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Legislative Functions of Rajya Sabha
What is a Bill
A Bill is a draft statute which
becomes law after it is passed by both the Houses of Parliament and assented to
by the President. All legislative
proposals are brought before Parliament in the forms of Bills.
Types
of Bills and their Specific Features
(i) Bills may be broadly classified into Government Bills and
Private Members’ Bills depending upon their initiation in the House by a
Minister or a Private Member.
(ii) Content wise, Bills are further classified into
(a)
Original Bills which embody new proposals, ideas or policies,
(b) Amending
Bills which seek to modify, amend or revise existing Acts,
(c) Consolidating
Bills which seek to consolidate existing law/enactments on a particular
subject,
(d) Expiring Laws (Continuance) Bills which seek to continue Acts
which, otherwise, would expire on a specified date,
(e) Repealing and amending
Bill to cleanse the Statute Book,
(f) Validating Acts to give validity to
certain actions,
(g) Bills to replace Ordinances,
(h) Money and Financial
Bills, and
(i) Constitution Amendment Bills.
(iii) However, procedurally, the Bills are classified as
(i) Ordinary Bills
(ii) Money Bills and Financial Bills
(iii) Ordinance Replacing Bills and
(iv) Constitution Amendment Bills.
(iv) Money Bills are those Bills which contain only provisions
dealing with all or any of the matters specified in sub-clauses (a) to (f) of
clause (1) of article 110 of the Constitution. Financial Bills can be further classified as Financial Bills Categories
A and B. Category A Bills contain provisions dealing with any of the matters
specified in sub-clauses (a) to (f) of clause (1) of article 110 and other
matters and Category B Bills involve expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of
India.
Except Money
Bills and Financial Bills, Category A, which can be introduced only in the Lok
Sabha, a Bill may originate in either House of Parliament. As per the provisions of article 109 of the
Constitution, the Rajya Sabha has limited powers with respect to Money
Bills. A Money Bill after having been
passed by the Lok Sabha, and sent to Rajya Sabha for its recommendations, has
to be returned to Lok Sabha by the Rajya Sabha, with in a period of fourteen
days from the date of its receipt, with or without recommendations. It is open for the Lok Sabha, to either
accept or reject all or any of the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha. If the
Lok Sabha accepts any of the recommendations of the Rajya Sabha, the Money Bill
is deemed to have been passed by both Houses with the amendments recommended by
the Rajya Sabha and accepted by the Lok Sabha. If the Lok Sabha does not accept any of the recommendations of the Rajya
Sabha, the Money Bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses in the form
in which it was passed by the Lok Sabha without any of the amendments
recommended by the Rajya Sabha. In case
a Money Bill is not returned by the Rajya Sabha to the Lok Sabha within a
period of fourteen days from the date of its receipt, it is deemed to have been
passed by both Houses in the form in which it was passed by the Lok Sabha after
the expiry of said period.
(v) Financial Bill Category A can only be introduced in the
Lok Sabha on the recommendation of the President. However once it has been passed by the Lok
Sabha, it is like an ordinary Bill and there is no restriction on the powers of
the Rajya Sabha on such Bills.
(vi) Financial Bill Category B and Ordinary Bills can be
introduced in either House of Parliament.
(vii) Ordinance replacing Bills are brought before Parliament to
replace an Ordinance, with or without modifications, promulgated by the
President under article 123 of the Constitution of a subject. To provide continuity to the provisions of
the Ordinance, such a Bill has to be passed by the Houses of Parliament and
assented to by the President within six weeks of the reassembly of Parliament.
(viii) As per the procedure laid down in the Constitution,
Constitution Amendment Bills can be of three types viz.,
(i) requiring simple majority for
their passage in each House;
(ii) requiring special majority for their passage
in each House i.e., a majority of the
total membership of a House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of
the members of that House present and voting (article 368); and
(iii) requiring
special majority for their passage and ratification by Legislatures of not less than one-half of
the States by resolutions to that effect
passed by those Legislatures (proviso to clause (2) of article 368). A Constitution Amendment Bill under article
368 can be introduced in either House of Parliament and has to be passed by
each House by special majority.
(ix) Under provisions of article 108 of the Constitution, if
after a Bill passed by one House and transmitted to the other House:-
(a) 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 its receipt
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 Lok Sabha, summon
them to meet in a joint sitting for the purpose of deliberating and voting on
the Bill. If at the joint sitting of the
two Houses, the Bill, with such amendments, if any, as are agreed to in joint
sitting, is passed by a majority of the total number of members of both Houses
present and voting, it shall be deemed to have been passed by both Houses. However there is no provision of joint
sittings on a Money Bill or a Constitution Amending Bill.
(x) After the dissolution of Lok Sabha all Bills except the Bills introduced in the Rajya Sabha and pending
therein, lapse.
Law
making process (How a Bill becomes an Act)
(i) A Bill undergoes
three readings in each House of Parliament. The First Reading consists of the Introduction of a Bill. The Bill is introduced after adoption of a
motion for leave to introduce a Bill in either of the House. With the setting up of the Department-related
Parliamentary Standing Committees, invariably all Bills, barring Ordinance replacing
Bills; Bills of innocuous nature and Money Bills, are referred to the these
Committees for examination and report within three months. The next stage on a Bill i.e., second reading start only after the Committee summits its
report on the Bill to the Houses. The
Second Reading consists of two stages: the ‘first stage’ consists of discussion
on the principles of the Bill and its provisions generally on any of the
following motions: that the Bill be taken into consideration; that the Bill be
referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha ; that the Bill be referred
to a Joint Committee of the Houses with the concurrence of the Lok Sabha; that
it be circulated for the purpose of eliciting opinion thereon; and the ‘second
stage’ signifies the clause-by clause consideration of the Bill as introduced
or as reported by the Select/Joint Committee. Amendments given by members to various clauses are moved at this
stage. The Third Reading refers to the
discussion on the motion that the Bill (or the Bill as amended) be passed or
returned (to the Lok Sabha, in the case of a Money Bill) wherein the arguments
are based against or in favour of the Bill. After a Bill has been passed by one House, it is sent to the other House
where it goes through the same procedure. However the Bill is not again introduced in the other House, it is laid
on the Table of the other House which constitutes its first reading there.
(ii) After a Bill has been passed by both Houses,
it is presented to the President for his assent. The President can assent or withhold his
assent to a Bill or he can return a Bill, other than a Money Bill, for
reconsideration. If the Bill is again
passed by the Houses, with or without amendment made by the President, he shall
not withhold assent there from. But,
when a Bill amending the Constitution passed by each House with the requisite
majority is presented to the President, he shall give his assent thereto.
A Bill becomes an Act of Parliament
after being passed by both the Houses of Parliament and assented to by the President.