabha
from among themselves. The Speaker's term runs from the day he or she is
elected to the position until the first session of the new parliament begins.
The speaker tenders his resignation just before the beginning of the first session
of the new parliament. The early termination of the Speaker's tenure can be
brought in by three factors.
a. If he ceases to be a member of
the Lok Sabha.
b. If he resigns by writing to
the deputy Speaker.
c. If a majority of Lok Sabha
members pass a motion to dismiss him (14 days notice with 50 votes).
Whenever the house meets to
remove the Speaker, he cannot preside over the sitting of the house. However he
may take part in the proceedings and vote (not in case of equal vote).
Additional functions of the
Speaker are
• He maintains order and decorum.
• To interpret the provisions of
(a) the constitution, (b) Rules of Procedure and conduct of Business in the Lok
Sabha, (c) the Parliamentary conventions within the house.
• He adjourns or suspends the meeting
of the House.
• He allows a 'secret' sitting of
the House.
• He decides the questions of
disqualifications of a member of Lok Sabha.
• He acts as the ex-officio
chairman of the Indian Parliamentary Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
• He appoints the chairman of all
the Parliamentary Committees of Lok Sabha.
Protem Speaker
According to the constitution,
the President may designate a member as the Speaker Protem, who is typically
the most senior member, since the Speaker vacates his office when the new
Lok Sabha convenes. The President himself administers oath of office to him.
Before the first session of the newly elected Lok Sabha, the old Lok Sabha
Speaker vacates his seat and the senior-most member of the present Lok Sabha is
appointed by the President as the Protem Speaker. The Speaker Protem (Protem
Speaker) is the person who presides over the first sitting of the Lok Sabha of
the new Lok Sabha members. The Protem Speaker has all the powers of the
Speaker. The Protem Speaker is the person who administers the oath to all the
new Lok Sabha members. The President administers the oath to the Protem
Speaker. The election of the Speaker is conducted by the Protem Speaker. The
Protem Speaker's term of office shall be till the election of the new Speaker.
Deputy Speaker
The Deputy Speaker presides over
the Lok Sabha in the absence of the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker is also elected
from among the members of the Lok Sabha. The date of election of the Deputy
Speaker is decided by the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker can preside over a joint
session of both the Houses of Parliament in the absence of the Speaker. The
Deputy Speaker is accountable to the House, not to the Speaker. A special power
of the Deputy Speaker is that if he becomes a member of any parliamentary
committee, he automatically becomes its chairman. In the presence of the
Speaker, the Deputy Speaker acts like an ordinary member. The Deputy Speaker
can be removed from office by a resolution passed by a majority of the members
of the Lok Sabha. Notice of the resolution must be given to the Parliament 14
days before the motion is introduced. The Speaker submits his resignation to
the Deputy Speaker. The Deputy Speaker submits his resignation to the Speaker.
The First Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha is M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar.
Panel of Chairperson in Lok
Sabha
The Speaker under the Rules of
Lok Sabha nominates a panel of ten chairpersons. In the absence of the Speaker
and Deputy Speaker, any one of them may preside over the House. A member of
this panel, however, cannot preside over the House when the Speaker's and
Deputy Speaker's posts are vacant. In this case the President may appoint a
person for presiding over the House.
Qualifications for a Member of
Lok Sabha
• Must be a citizen of India
• The person must have completed
25 years of age
• Must possess such other
qualifications as may be prescribed by Parliament
• The person must be a registered
voter in any parliamentary constituency under the Representation of the People
Act, 1951
• Only SC/ST candidates can
contest from reserved SC/ST seats.
Election Process
The members of the Lok Sabha are
directly elected by the people. Indian citizens who have completed 18 years of
age are eligible to vote. Initially, the minimum voting age was 21. It was
reduced to 18 by the 61st Amendment. There is no proportional representation in
the Lok Sabha elections, but territorial representation. For the purpose of
holding elections to the Lok Sabha, the country (or, in the case of a state
assembly, the state) is divided into various constituencies of approximately
equal population. One representative is elected from each constituency on the
basis of universal adult suffrage. Under universal adult suffrage, each
person's vote is of equal value. The seats in the Lok Sabha are determined on
the basis of the 1971 census.
