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Constitutional Law notes
Article wise
Topic 1 : The union legislature
General Provisions
Article 79 to Article 88
Article 79:
Constitution of Parliament
- There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States and the House of the People. Meaning A Parliament is also known as the union legislature and it comprises of three things :
- President
- Rajya sabha (Council of states)
- Lok Sabha (House of People) Article 80 Composition of the Council of States The Council of states shall consist of :
- 12 members nominated by the President
- 238 members of state and Union territories Allocation of seats : It shall be filled by
- The representatives of the State
- The representatives of the Union Territories The seats shall be filled in accordance with the provisions laid down in 4 th^ schedule The nominated members appointed by the president shall consist of persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as the following, namely:— Literature, science, art and social service. Election The representatives of each State in the Council of States shall be elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of the State in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.
- The representatives of the Union territories shall be chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law prescribe. Article 81 Composition of the House of the People. The House of the People shall consist of :
- 550 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the state.
- 20 members from the Union Territory in a manner prescribed by the Parliament. Allocation of Seats MLA of State Legislative Assembly
- such readjustment shall not affect representation in the House of the People until the dissolution of the then existing House
- such readjustment shall take effect from such date as the President may, by order, specify
- until such readjustment takes effect
- any election to the House may be held on the basis of the territorial constituencies existing before such readjustment Further Provided: Until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 It shall not be necessary to readjust
- the allocation of seats in the House of the People to the States as readjusted on the basis of the 1971 census
- the division of each State into territorial constituencies as may be readjusted on the basis of the 2001 census. Article 83 Duration of Houses of Parliament. The Council of States
- It shall not be subject to dissolution
- but as nearly as possible one-third of the members thereof shall retire as soon as possible or.
- as may be on the expiration of every second year in accordance with the provisions made in that behalf by Parliament by law.
The House of the People
- unless sooner dissolved
- shall continue for 5 years from the date appointed for its first meeting
- no longer shall operate after the expiration of that said period (i.e 5 years) Provided:
- the said period may, while a Proclamation of Emergency is in operation
- be extended by Parliament by law for a period
- not exceeding one year at a time
- not extending in any case beyond a period of six months after the Proclamation has ceased to operate. Article 84 Qualification for membership of Parliament. A person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in Parliament unless he :
- is a citizen of India
- Makes and subscribes an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule before some person authorised in that behalf by the Election Commission. in the case of a seat in the Council of States not less than thirty years of age in the case of a seat in the House of the People, not less than twenty-five years of age
shall with [all convenient, (suitable) despatch (send out)] consider any matter required by the message to be taken into consideration Article 87 Special address by the President. At the commencement of first session after each general election to the House of the People and at the commencement of the first session of each year. the President shall address both Houses of Parliament assembled together and inform Parliament of the causes of its summons. {President will call the members of both houses and will assemble them and will inform them that why he had given summons to them. The calling will be done at time of first session after general election and at time of first session of each year.} Article 88 Rights of Ministers and Attorney General of respected Houses Every Minister and the Attorney-General of India
- shall have the right to speak in
- and to take part in the proceedings of
- either House, any joint sitting of the Houses, and any committee of Parliament. he may be named a member, but shall not by virtue of this article be entitled to vote.
Topic 2 : officers of Parliament Article 89 to 98 Article 89 The Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Council of States.
- The Vice-President of India shall be ex officio Chairman of the Council of States
- The Council of States shall, as soon as may be, choose a member of the Council to be Deputy Chairman thereof
- so often as the office of Deputy Chairman becomes vacant The Council shall choose another member to be Deputy Chairman thereof. Article 90 Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the office of Deputy Chairman. A member holding office as Deputy Chairman of the Council of States
- shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the Council;
- may at any time, by writing under his hand addressed to the Chairman, resign his office;
- may be removed from his office by a resolution of the Council passed by a majority of all the then members of the Council No resolution unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution. Article 91
or while any resolution for the removal of the Deputy
Chairman from his office is under consideration
• the Deputy Chairman, shall not
• though he is present, preside, and
• the provisions of clause (2) of article 91 shall apply
in relation to every such sitting as they apply in
relation to a sitting from which the Chairman, or, as
the case may be, the Deputy Chairman, is absent.
[B] The Chairman shall have the right to speak in
and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of the Council of States while any resolution for the removal of the Vice-President from his office is under consideration in the Council but shall not be entitled to vote at all on such resolution or on any other matter during such proceedings, notwithstanding anything in article 100.
Article 93
The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People The House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant the House shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.
