Joint Session of Indian Parliament
» However, the authors of the Constitution of India visualised
situations of deadlock between the upper house i.e. Rajya Sabha and the lower house i.e. Lok Sabha.
» Therefore, the Constitution of India
provides for Joint sittings of both the Houses to break this deadlock.
» The joint sitting of the Parliament is
called by the President and is presided over by the Speaker or, in his absence,
by the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha or in his absence, the Deputy-Chairman
of the Rajya Sabha.
» If any of the above officers are not
present then any other member of the Parliament can preside by consensus of
both the House.
» As per Article 108 of Constitution, a
Joint session of Parliament can be summoned in the following situations.
If after a
Bill has been passed by one House and transmitted to the other House—
(a) the
Bill is rejected by the other House; or
(b) the
Houses have finally disagreed as to the amendments to be made in the Bill; or
(c) more
than six months elapse from the date of the reception of the Bill by the other
House without the Bill being passed by it, the President may, unless the Bill
has elapsed by reason of a dissolution of the House of the People, notify to
the Houses by message if they are sitting or by public notification if they are
not sitting, his intention to summon them to meet in a joint sitting for the
purpose of deliberating and voting on the Bill
» However, in calculating period of six
months, those days are not considered when house is prorogued or adjourned for
more than 4 consecutive days.
» If the above conditions are satisfied,
the President of India may
summon joint sitting of both the houses of parliament.
Exception to joint sittings
» Not all bills can be refereed to a
joint sitting of Parliament. There are two exception.
1. Money Bill
Under the Constitution of India,
money bills require approval of the Lok Sabha only. Rajya Sabha can make recommendations to Lok Sabha, which it is not required to accept. Even if Rajya Sabha doesn't pass a money bill within 14 days, it
is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses of Parliament after expiry of
the above period. Therefore, a requirement to summon a joint session can never
arise in the case of money bill.
2. Constitution Amendment Bill
Article
368 of Indian constitution require that constitution of India can be amended by
both houses of parliament by 2/3 majority. In case of disagreement between both
houses, there is no provision to summon joint session of parliament.
Conduct of
business
» Article 118 provides that President of India may
after consultation with the chair of the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker of Lok Sabha may
make rules for procedure of joint session of parliament.
» The speaker of Lok Sabha presides over
joint session of parliament.
» However, in case of joint sitting of
house, new amendments cannot be proposed in the bill except those which has
been agreed by one house and refused by another. Only those amendments can be
proposed to house which are relevant to the matter of disagreement.
» The decision of presiding officer
shall be final in respect of admissibility of amendments.
» The bills are passed by simple
majority of total members present and voting.
» In such case bill shall be considered
as deemed to have been passed by both the houses of parliament.
Who presides over the Joint Session of Indian Parliament?
A. Chair Person of Rajya
Sabha
B. Senior most member of Parliament
C. Speaker of Lok Sabha
D. President of India
Answer. (C) Speaker of Lok Sabha
B. Senior most member of Parliament
C. Speaker of Lok Sabha
D. President of India
Answer. (C) Speaker of Lok Sabha
5. The Preamble
10. The Union Executive
1. President
16. PanchayatiRaj
