Parliament is India’s supreme legislative body. The Indian Parliament is made up of the President and two Houses: Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President has the authority to convene and prorogue either House of Parliament, as well as to dissolve Lok Sabha. On January 26, 1950, India’s Constitution went into effect.

What is Parliament?

• The Union government’s legislative organ is the Parliament.
• Due to the adoption of the parliamentary form of government, it holds a pre-eminent and central position in the Indian democratic political system.
• It is also known as the ‘Westminster’ model of government.

Constitutional Provisions

• Part V of the Constitution containing articles 79 to 122 deals with the Parliament’s organization, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers, and so on.
• Article 79 of the Constitution describes the structure of parliament. It states that the Parliament is made up of the President and two houses, the Lower House or House of People and the Upper House or Council of States.

Structure of Indian Parliament and Components

• As per the constitution, the Indian Parliament is divided into three parts: the President, the Council of States, and the House of the People.
• The Council of States and the House of People adopted the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and ‘Lok Sabha’ in 1954, respectively.
• The Upper House (Second Chamber or House of Elders) is the Rajya Sabha, and the Lower House in the Lok Sabha (First Chamber or Popular House).
• The former represents the Indian Union’s states and union territories, while the latter represents the people of India as a whole.
• Despite the fact that the President of India is not a member of either House of Parliament and does not attend its meetings, he is an integral part of the Parliament.
• This is due to the fact that a bill passed by both Houses of Parliament cannot become law unless it receives the President’s assent.
• He also performs certain functions related to Parliamentary proceedings, such as summoning and pro-roguing both Houses, dissolving the Lok Sabha, addressing both Houses, issuing ordinances when they are not in session, and so on.
• The interdependence of the legislative and executive branches is emphasized in the parliamentary form of government.
• As a result, we have the ‘President-in-Parliament,’ similar to the ‘Crown-in-Parliament’ in Britain.
• The two houses sit separately and are constituted on different principles.

Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha is the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament, or popular chamber/ House of the People, with the Rajya Sabha functioning as the upper house. The Lok Sabha is made of representatives of people elected by direct election on the basis of Universal Adult Suffrage. Members of Lok Sabha are referred to as MPs, or members of parliament. These members are elected from various union territories and states. Elections for Lok Sabha seats are conducted every five years. 

Historical background

The Lok Sabha (House of the People) was duly constituted for the first time on 17 April 1952 after the first General Elections were held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952.

Provisions related to composition

Article 81 deals with the Composition of the Lok Sabha. This article provides that the maximum number should be as follows:

• Not more than 530 representatives of the States.
• Not more than 20 representatives from the Union Territories
• Not more than 2 members of the Anglo Indian Community as nominated by the President, only if he/she is of opinion that the Anglo Indian Community is not adequately represented in the parliament.
• This makes the total strength of the Lok Sabha i.e. 530+20+2= 552.

Representation of Anglo-Indian Community

• Representation of the Anglo-Indian Community is provided by the Constitution as per article 331.
• Article 331 says that: the President may if he is of opinion that the Anglo-Indian community is not adequately represented in the House of the People, nominate not more than two members of that community to the House of the People.
• Parliament passed the Constitution (126th Amendment) Bill, extending reservation for SC/STs but doing away with the provision for nomination of Anglo Indians to Lok Sabha and some state Assemblies.

Eligibility Criteria

Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament. A person to be qualified for the membership of the Lok Sabha should possess the following qualifications:

• He must be a citizen of India and make and subscribe before some person authorized in that behalf by the Election Commission an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule to the Constitution;
• He must be not less than 25 years of age;
• He must possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament.

Reason for Disqualification

Article 102 of the Constitution lays down that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament –

• If he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder;
• If he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
• If he is an undischarged insolvent;
• If he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgment of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;
• If he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.

The Parliament has laid down the following additional disqualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951):

• He must not have been found guilty of certain election offenses or corrupt practices in the elections.
• He must not have been convicted for any offense resulting in imprisonment for two or more years. But, the detention of a person under a preventive detention law is not a disqualification.
• He must not have failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within the time.
• He must not have any interest in government contracts, works, or services.
• He must not be a director or managing agent nor hold an office of profit in a corporation in which the government has at least 25 percent share.
• He must not have been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the State.
• He must not have been convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offense of bribery.

Process of Election

The members of the Lok Sabha are elected on the basis of the following principles:

• Universal Adult Franchise (Article 326): Every citizen who has attained the minimum age of 18 years(61st amendment act) has the right to vote in the elections to the Lok Sabha. However, it is essential that his name should stand included in the voters list of his constituency.
• Reservation of Seats for SCs and STs: Some constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These are called Reserved Constituencies. From each reserved constituency only candidates belonging to SCs or STs, as the case may be, can contest elections. However, all the voters of each such constituency exercise their right to vote for electing one candidate belonging to SC or ST as their representative. Presently 131 seats stand reserved (84 for SCs and 47 for STs).
• Single Member Territorial Constituencies: The whole country is divided into as many territorial constituencies as is the number of members of the Lok Sabha to be elected. From each constituency, one MP is elected.
• Direct Election and Simple Majority Vote Victory system: All the members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people. Any voter can cast his vote to elect any candidate of his choice from his constituency. A candidate securing the largest number of votes from amongst all the contestants from a constituency gets elected as the representative of the people of his constituency in the Lok Sabha.

