The Parliament and Rajya Sabha

India adopted a bicameral legislature which is taken from the 1919 Act. Article 79 constitution of Parliament. There shall be a parliament for the union which shall consist of the president and two houses to be known respectively as the council of states and the House of People. Lok sabha is also known as Lower House, First House, Temporary House, and Popular House, president is an integral part of the parliament without being a member of any House. The parliament of India is known as the heart of the country. Parliament was designed by sir Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker. The foundation stone of parliament was laid by the duke of Connaught on 12 Feb 1921 on Raiseena hills and was inaugurated by viceroy Lord Irwin on 10th Feb 1927. its shape resembles like U of the English alphabet.

The Parliament and Rajya Sabha Articles:-

Art 79- parliament

Art 80- Rajya sabha

Art 81- Lok sabha

Art 83 – Duration of parliament

Art 84- qualifications of members of parliament

Art 85- session of parliament

Art 89- chairman and Deputy chairman of the council of states

Art 90- resignation or removal of Deputy Chairman

Art 93 – speaker and Deputy Speaker

Art 99- oath and affirmation by members

Art 100- quorum

Art 105- powers and privileges of the House of Parliament

Art 108- joint sitting

Art 110- Money bills

Art 112- budget

Art 117- Financial bills

Art 123- ordinances by the president

Rajya Sabha:-

It is the upper House of the parliament. It is also called a second house, superior House, permanent House, and Parliament of Scholars.

The commencement of the Rajya sabha can be witnessed by the government of India act, of 1919 in which the Second House and Council of states were constituted.

On the 23rd of August, 1954 Council of states was renamed Rajya sabha.

The strongest second House of the world is the senate, USA and the weakest second House of the world is the House of Lords, Britain.

Composition of Council of states (Art-80):-

Rajya Sabha was constituted on 3rd April 1952. The maximum number of members can be 250 and there are 245 members at present.

It is a permanent House of parliament.
It can never be dissolved.
Among these 250 members , 229 are representative of states, and 4 are from union territories. At present only 233 representatives are elected.
According to article 80 (2), the other 12 members are nominated by the Indian president according to their achievements in science, Arts, literature, and social service.
On the basis of the 1971 census, the Delimitation commission froze the total number of existing seats allocated to various states in the rajya sabha till the first census to be taken after the year 2026.
The first sitting in Rajya sabha was held on 13 May 1952.

Rajya Sabha Tenure:-

Every member of the Rajya sabha has a tenure of six years. One-third of its members retire after every two years. The tenure of Rajya sabha members was not prescribed in the original constitution. Parliament set the tenure of 6 years in the people’s Representation Act, of 1951.

Rajya Sabha Qualifications:-

The qualifications required for becoming a member of the Rajya Sabha are as follows:
He /she should be a citizen of India and of a minimum of 30 years of age.
He /she should take an oath or affirmation contained in the 3rd schedule of the constitution of India

Other Qualifications:-

An Indian citizen can contest the Rajya Sabha elections of the state in which he resides where elections are to be conducted through an open voting system. (now it has been removed).

Resignation:-

Members of the Rajya sabha give their resignation to the vice president.

The Vice president is the ex officio chairman of the Rajya sabha. The deputy chairman is elected by the members of the Rajya Sabha from amongst themselves.

In the absence of the chairman, the Deputy chairman presides over the House and in absence of the Deputy Chairman, the member appointed by the president presides over the House.

Deputy chairman:-

The Deputy Chairman is elected by the members of Rajya sabha from amongst themselves and in the absence of the chairman, the Deputy chairman presides over the House. According to the bill passed on 14th May 2002 by parliament. The deputy chairman is to be given allowances équivalent to the minister of state(union).

In absence of the chairman and Deputy chairman both, a member appointed by the president presides over the House.

Salary and Allowances (Art-97):-

Salaries and Allowances of the chairman and Deputy chairman are to be fixed by the parliament by law and it is appropriated out of the consolidated fund of India.

Lok sabha Duties and Powers:-

Lok sabha and rajya sabha has equal powers and duties in most of the matters and following duties of Rajya Sabha:

If a member of parliament remains absent from all the meetings of the House for a period of 60 days without the permission of the House, then he has to vacate his seat.