Article 94 Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker. A member holding office as Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the House of the People a) shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the House of the People; b) may at any time, by writing under his hand addressed, Speaker to the Deputy Speaker Deputy Speaker, to the Speaker, c) may be removed from his office by a resolution of the House of the People passed by a majority of all the then members of the House d) at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution e) Whenever the House of the People is dissolved, the Speaker shall not vacate his office until immediately before the first meeting of the House of the People after the dissolution. Article 95 Power of the Deputy Speaker or other person to perform the duties of the office of, or to act as, Speaker. While the office of Speaker is vacant
- the duties of the office shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker
- if the office of Deputy Speaker is also vacant, by such member of the House of the People as the President may appoint for the purpose.
while any resolution for his removal from office is under consideration in the House and shall, notwithstanding anything in article 100, (be entitled to vote only in the first instance) on such resolution or on any other matter during such proceedings but not in the case of an equality of votes.[he does not have a right to vote but if the voting are equal and vote of speaker gives value then it may be counted.] Article 97 Salaries and allowances of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker
- Salaries and allowances shall be paid to the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and to the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People,. respectively fixed by Parliament by law.
- as are specified in the Second Schedule until provision in that behalf is so made. Article 98 Secretariat of Parliament. Each House of Parliament shall have a separate secretarial staff
- Parliament may by law regulate the recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to the secretarial staff of either House of Parliament.
- the President may make rules regulating the recruitment, and the conditions of service of persons appointed, to the secretarial staff of the House of the People or the Council of States. after consultation with the Speaker of the House of the
People or the Chairman of the Council of States, as the case may be
- any rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any law made under the said clause.
- Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed as preventing the creation of posts, common to both Houses of Parliament. Topic 3 : Conduct of Buisness Article 99 Oath or affirmation by members. Every member of either House of Parliament shall
- before taking his seat
- make and subscribe before the President
- or some person appointed in that behalf by him an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule Article 100. Voting in Houses, power of Houses to act notwithstanding vacancies and quorum.
- all questions at any sitting of either House or joint sitting of the Houses
- shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting
Explanation. Quorum means The minimum no. of members of the House of parliament required to be present for a proceeding to start It is 1/10th of the total membership of the House. The Presiding Officer has power to prorogue a sitting in case of absence of quorum or suspend the sitting until there is quorum. So, for Lok Sabha the Quorum is 55 and for Rajya Sabha its 25. In case of state legislatures the Quorum is 1/10th of the total membership or 10 members, whichever is greater as per strength of the House. Topic 4 : Disqualification of members Article 101 Vacation of seats.
- No person shall be a member of both Houses of Parliament
- provision shall be made by Parliament by law for the vacation by a person
- who is chosen a member of both Houses of his seat in one House or the other. If a person is been elected in both the houses, he will have to leave the any one house of the two. (meth0d will be according to the law)
- No person shall be a member both of Parliament and of a House of the Legislature of a State.
- if a person is chosen a member both of Parliament and of a House of the Legislature of state
- then, at the expiration of such period as may be specified in rules made by the President
- that person’s seat in Parliament shall become vacant, unless he has previously resigned his seat in the Legislature of the State. [In this clause it is said that if in a period fixed by the president in his specified rules, the person does not vacate his seat in legislature of the state, then his seat in the Parliament will be stand as vacant.]
- If a member of either House of Parliament (a) becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clause (1) or clause (2) of article 102 (b) resigns his seat by writing under his hand addressed to
- chairman or,
- speaker
- his resignation is accepted by the Chairman or the Speaker, as the case may be his seat shall thereupon become vacant: Provided that
- in the case of any resignation referred to in sub-clause (b),
- if from information received or otherwise
- and after making such inquiry as he thinks fit
- the Chairman or the Speaker,
- is satisfied that such resignation is not voluntary or genuine, he shall not accept such resignation
- 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;
- he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament
- he is so disqualified under the Tenth Schedule [a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State by reason only that he is a Minister either for the Union or for such State.] Article 103 Decision on questions as to disqualifications of members.
- If any question arises as to whether a member of either House of Parliament
- has become subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clause (1) of article 102
- the question shall be referred for the decision of the President and his decision shall be final
- Before giving any decision on any such question
- the President shall obtain the opinion of the Election Commission and shall act according to such opinion Article 104 Penalty for sitting and voting before making oath or affirmation under article 99 or when not qualified or when disqualified.
If a person sits or votes as a member of either House of Parliament before he has complied with the requirements of article 99, or when he knows that he is not qualified or that he is disqualified for membership thereof, or that he is prohibited from so doing by the provisions of any law made by Parliament, he shall be liable in respect of each day on which he so sits or votes to a penalty of five hundred rupees to be recovered as a debt due to the Union. Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members Article 105
- Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and
- to the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of Parliament,
- There shall be freedom of speech in Parliament. No Member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof, no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of either House of Parliament of any report, paper, votes or proceedings.
