Tag: political science

While the National Emergency is in action, Parliament may by law extend the normal term of Lok Sabha for a period of 1 year at a time and can renew it any number of times as thinks fir but can't extend it beyond a period of 6months after the emergency has ceased to operate. In case if the Lok Sabha is dissolved, it is the Rajya Sabha which shoulders all the responsibilities of the Union Legislature. Union Legislature that is the Parliament consist of two Houses i.e., Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Thus both the houses are empowered to legislate the law. Therefore at the time of the dissolution of Lok Sabha it the Rajya Sabha which has the responsibility of legislation.

The Houses of Parliament can remove the President of India, Chief Justice of India and Judge of the Supreme Court or High Courts by impeachment.

The President and the Vice-President are not elected directly by the people, but by the members of the electoral college. The manner of election is the same in both cases. It is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting is by secret ballot. Thus, it is true that every elected member of the Parliament stands on equal footing in the election of the President or the Vice-President.

In case of Ordinary Bill, the powers of Lok Sabha are equal. If there is disagreement between both the houses on the passage of the bill, the President may call for a joint sitting. But Lok Sabha has a stronger position in the joint sitting for passage of the ordinary bill because its total membership is larger than the Rajya Sabha.

The structure of the constitution can be decided on the basis of amendments. In case the amendment is easy, it is called Flexible Constitution and in case the amendment is difficult, it is called the Rigid Constitution. A Flexible Constitution is regarded as unwritten or uncodified. It is easily amended without the use of special procedures. In a Flexible Constitution, the Parliament can alter the constitution by passing a law.

Certain parts of the constitution can be amended by a special majority consent of the members of Parliament. Special Majority means two third members should accept. For example, if out of the 245 members in Rajya Sabha, if only 150 are present and voting, then the special majority required would be 101. This type of majority is used for most of the Constitutional amendment bills.

Simple majority or working majority refers to a majority of more than 50% of the members present and voting. Most of the normal motions and bills in the house such as No-confidence Motion, Motion of Confidence, Motion of Thanks, Censure Motion, Adjournment Motion, Money Bills, Ordinary Bills etc. are passed via the simple majority process.

Certain parts of the constitution can be amended by special majority along with consent from half of the states of India. This method is harder compared to the other two methods viz Simple and Special Majority. By this method, the election of the President of India, distribution of powers between the Centre and the State and other sections can be amended. This method can also be used as per article 61 for the impeachment of the President.

A Bill pending in the Legislature of a State shall not lapse by reason of the prorogation of the House or Houses . Bill pending in the Legislative Council of a State which has not been passed by the Legislative Assembly shall not lapse on a dissolution of the Assembly.                                          

The Rajya Sabha has limited powers regarding the Money Bill. It cannot reject or amend the money bill after it is passed by the Lok Sabha and transmitted to the Rajya Sabha. It has to return the bill within 14 days with or without recommendations. It is on the discretion of Lok Sabha to accept or reject any or all of the recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha.