Parliament

Indian Polity · संसद

📋Quick Overview

The Indian Parliament consists of the President + two Houses: Rajya Sabha (Council of States, Upper House) and Lok Sabha (House of the People, Lower House). Parliament is the supreme legislative body. Articles 79-122 (Part V) deal with Parliament. The parliamentary system is borrowed from the UK. Lok Sabha is more powerful than Rajya Sabha, especially on Money Bills. Joint Session (Article 108) is called by the President to resolve deadlocks on ordinary bills.

📖Lok Sabha vs Rajya Sabha

📖Money Bill vs Ordinary Bill

Feature	Money Bill	Ordinary Bill
Introduced in	Lok Sabha ONLY	Either House
Prior recommendation of	President required	Not required (except few)
Rajya Sabha can	Only suggest (14 days)	Reject or amend
Joint Session	NOT possible	Possible (Article 108)
Certified by	Speaker of Lok Sabha	No certification needed
Defined under	Article 110	Not specifically defined

📝Speaker & Key Officers

•Speaker = presiding officer of Lok Sabha, elected from among its members
•Speaker does NOT vote normally — gives casting vote only in case of tie
•Speaker continues in office even after Lok Sabha dissolves (till new Speaker elected)
•First Speaker = G.V. Mavalankar, First woman Speaker = Meira Kumar (2009)
•Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha presides when Chairman (VP) is absent
•Quorum = 1/10th of total members (for both houses)
•Leader of Opposition must belong to party with at least 1/10th seats

📖Joint Session of Parliament

Joint Session is called under Article 108 to resolve deadlock on an Ordinary Bill. It is presided over by the Speaker of Lok Sabha. It has been called only 3 times: Dowry Prohibition Bill (1961), Banking Service Commission Bill (1978), POTA (2002). Joint Session is NOT possible for Money Bills or Constitutional Amendment Bills.

📝Parliamentary Sessions

Session	Period	Key Feature
Budget Session	February-May	Longest session, Budget presented
Monsoon Session	July-August	Important bills discussed
Winter Session	November-December	Shortest session