Ask PRS (almost) anything: Parliament’s Winter Session wrap up and Lapsing Bills

In the second column of the series, we get PRS Legislative Research’s Shreya Singh to answer queries on the Bills passed in the last session of Parliament, the procedure for passing ordinances and how many Bills have lapsed after the Winter Session concluded in February this year..Bar & Bench: How productive was the last Winter Session of Parliament?.Shreya Singh: The total count of Bills passed during this Session was 12, of which five were Finance and Appropriation Bills. 179 Bills have been passed in total during the 15th Lok Sabha..The extended Winter Session of Parliament started on the February 5, 2014. In the 12 sittings since then, Lok Sabha lost 79% of scheduled time to disruptions, while the Rajya Sabha lost 73% of scheduled time. Question Hour functioned for 11% of its scheduled time in Lok Sabha, with only 8 out of 220 listed Starred Questions answered in Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, no Questions were orally answered at all in Rajya Sabha..B&B: And how many Bills are pending in Parliament?.SS: A total of 128 Bills are currently pending in Parliament. Of these, 60 are pending in Rajya Sabha, while 68 are pending in Lok Sabha. All Lok Sabha Bills will now lapse..The highest number of lapsing Bills is in the Ministry of Finance (12), followed by Human Resource Development (10), Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions (8), Law and Justice (7) and Home Affairs (5)..Some of the important Bills that will lapse are:.– The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010.– The Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill, 2013.– The Coal Regulatory Authority Bill, 2013.– The Direct Taxes Code Bill, 2010.– The Educational Tribunals Bill, 2010.B&B: So how does a Bill lapse?.SS: Essentially, all Bills that have been passed by only one of the two Houses of the Parliament, along with all Bills introduced and pending in the Lok Sabha stand to lapse the day the new Lok Sabha is constituted after the general elections..This is as per Article 107 of the Constitution, according to which only Bills which are introduced and pending in the Rajya Sabha shall not lapse when the term of the Lok Sabha ends..Additionally, Rajya Sabha Legislative Guidelines also state that “After the dissolution of Lok Sabha all Bills except the Bills introduced in the Rajya Sabha and pending therein, lapse.” .B&B: So now do these Bills need to be re-introduced in Parliament?.SS: The next government would have to restart the entire process, from introduction to getting the Bill passed in both Houses of Parliament for the Bill to become a law..B&B: But can’t ordinances be promulgated? What is the procedure that is followed then?.SS: Article 123 of the Constitution grants the President power to legislate by Ordinances at a time when it is not possible to have a Parliamentary enactment on the subject immediately. Ordinances can be retrospective and can also repeal a law or act of the Parliament..The Ordinance-making power is available to the President only when either of the two Houses of Parliament is not in session and hence it is not possible to enact laws in Parliament..Additionally, the President cannot promulgate an Ordinance unless he is satisfied that there are circumstances that require taking ‘immediate action’..Ordinances must be approved by Parliament within six weeks of reassembling or they shall cease to operate. They also cease to operate in case resolutions disapproving the Ordinance are passed by both the Houses. .B&B: With the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, are there any restrictions on ordinances?.SS: There are no restrictions on the promulgation of Ordinances in relation to the general elections. However, any Ordinances passed from now, until when the 16th Lok Sabha meets for the first time, would have to be approved by Parliament within six weeks of reassembling..B&B: Is there anyway to know before-hand whether any ordinances are to be promulgated?.SS: The power to promulgate Ordinances is exercised by the President on the advice of his Council of Ministers. The only way to know what Ordinances might be promulgated is based on what is communicated by the Council of Ministers and the President..However, there are always exceptions. In September 2013, news reports suggested that the government had cleared an Ordinance that would allow convicted legislators to retain their seats pending appeal. However, this Ordinance was not promulgated after Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi publically opposed it..Shreya Singh works with PRS Legislative Research. If you would like any of your Parliament-related queries answered, send us a mail at info@barandbench.com with the “PRS” as the subject.