Tenure of Member

• The normal term of the Lok Sabha is five years. This term can be extended for one year during an emergency.
• But fresh elections to the Lok Sabha must be held within six months of the end of the emergency. Further, the President can dissolve the Lok Sabha at any time when the Prime Minister may advise him to do so or when no party may be in a position to form a government.
• In this case also a new Lok Sabha has to be essentially elected within six months.
• Sessions: The President can call the session of Parliament at any time but the gap between two meetings of the Parliament cannot be more than six months. It means in one year, a minimum of two sessions of the Lok Sabha are essential.
• For a meeting Quorum: of the Lok Sabha the presence of at least 1/10th of its total members is essential. If 1/10th of the members are not present in a meeting of the Lok Sabha, the Speaker of the House can adjourn the meeting for lack of quorum

Power and Functions

Legislative Powers

• An ordinary bill can become law only after it has been passed by both the Houses of Parliament.
• Although ordinary bills can be introduced in either of the two houses of Parliament, almost 90% of the bills are actually introduced in the Lok Sabha.
• In case the Rajya Sabha rejects a bill passed by the Lok Sabha and returns it with or without some amendments, the Lok Sabha reconsiders the bill. If the Lok Sabha re-passes it and the Rajya Sabha is still not prepared to pass it, a deadlock occurs. If this deadlock remains unresolved for six months, the President summons a joint sitting of the two Houses as per the provisions of Article 108. The decision of the joint sitting is accepted by both the Houses.

Executive Powers

• Under Article 75(3), the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible before the Lok Sabha. The leader of the majority in the Lok Sabha becomes the Prime Minister. Most of the ministers are from the Lok Sabha.
• The ministers remain in office so long as they enjoy the confidence of the majority in the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha can remove the ministry from office by passing a vote of no- confidence against it under the procedure given under Rule 198 of the rules of procedure and conduct of the business of the Lok Sabha.
• Thus, the life and death of the Ministry depends upon the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha maintains continuous control over the Council of Ministers.
• MPs can ask questions from ministers about their policies and activities of the administration. They can criticize their policies. The right to ask questions flows from Article 75 of Indian constitution
• They can move and adopt several types of resolutions and motions (adjournment motion, call attention motion, censure motion, and no-confidence motion)

Financial Powers

• The Lok Sabha has vast financial powers. A money bill can be introduced only in the Lok Sabha as per the provisions given under Article 109. After having been passed by it, the money bill goes to the Rajya Sabha.
• In case of any dispute as to whether a particular bill is a money bill or not, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha gives the decision. His decision is final and it cannot be challenged in any court or even in the Rajya Sabha or the Lok Sabha.
• Thus, we can say that the Lok Sabha has the final control over the finances of the state. No tax can be levied or collected or changed or abolished without the approval of the Lok Sabha.
• The fiscal policies of the government cannot be implemented without the consent of the Lok Sabha.

Judicial Powers

• The Lok Sabha also performs some judicial functions. The impeachment proceedings mentioned under Article 61 can be taken up against the President either in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha. The President can be removed from office only when an impeachment resolution is adopted by each of the two Houses with a 2/3 majority of its members.
• The Lok Sabha also investigates the charges prepared by the Rajya Sabha against the Vice-President of India.
• The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha can together pass a resolution for the removal of any judge of the Supreme Court or of a State High Court as per the provisions given under Article 124 (4)
• Both the Houses can jointly pass a special address and present it to the President for the removal of some high officers of the state like the Attorney General, the Chief Election Commissioner and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
• Lok Sabha can also take action against any member or any citizen who is held to be guilty of committing contempt of the House.

Electoral Functions

• The Lok Sabha also performs some electoral functions. The elected members of the Lok Sabha take part in the election of the President.
• Members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha together elect the Vice-President of India according to Article 66 of Indian Constitution. The members of the Lok Sabha also elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from amongst themselves.

Some Other Powers of Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha jointly perform the following functions:

• Approval of the ordinances issued by the President [Article 123 (2)]
• Change of the boundaries of the states. State, creation of new states and change in the name of any state. (Article 3)
• Changes the qualifications of the members of the Parliament and State Legislatures as per RPA Act 1951
• Revising the salary and allowances of the members of Parliament.
• The setting up of the Joint Public Service Commission for two or more states.
• Passing of a resolution for abolishing or creating the upper chamber of a state legislature (Article 169)
• Approval of a Declaration of Emergency. (Article 352 and 356)

Recent controversy

• A PRS (PRS Legislative Research) report says during the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14), frequent disruptions of Parliamentary proceedings have resulted in the Lok Sabha working for 61% and Rajya Sabha for 66% of its scheduled time.
• Another PRS report said, the 16th Lok Sabha (2014-19) lost 16% of its scheduled time to disruptions, better than the 15th Lok Sabha (37%), but worse than the 14th Lok Sabha (13%).

Parliamentary Privileges

Article 105 of the Constitution expressly mentions about the privileges. The privileges are claimed only when the person is a member of the house. The privileges individually enjoyed by the members are as follows:

• A citizen’s right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(2): differs from a member of parliament’s right to freedom of speech and expression. Article 105(1) of the Indian constitution protects this right.
• Freedom from arrest: The members enjoy freedom from arrest in any civil case 40 days before and after the adjournment of the house and also when the house is in session
• Freedom from appearing as a witness:- The members of the parliament enjoy special privileges and are exempted from attending court as a witness. They are given complete liberty to attend the house and perform their duties without any interference from the court.
• The privileges collectively enjoyed by the members are as follows:
• No person (either a member or outsider) can be arrested and no legal process (criminal or civil) can be initiated within the premises of the house without the permission of the presiding officer of the house.
• No Court has the right to investigate proceedings of the House or any of its committees.
• Parliament has the authority to ban visitors from its proceedings and, in some circumstances of national importance, to hold a secret meeting on any significant issue.
• Members and non-members of Parliament can be reprimanded, admonished, or imprisoned for violating Parliament’s privileges or contempt (also suspension or expulsion in case of members).