Winter Session of Parliament adjourned sine die, six days early the schedule

The Winter Session of the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die (indefinitely), six days ahead of schedule, with the Opposition parties forcing repeated adjournments in the final days over their demand for a discussion on the border issue with China at Line of Actual Control (LAC).

About the Parliamentary Procedures:

• Part-V (Article 79 – 122) of the Constitution deals with the organization, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges and powers of the Parliament.
• Article 79 provides for a Parliament consisting of the President and the two houses:
  • Lower House is called the House of the People (Lok Sabha). Lok Sabha (LS) represents the people of India as a whole.
  • Upper House is called the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
• The Rajya Sabha (RS) represents the states and union territories of the Indian Union.
• The President is a part of the Legislature but he is not a member of either House of Parliament.
• Since GoI Act, 1919, the central legislature has been a bi-cameral body consisting of lower House (Lok Sabha) and an upper House (Rajya Sabha).

Sessions of the Parliament

• A session of Indian Parliament is the time period during which a House meets almost every day continuously to transact business.
• There are usually three sessions in a year:
  • The Budget Session (February to May)
  • The Monsoon Session (July to September)and
  • The Winter Session (November to December).
• A session contains many meetings. Each meeting has two sittings – morning sitting from 11 am to 1 pm and post-lunch sitting from 2 pm to 6 pm.
• A sitting of Parliament can be terminated by adjournment, adjournment sine die, prorogation or dissolution.
• The period between the prorogation of a House and its reassembly in a new session is called ‘recess’.

Summoning

• Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet.
• It is the duty of Indian President to summon each House of the Parliament from time to time.
• The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months. In other words, the Parliament should meet at least twice a year.

Adjournment

• An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks. In this case, the time of reassembly is specified.
• An adjournment only terminates a sitting and not a session of the House.
• The power of adjournment lies with the presiding officer of the House.

Adjournment Sine Die

• Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period.
• In other words, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called adjournment sine die.
• The power of adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.

Prorogation

• Prorogation means the termination of a session of the House by an order made by the President under article 85(2) (a) of the Constitution.
• Prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of the House.
• Usually, within a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer, the President issues a notification for the prorogation of the session.
• However, the President can also prorogue the House while in session.

Dissolution

• Dissolution ends the very life of the existing House, and a new House is constituted after general elections are held.
• Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution. Only the Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution.
• The dissolution of the Lok Sabha may take place in either of two ways:
  • Automatic dissolution: On the expiry of its tenure – five years or the terms as extended during a national emergency.
  • Order of President: If President is authorized by CoM, he can dissolve Lok Sabha, even before the end of the term. He may also dissolve Lok Sabha if CoM loses confidence and no party is able to form the government. Once the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its normal tenure, the dissolution is irrevocable.
  • When the Lok Sabha is dissolved, all business including bills, motions, resolutions, notices, petitions and so on pending before it or its committees lapse.