Legislature — PPSC previous year questions

By Article 79 the Parliament of India consists of the President together with the two Houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. The President is part of Parliament without being a member of either House, because no Bill becomes law without presidential assent and the President summons and prorogues the Houses. The Prime Minister and the Speaker are office-holders within the Houses, not constituents of Parliament, so (b) and (c) are wrong and (a) is incomplete.

The Public Accounts Committee has 22 members — 15 from Lok Sabha and 7 from Rajya Sabha. They are elected every year by proportional representation. Its chairman is appointed by the Speaker of Lok Sabha from among these members. Since 1967 the convention is to appoint a member of the Opposition. The Prime Minister, the President and the Rajya Sabha Chairman have no role in it.

Article 266(3) provides that no money can be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of India except under an appropriation made by law, i.e. an Appropriation Act passed by Parliament. The President and the Finance Minister only present or execute the budget; the authority to release money rests with Parliament. This parliamentary control over the purse is the basis of the annual budget process.

Under Article 198, a Money Bill can be introduced only in the Legislative Assembly of a State. It can never start in the Legislative Council. Article 109 does the same at the Centre, keeping Money Bills to the Lok Sabha. The Council can only recommend changes within 14 days. The Assembly may accept or reject those recommendations. State legislatures have no joint sitting at all.

The Speaker presides over the Lok Sabha. Members elect him or her from among themselves (Article 93). The Speaker is the House's principal spokesman and the custodian of its privileges. The President addresses the House but never presides over it. The Prime Minister and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs are only leading members.

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a Lok Sabha candidate must be an Indian citizen. The name must be on the electoral roll of any parliamentary constituency in India. It need not be the constituency being contested. Other conditions: the minimum age is 25 years (Article 84). The nomination must be subscribed by proposers who are electors of the constituency contested.

Article 101(2) of the Constitution is read with the Prohibition of Simultaneous Membership Rules, 1950. A person chosen as a member of both Parliament and a State Legislature must resign the State seat within 14 days. If he does not, his seat in Parliament becomes vacant. The rule protects the principle that no one may sit in two legislatures at once. By default it is the Parliament seat that lapses, not the State seat. Options (a) and (d) are wrong because dual membership is barred outright. Option (c) reverses which seat falls vacant.

All three are correct constitutional rules. Article 113 says no demand for a grant can be made except on the President's recommendation; Article 265 says no tax can be levied or collected except by authority of law; and when Parliament (the Lok Sabha) considers the Finance Bill, it can reduce or abolish a proposed tax but cannot increase it.

Sir Ivor Jennings, in Cabinet Government, called the Leader of the Opposition the 'alternative Prime Minister'. In a parliamentary system the opposition is a government-in-waiting. It is ready to take office if the ministry loses the confidence of the House. In India the post gained statutory recognition through the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977. Jennings' other famous phrase, 'keystone of the cabinet arch', refers to the Prime Minister, not to any of the options listed.

Under Article 109 the Rajya Sabha can only recommend changes to a Money Bill within 14 days. It cannot reject or amend the bill. The Lok Sabha may accept or reject any of its recommendations. So statement 1 is correct, statement 2 wrong. Article 108 allows no joint sitting for Money Bills, so statement 3 is wrong.