SPECIAL SESSION OF PARLIAMENT,4 COMMITTEES OF PARLIAMENT
SPECIAL SESSION OF
PARLIAMENT
CONTEXT: Special Session of Parliament (13th Session
of 17th Lok Sabha and 261st Session of Rajya Sabha) has
been called from September 18-22 having 5 sittings.
What does a Special session mean?
€ The Constitution does not mention the term “special
session.” The President, who summons a regular
Parliamentary session will summon this session also as
per provisions of Article 85(1) of the Constitution.
The Constitution does not define a ‘special session’;
however, Article 352 (Proclamation of Emergency) of
the Constitution does refer to a “special sitting of the
House”.
€ The government determines the date and duration of
parliamentary sessions.
€ The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary
Affairs takes this decision.
€ It currently has ten Ministers, including those
for Defence, Home, Finance, Agriculture, Tribal
Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Information and
Broadcasting.
The Law Minister and the Minister of State
for External Affairs are special invitees to the
Committee.
The President is informed about the Committee’s
decision, who then summons Members of
Parliament to meet for the session.
Constitutional Provisions:
€ The Constitution specifies that six months should not
elapse between two parliamentary sessions.
€ This provision is a colonial legacy. The framers of the
Constitution borrowed it from the Government of
India Act of 1935.
€ It allowed the British Governor General to call a session
of the central legislature at his discretion, requiring that
the gap between two sessions should not be more than
12 months.
COMMITTEES OF
PARLIAMENT
CONTEXT: Recently, four MPs have complained,
that their names had been included in a proposed Select
Committee for the Delhi Services Bill without their
consent in the House.
About Parliamentary Committees:
€ India’s Parliament has several types of committees
which discharge different functions.
€ There are broadly two types of committees in the
Parliament namely;
€ There are 12 Standing Committees that
are permanent in nature, with their members
nominated from time to time by the Chairman.
€ Standing Committees can be classified into the
following six categories:
Financial Committees
Departmental Standing Committees
Committees to Enquire
Committees to Scrutinise and Control
Committees Relating to the Day-to-Day Business
of the House
House-Keeping Committees or Service
Committees
€ Then there are ad hoc or temporary committees, which
are set up for a specific purpose, such as examining a
particular Bill, and are dissolved once that purpose has
been served.
€ They are further subdivided into Inquiry Committees
and Advisory Committees.
€ The principal Ad hoc Committees are the Select and
Joint Committees on Bills.
Constitutional Provisions:
Parliamentary Committees draw their authority
from Article 105 and Article 118.
€ Article 105 deals with the privileges of MPs.
€ Article 118 gives Parliament authority to make rules
to regulate its procedure and conduct of businessWhat is a Select Committee?
€ A Select Committee belongs to temporary committee.
However, the procedure it requires to follow is laid
down in the Rules of Procedure.
€ Under Rule 125 of the Rajya Sabha Rules and
Procedures, any member may move an amendmentthat
a Bill be referred to a Select Committee.
€ Functions: The Committee’s role is to go through the
text of the Bill, clause by clause, in order to see that the
Bill “reflects clearly the intention behind the measure
and the object proposed to be achieved is adequately
brought out”.
€ A Joint Committee within the select committee has
members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
€ The motion to refer a Bill to a Select Committee can
either be moved by the member in-charge of the Bill, or
by any other MP.
PYQ (2014)
3. Which one of the following is the largest
Committee of the Parliament?
(a) The Committee on Public Accounts
(b) The Committee on Estimates
(c) The Committee on Public Undertakings
(d) The Committee on Petitions
Correct Option: (b)
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