Lecture

#2

Key Point: Parliament

The legislative organ of central government consists of
President(Rashtrapati)
Lok-Sabha(House of People or Lower House or First Chamber or Popular House)
Rajya-Sabha(Council of States or Upper House or Second Chamber or House of Elders)

Loksabha Represents people of India as a whole while

RS represents States and Union Territories.
President-Not an MP
Still he is an Integral part of Parliament because
a bill passed by both the houses can not become
a law without the Presidents assent

Key Points : Rajya Sabha

Composition
Maximum Strength 250 out of which 238
are representatives of State and UTs
while 12 are nominated by president.
At present RS has 245 members
(229+4+12)

Key Points : Rajya Sabha

Representation of States
Members elected by the elected members of
State Legislative Assemblies (MLAs or Aamdar)
Election is held with the system of proportional
representation by means of Single transferable
vote.
Seats are allotted to the states are on the basis
of population
Example: UP has 31 Members while Tripura has
only 01 Member

Key Points : Rajya Sabha

Representation of UTs
Indirectly elected by members of Electoral
College specifically constituted for this
purpose.
Election is held with the system of
proportional representation by means of
Single transferable vote.
Out of 07 UTs only 02 have representation
in RS(Delhi and Pondicherry)

Key Points : Rajya Sabha

Nominated Members
The president of India nominates 12 members
to RS from the people who have special
knowledge or practical experience in Arts,
Science & Tech, Literature and social service.
Members can be nominated from any field if
the person is known for his pioneering work in
his field (categories like sports, education, law,
history, academics attainments, Indology,
economics, journalism... or other similar fields
of human endeavour.)

Key Points : Rajya Sabha

Duration and Membership
Qualifications
RS is a permanent body not subject to
dissolution
1/3rd of its members retire every second
year
The term for every member is 06 years
Person should not be less 30 years age

Key Points : Lok Sabha

Composition
Maximum Strength 552 out of which 530
are representatives of State, 20 of UTs
while 02 are nominated by president
from Anglo Indian Community .
At present LS has 545 members
(530+13+02)

Key Points : Lok Sabha

Representation of States
Members elected directly by the
people of India by Universal Adult
Franchise .(The voting age was
reduced from 21 years to 18 years in
1988)

Key Points : Lok Sabha

Representation of UTs
Members elected directly by the
people of India by Universal Adult
Franchise .(The voting age was
reduced from 21 years to 18 years in
1988)

Key Points : Lok Sabha

Nominated Members
The president of India nominates 02
members from Anglo Indian
community if he feels that the
community has not been adequately
represented.
This provision was to operate till
1960 but extended till 2010 In 1999.

Key Points : Lok Sabha

Duration and Membership
Qualifications
LS is not permanent house subject to
dissolution at any time by President .
normal term is five years.
Term can be extended during the period
of emergency by 01 year at a time any
number of times.
Member should not be less than 25
years of age.

Key Points : Lok Sabha

System of elections
Territorial constituencies
The territory of India is divided into territorial
constituencies. Each state is allotted seats to LS
such that ratio between that number and its
population is constant for all states.(Not applicable
to states having population less than 06 Millions )
Territorial constituencies in a state is decided such
that ratio between population of each constituency
and number of seats allotted to it is constant
throughout the state
Reservation of seats : Seats reserved for SC and ST

Key Points : Lok Sabha

System of elections
Proportional Representation not adopted
Territorial representation instead of
proportional representation
one territory represents a geographical area
known as constituency
one member from one constituency is
elected.

Key Points : Lok Sabha

Disqualification of MPs
If he holds an office of profit under union or state
government, except a minister (In 2006, INCPresident and
MP,Sonia Gandhi, resigned several posts under pressure
from political opposition who asserted that the posts were
'offices of profit' and thus unlawful. Jaya Bachchanwas
disqualified from theRS, while she was also chairperson of
theUttar Pradesh Film Development Council, therefore it
was deemed an office of profit.)
If he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a court
If he is an undischarged insolvent
If he is not a citizen of India.
If he is so disqualified under any law made by parliament

Key Points :MPs

Additional Disqualification grounds
If he is found guilty of election offences or
corrupt practices
If he is convicted for any offence resulting in
imprisonment for two or more
years(Preventive detention does not
disqualify a member)
If he fails to lodge an account of his election
expenses within time
If he has any interest in government
contracts, works or services

Key Points :MPs

Additional Disqualification grounds
If he was dismissed from government
service on charge of corruption or disloyalty
If he is convicted for promoting enmity
between different groups or for offense of
bribery
If he is punished for preaching and
practicing social crimes such as
untouchability, dowry, etc
Disqualification on the grounds of
DEFECTION

Key points: MPs

Defection (Dagabazi)
An MP is said to be defecting if
He voluntarily gives up the membership of the
political party on whose ticket he is elected
He votes or abstains from voting in the house
contrary to any direction given by his party
Any independently elected member joins any
political party or any nominated member joins any
political party

