Parliament and State Legislatures

What the official syllabus says

HCS Main Written Examination, Paper IV: General Studies-II:

• Parliament and State legislatures-structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Topics in detail

Structure

• Parliament (Articles 79–122): President, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha
• Composition of the Rajya Sabha (Article 80) and the Lok Sabha (Article 81); nominated members
• Qualifications and disqualifications of members (Articles 84, 102 and 191); office of profit
• Presiding officers: Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Chairman and Deputy Chairman; pro tem Speaker
• State legislatures (Articles 168–212): unicameral and bicameral States; creation and abolition of Legislative Councils (Article 169)

Functioning and conduct of business

• Summoning, prorogation and dissolution; the six-month rule (Articles 85 and 174)
• Question Hour, Zero Hour, half-an-hour discussion; starred and unstarred questions
• Motions: adjournment, calling attention, no-confidence, censure, privilege motions
• Legislative procedure: ordinary Bills, Money Bills (Article 110), Financial Bills (Article 117), constitutional amendment Bills
• Joint sitting (Article 108); the role of the Rajya Sabha on Money Bills
• Budget: Annual Financial Statement (Article 112), demands for grants, cut motions, Appropriation and Finance Bills, vote on account
• President's address, the Governor's address and the motion of thanks
• Ordinances (Articles 123 and 213) and their re-promulgation (Krishna Kumar Singh, 2017)
• Governor's assent to State Bills (Articles 200 and 201)

Parliamentary committees

• Financial committees: Public Accounts Committee, Estimates Committee, Committee on Public Undertakings
• Departmentally Related Standing Committees (since 1993)
• Business Advisory Committee, Committee of Privileges, Ethics Committee, Joint Parliamentary Committees
• Role of committees in scrutiny of Bills and of the executive

Powers and privileges

• Articles 105 and 194: freedom of speech in the House, immunity from proceedings
• Collective and individual privileges; breach of privilege and contempt of the House
• Absence of codification; privilege versus the freedom of the press
• Anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule) and the Speaker's role; Kihoto Hollohan (1992)

Issues arising out of these

• Declining number of sittings and time spent on legislation
• Disruptions; Bills passed with little debate; Bills not referred to committees
• Use of the Money Bill route; ordinances in place of legislation
• Role of the Opposition; the office of Deputy Speaker left vacant
• Women's representation and the 106th Amendment
• Delays in the Governor's assent and disputes in States

Overlaps

For the Haryana Vidhan Sabha, see Haryana: State Government, Legislature and Judiciary.