Parliament

Law making process

Sessions of Parliament
• Prorogation:
Unlike adjournment, Prorogation terminates a
sitting as well as the session of the House.
• It is done by the President of India.
• Leader of the House: Under the Rules of Lok
Sabha, the ‘Leader of the House’ means the
Prime Minister (or another minister who is a
member of Lok Sabha and is nominated by the
PM to function as the Leader of the House).
• Leader of the Opposition: The leader of the
largest Opposition party having not less than
one-tenth seats of the total strength of the House
is recognised as the leader of the Opposition in a
House.
• Question Hour:
The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is
termed as Question hour. It is mentioned in
the Rules of Procedure of the House.
• Zero Hour:
A Zero Hour is an Indian parliamentary
innovation. It is not mentioned in the
parliamentary rules book.
• The zero hour starts immediately after the
question hour and lasts until the agenda for
the day (regular business of the House) is
taken up.
• Quorum:

– Quorum refers to the minimum number of the

members required to be present for conducting a
meeting of the house.
– The Constitution has fixed one-tenth strength as
quorum for both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• Joint Session of Parliament:
– The Constitution of India, under Article 108, provides
for the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya
Sabha, in order to break any deadlock between the
two.
– The joint sitting is called by the President and
is presided over by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

• In the speaker’s absence, the Deputy Speaker of the Lok

Sabha presides over the meeting.
• In the absence of both, it is presided over by the Deputy
Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
 Governor
• The Governor’s appointment, his powers and
everything related to the office of Governor
have been discussed under Article 153 to
Article 162 of the Indian Constitution.
• The role of the Governor is quite similar to
that of the President of India.
• It is stated that the Governor has a dual role.

– He is the constitutional head of the state, bound

by the advice of his council of ministers.
– He functions as a vital link between the Union
Government and the State Government.
• A governor must:
– Be a citizen of India.
– Be at least 35 years of age.
– Not be a member of the either house of the
parliament or house of the state legislature.
– Not hold any office of profit.
• The term of governor's office is normally 5
years
• The Supreme Court of India is the highest
judicial court and the final court of
appeal under the Constitution of India,
• The promulgation of Regulating Act of
1773 established the Supreme Court of
Judicature at Calcutta as a Court of Record,
with full power & authority.
• After India attained independence in 1947,
the Constitution of India came into being
on 26 January 1950. The Supreme Court of
India also came into existence and its first
sitting was held on 28 January 1950.
• The law declared by the Supreme Court
is binding on all Courts within the territory of
India.
• Indian constitution provides for a provision of
Supreme Court under Part V (The Union) .
• Articles 124 to 147 in Part V of the
Constitution deal with the organisation,
independence, jurisdiction, powers and
procedures of the Supreme Court.
• Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Bill of
2019 has added four judges to strength. It
increased the judicial strength from 31 to 34,
including the CJI.
• The Constitution declares Delhi as the seat of
the Supreme Court. It also authorises
the CJI to appoint other place or places as seat
of the Supreme Court.
• The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed
by the President. The CJI is appointed by the
President after consultation with such judges of
the Supreme Court and high courts as he deems
necessary.
• A person appointed as a judge of the Supreme
Court, before entering upon his office, has to
make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation
before the President, or some other person
appointed by him for this purpose.
Jurisdiction and Powers of Supreme Court

• the Supreme Court decides disputes between

different units of the Indian Federation. More
elaborately, any dispute between:
the Centre and one or more states; or
• the Centre and any state or states on one side
and one or more states on the other; or
• between two or more states.
• The Supreme Court is empowered to issue
writs, including habeas corpus, mandamus,
prohibition, quo-warranto and certiorari for
the enforcement of the fundamental rights of
an aggrieved citizen.
• The Supreme Court is primarily a court of
appeal and hears appeals against the
judgements of the lower courts.
• As a Court of Record, the Supreme Court has
two powers:
The judgements, proceedings and acts of the
Supreme Court are recorded for perpetual
memory and testimony. These records are
admitted to be of evidentiary value and cannot
be questioned when produced before any court.
• Judicial review is the power of the Supreme
Court to examine the constitutionality of
legislative enactments and executive orders of
both the Central and state governments.
High Court
• The constitution of India provides a high court for
each state; however, the Parliament is authorized
to declare a common high court for two or more
states. The territorial jurisdiction of a high court is
co-terminus with the territory of a state.
• 214 to 231 in Part VI (State) of the Constitution
deal with the organisation, independence,
jurisdiction, powers, procedures and so on of the
HC.
• At present, there are 25 high courts in the
country. Out of them, 3 are common for 2 or
more states.
• Delhi is the only UT in India having a
high court of its own (since 1966).
• The Parliament can extend the jurisdiction of
a HC to any UT or exclude the jurisdiction of a
HC from any UT.
• The judges of a high court are appointed by the
President.
• Chief justice of HC – Appointed by
the President after consultation with the chief
justice of India and the GOVERNOR of the state
concerned.
• Other judges of HC – Chief Justice of the
concerned HC is also consulted. In case of a
common high court for two or more states, the
governors of all the states concerned are
consulted by the president.
• A person appointed as a judge of a high court,
before entering upon his office, has to make
and subscribe an oath or affirmation before
the governor of the state or some person
appointed by him for this purpose.
• Salaries of judges of HC are charged
upon “consolidated fund of
state”. However, pensions of judges of HC are
charged upon “consolidated fund of India”.
• He holds office until he attains the age of 62
years (65 years in case of SC). Any questions
regarding his age are to be decided by
the president after consultation with the CJI of
SC and the decision of the president is final.
(determine by parliament in case of SC)
• Resignation – By writing to the president.
 High court Jurisdictions
• Bombay HC:Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar
Haveli, Daman and Diu.
• Guwahati HC: Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram and
Arunachal Pradesh.
• Punjab and Haryana HC: Punjab, Haryana,
Chandigarh
• Calcutta HC:West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar
Islands
• Tamil Nadu HC:Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
• Kerala HC: Kerala, Lakshadweep