The question of disqualification is decided by

the presiding officer of the house (NOT THE
PRESIDENT OF INDIA), subject to judicial review

Key Points : MPs

Vacating of seats
An MP vacates his seat in the following
cases

Double membership
Disqualification
Resignation
Absence (eg. Lata Mangeshkar)
Other cases (election declared void,
expellation by house, election to the office of
President or vice-President or Governor of
state)

NOTE:
Presiding officer of LS is called the
Speaker
Elected by LS from amongst its
members

Presiding officer of RS is known as

the Chairman
Vice-president of India is the ex-officio
Chairman of RS
This is the only role of the office of vicepresident

Role of Parliament (Functions and

responsibilities)

Legislative powers and functions

Executive powers and functions
Financial powers and functions
Constituent powers and functions
Judicial powers and functions
Electoral powers and functions
Other powers and functions
Highest deliberative body
Approves emergencies
Create and abolish state legislative councils
Increase or decrease or alter or change names of Indian states
Regulate organization and jurisdiction of SC and HC

President
Titular head (de jure executive) (head of state)
Election
Indirectly elected by people through members of
electoral college consisting of
MPs (elected only)
MLAs of states and UTs(Delhi and Pondicherry)

Value of vote of MLA = (total population of state) /

((total no of elected members in SLA) * 1000)
Value of vote of MP = (total value of votes of all MLAs
of all states) / (total no of elected MPs)
A candidate must secure a fixed quota of votes:
electoral quota = (tot no of valid votes polled / 2 ) + 1

President
Why President is not directly elected
by people in India?
We have parliamentary system of
government(real powers are vested in
PM and not the president)
Costly and time and energy consuming
due to vast size of electorate

President
Powers and functions
Executive powers (all appointments and actions)
Legislative powers(session of Parliaments)
Financial powers
Judicial powers(appointments, pardon, seek
advice)
Diplomatic powers(international treaties)
Military powers (supreme commander)
Emergency powers
Ordinance making power(most important)

President
Powers and functions
Pardoning power
Pardon (mercy), commute(substituted by
less severe), remit (reduced quantity),
respite(reduce time) and reprieve(postpone)

Veto power
Absolute, suspensive and pocket veto; veto
over state legislation
Pocket of Indian President is bigger than that
of American President

President
Discretionary power
No constitutional discretion (real discretion
in hands of PM and his council), situational
discretions to the President are given
Appointment of PM when no party has clear
majority in LS or PM dies in office and there is
no obvious successor
Dismissal of council of minister when it cannot
prove confidence in LS
Dissolution of LS if council of ministers has lost
his majority

Prime Minister
Real executive authority (de facto executive)(head of the
government)
Primus inter pares (1st among equals)
Appointment
No specific procedure for selection and appointment of PM
President of India appoints the PM
As per the conventions the President appoints the leader of
majority party in LS as the PM (PM can be from RS as well but he
needs to prove majority in LS)
President usually appoints the leader of the largest party or
coalition in LS as the PM and asks him to seek confidence within
a month e.g. Charan Singh (Janata Party Coalition 1979)
When PM dies in office and there is no obvious successor
President can appoint PM as per his judgment e.g.. Rajiv Gandhi

Prime Minister
Oath, term and salary
A PM swears that he will do right to all manner of
people without fear or favor, affection or ill-will and
that he will uphold the sovereignty and integrity of
India.
Term of PM is not fixed and he holds office during the
pleasure of President
Once the PM loses confidence in LS he has to resign
or the President dismisses him
A PM gets salary equal to that of an MP + sumptuary
allowance(Rs 3000) + free accommodation +
travelling allowance + medical facilities

Prime Minister
Powers and functions
Classified as:
In relation to council of minister
In relation to President
In relation to Parliament
Other powers

Prime Minister
In relation to council of ministers
He recommends a person who can be appointed as
minister
He allocates and reshuffles various portfolios among
ministers
He can ask any minister to resign or advice president
to dismiss him
He influences the decision of government
He guides, directs, controls and co-ordinates
ministers
He can collapse council of ministers by resigning
from office

Prime Minister
In relation to President
He is the channel of communication
between president and council of ministers
He advices president with regard to
appointment of

Attorney-general of India
CAG
Chairman and members of UPSC
Election commissioners
Chairman and members of finance commission

Prime Minister
In relation to Parliament
PM is the leader of LS
He advices President to summon and
prorogue the sessions of Parliament
He recommends president to dissolve LS
at any time
He announces Government policies on
the floor of House

Prime Minister
Other powers and functions
He chairs the Planning Commission, NDC,
National Integration Council, Inter-state council,
National Water Resources Council
He shapes foreign policy of the country
Chief spokesman of the union government
He is crisis manager-in-chief during emergencies
As the leader of the nation, he meets people of
India personally and receives memoranda from
them regarding their problems
He is political head of all the services

NEXT LECTURE IS SCHEDULED ON

Date
05:30 PM
Room Number 13
Topic of Discussion:
State Government and Local
Government Bodies

To be continued
Thank You!