Term of the Lok Sabha
The term of the Lok Sabha is 5
years. The Lok Sabha can be dissolved before its term if the political parties
or coalitions fail to form a government after the elections or if the Prime Minister
advises the President to dissolve the Lok Sabha and hold fresh elections. The
President has the power to dissolve the Lok Sabha. During the Emergency, the
President has the power to extend the term of the Lok Sabha once for one year.
However, this cannot continue for more than six months after the Emergency is
lifted.
Casting vote
The Speaker does not normally
vote on a bill introduced in Parliament or the Legislative Assembly. However,
if there is a deadlock in the vote for and against the bill, the Speaker or the
Speaker of the House may cast a vote to resolve the deadlock. Such a vote is
called a casting vote.
Leader of the Lok Sabha
The leader of the Lok Sabha is
the Prime Minister. However, if the Prime Minister is not a member of the Lok
Sabha, he may choose one of the ministers to be the leader of the Lok Sabha.
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition
shall be the leader of the largest opposition party. The party in question must
have won 1/10 of the total seats. The position of the Leader of the Opposition
is equivalent to that of a Cabinet Minister. The main role of the Leader of the
Opposition is to constructively criticize the policies of the government and to
raise an alternative government.
Whip
Although the posts of Leader of
the House and Leader of the Opposition are not mentioned in the Indian
Constitution, they are mentioned in the House Rules and the Parliamentary Act
respectively. However, the whip is a post that is not mentioned in the
Constitution and the House Rules or the Parliamentary Rules. All political
parties, whether ruling or opposition, have the post of whip in Parliament. The
whip is responsible for ensuring the presence of the party members and ensuring
their support for or against a particular issue. The party whip is responsible
for controlling and monitoring the conduct of party members in Parliament and
prescribing punishment for those who violate it.
Disqualifications of a Member
of Parliament
Central and state employees
cannot contest (but this law does not apply to ministers and members of
Parliament). People who are disqualified by a court and those with mental
problems cannot contest. People who are bankrupt cannot contest. Anyone who is
not an Indian citizen or has acquired foreign citizenship is not eligible to
contest. Those who are disqualified under the Parliament Act also cannot
contest.
Circumstances under which a
Member of Parliament may resign
• If a person is elected to both
Houses of Parliament, he must inform the authorities within 10 days of which
House he wishes to continue in. Otherwise, he will lose his membership of the
Rajya Sabha.
• If a sitting member of one
House is elected to another House, he will lose his membership of the first
House.
• If a person is elected to two
seats in a House, he must inform them in which seat he wishes to continue.
Otherwise, he will lose both his memberships.
• A person cannot be a member of
Parliament and a State Legislative Assembly at the same time. If he is so
elected, he will lose his membership of Parliament if he does not resign his
seat in the State Legislative Assembly within 14 days.
• A member who becomes
constitutionally disqualified will lose his membership of Parliament.
• If a member wishes to resign,
he can resign from his position by writing a letter to the Chairman in the
Rajya Sabha and the Speaker in the Lok Sabha.
• If a member of Parliament goes
on leave for 60 consecutive days without giving any special notice in
Parliament, his membership will be forfeited.
• If a member of Parliament is
elected as the President, Vice President or Governor, his membership will be
forfeited.
Sessions of Parliament
Usually, there are 3 sessions of
Parliament in a year.
• Budget Session (February - May)
• Monsoon Session (July -
September)
• Winter Session (November -
December)
During this period, the House
meets every day. A 'session' is the period from the first sitting of a House to
its end. The period between the end of one session and the beginning of the
next session is called Recess. Parliament must meet at least twice a year. The
maximum period between two sessions of Parliament is 6 months. The President
convenes the session of Parliament.
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