Committee on Subordinate Legislation
Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Committee on Subordinate Legislation is a committee in each House of Parliament. It checks delegated legislation, which means the rules, regulations and bye-laws that the executive makes under an Act. Parliament can hand over the details of a law to the executive, but not the essential law-making (In re Delhi Laws Act, 1951). The committee checks that the executive's rules stay within the powers the parent Act gives. It is Parliament's watchdog over law-making by the government.
Example
Suppose a ministry frames rules under an Act that impose a penalty the Act never allowed. The committee can point out that the rule goes beyond the Act and recommend that it be changed or dropped.
Don't confuse with
- Delegated legislation itself: these are the rules made by the executive. The committee is the parliamentary body that checks them.
Related concepts
- Departmentally related standing committee
- Joint Parliamentary Committee
- Business Advisory Committee
- Committee on Private Members' Bills and Resolutions
- Committee on Petitions
- Committee on Government Assurances
- Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
- Committee on Empowerment of Women
- Joint Committee on Offices of Profit
- Consultative committees