As Per Article 249,

Rajya Sabha has special powers to declare with a 2/3 rd majority that it is necessary for the national interest that Parliament may make laws with respect to a matter in the state list.

This act was used in 1952 and 1986.

As Per Article 312

the Rajya sabha has special powers to pass resolutions to create by law one or more of All India services common to the union and states.

Powers of Parliament:-

Legislative powers: Ordinary bills can be introduced in either house of the parliament.
In case of deadlock, the president can call a joint session under Art -108.
Executive powers: council of ministers is collectively responsible for Lok sabha and a no-confidence motion can be passed against them only in Lok sabha.
Rajya sabha can only ask questions.
Powers of Constitutional Amendments: this bill can be introduced in either House of parliament. In case of deadlock, it becomes void. No provision for a joint session.
Special powers: joint session is presided over by the speaker of Lok sabha and in his absence, it is presided over by the Deputy Speaker. A bill is a money bill or not, it is decided by the speaker of Lok sabha.
According to Art-67, a resolution for the removal of the vice president is passed by the Rajya sabha.
Article 249 allows parliament to legislate on a subject in a state list in the national interest. Under Article-312- the creation of one or more new All India services by the Rajya sabha. Ex- IAS, IFS, IPS.

Parliamentary process:-

Question hour – The first hour of every sitting in both Houses is devoted to asking and answering of questions by members of the House to the ministers.

Questions are of three types-

Starred questions: these are answered orally and these can be asked again.
Un-starred questions: these are answered in writing and no supplementary can be asked on these.
Short notice question: A notice of 10 days has to be given before a question can be asked.
Zero hours: It starts at 12 pm and questions can be asked without prior notice.

Legislative Process:-

Governmental – when the bill is introduced by ministers.
Non-governmental- when the bill is introduced by members. Before becoming a law, a bill has to pass three stages 1st stage- Bill is introduced and its objective is laid down.
2nd stage- Discussions, inspection, amendment, formation of the committee, and opinion of states take place.
3rd stage- voting takes place on the bill.

The same procedure repeats in the other House and the bill becomes law after the signature of the president. President is bound to give assent on money bills and constitutional Amendment Bills. As per the 84th constitutional Amendment (2011), the number of members to the parliament cannot be changed till 2026.

The first general elections started in 1951 and were completed in 1952.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC):-

It was first established in 1921 under the government of India Act 1919 provision.
It is the oldest financial committee.
This committee examines the manners and results of spending public funds.

It has 22 members of which 15 are from Lok sabha and 7 are from Rajya sabha. The members are elected by members of parliament amongst themselves via a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote. Members are elected for a period of one year. A minister cannot be a member of PAC.

The Chairman of the PAC is appointed by the speaker from its members. The chairman used to be of the ruling party but since 1967, now the chairman of PAC is from the opposition by convention.

Functions of PAC:-

It examines the appropriation accounts and the financial accounts of the Union Government and any other accounts laid before the Lok sabha.

It works like a court.
This forms the basis of the report submitted by CAG.
This forms the basis of the report submitted by CAG.
This committee can be called the twin sister of the Estimates committee.

The Parliament and Rajya Sabha Previous year questions:-

What is the term of the members of Rajya sabha?

6years

In this context, the Rajya Sabha has more powers than the Lok sabha.

creation of All Indian services

Chairman of which house is not a member of that house?

Rajya Sabha

Which schedule contains a provision regarding the allocation of seats in Rajya sabha?

4th schedule

Which house never gets dissolved?

Rajya Sabha

Who is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya sabha?

vice president

Who is elected as deputy speaker of the Rajya sabha?

A person who is a member of the Rajya sabha

What is the total strength of the Rajya sabha?

250

What is the maximum number of members that can be elected to the Rajya sabha?

238

How many members were nominated to the Rajya sabha?

Nomination of members of Rajya sabha by the president is adopted from which country?

Ireland

The Parliament and Rajya Sabha

The Parliament and Rajya Sabha