Special session of Parliament

• Recently, the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, announced that a “special session” of Parliament would be held from September 18 to 22.
• The announcement has led to speculation about the government’s legislative plans for the session.

When does Parliament meet?

• India’s Parliament has no fixed calendar of sittings.
• In 1955, a Lok Sabha committee had proposed a timetable for parliamentary sessions.
• It recommended
  • The Budget session of Parliament to begin on February 1 and go on till May 7
  • The Monsoon session to start on July 15 and end on September 15.
  • The Winter session to commence on November 5 (or the fourth day after Diwali, whichever is later) and finish on December 22.
• While the government agreed to this calendar, it was never implemented.

Who decides when Parliament meets?

• The government determines the date and duration of parliamentary sessions.
• The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs takes this decision.
• The President is informed about the Committee’s decision, who then summons Members of Parliament to meet for the session.

What does the Constitution say?

• The Constitution specifies that six months should not elapse between two parliamentary sessions.
• The framers of the Constitution borrowed it from the Government of India Act of 1935.
• It allowed the British Governor General to call a session of the central legislature at his discretion.
  • However, requiring that the gap between two sessions should not be more than 12 months.
• The Constituent Assembly reduced the gap between sessions to six months.

How often do Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha meet?

• Before independence, the central assembly met for a little more than 60 days a year.
• This number increased to 120 days a year in the first 20 years after Independence.
• Since then, the sitting days of the national legislature have declined.
• Between 2002 and 2021, Lok Sabha averaged 67 working days.
• The situation in state legislatures is much worse.
  • In 2022, 28 state Assemblies met for 21 days on average.
• This year, Parliament has met for 42 days so far.
• The conference of presiding officers has recommended that Parliament should meet for more than 100 days on various occasions.
• The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution set up in 2000 made a similar recommendation.
• Individual MPs have introduced private member Bills that stipulated increased sitting days for Parliament.
• The US Congress and parliaments of Canada, Germany, and the UK are in session throughout the year.
• Their calendar of sitting days is fixed at the beginning of the year.

Special Session of Parliament

• The Constitution does not use the term “special session”.
• It refers to sessions the government has convened for specific occasions, like commemorating parliamentary or national milestones.
• For the two Houses to be in session, the presiding officers should chair their proceedings.
• The presiding officers can also direct that the proceedings of their respective Houses would be limited.
• The procedural devices like question hour may not be available to MPs during the session.
• However, Article 352 (Proclamation of Emergency) of the Constitution does refer to a “special sitting of the House”.
  • Its purpose was to add safeguards to the power of proclaiming Emergency in the country.