Ad hoc committee
Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
An ad hoc committee is a temporary parliamentary committee set up for one particular task. The task may be checking a bill or inquiring into a matter. The committee ends once it has given its report. This is different from a standing committee, which is permanent. Ad hoc committees let Parliament look closely at one issue without keeping a body alive for years.
Example
A select committee made of members of one House, set up to examine a bill clause by clause, is an ad hoc committee. A Joint Parliamentary Committee is another kind. The JPC set up in 1987 to inquire into Bofors closed after it reported. So did the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024.
Don't confuse with
- Standing committee: a permanent committee whose members are changed from time to time. Examples are the Public Accounts Committee and the departmentally related standing committees.
Related concepts
- Parliamentary committee
- Standing committee
- Public Accounts Committee
- Estimates Committee
- Committee on Public Undertakings