Special session of Parliament

Special session of Parliament

Subject: Polity

Section: Elections

Context: Government calls a special session of Parliament from Sept. 18 to 22.

How Parliament Session is Convened:

• The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the government.
• The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which currently comprises nine ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, and Law.
• The decision of the Committee is formalised by the President, in whose name MPs are summoned to meet for a session.

What are the Constitutional Provisions w.r.t. Parliamentary Sessions:

• The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution.
• Like many other articles, it is based on a provision of the Government of India Act, 1935.This provision specified that the central legislature had to be summoned to meet at least once a year, and that not more than 12 months could elapse between two sessions.

What is a Special Session of Parliament:

• The Constitution does not use the term “special session”.
• The term sometimes 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 and procedural devices like question hour would not be available to MPs during the session.
• While the Constitution doesn’t explicitly mention “special sessions,” Article 352, which pertains to the Proclamation of Emergency, does make a reference to a “special sitting of the House.”
• Parliament added the part relating to the special sitting through the Constitution Forty-fourth Amendment Act, 1978.
• Its purpose was to add safeguards to the power of proclaiming Emergency in the country.
• It specifies that if a Proclamation of Emergency is issued and Parliament is not in session, then one-tenth of Lok Sabha MPs can ask the President to convene a special meeting to disapprove the Emergency.