Lapse of bills

Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Lapse of bills means that a bill dies when the Lok Sabha is dissolved, so it must be introduced again from the start in the new House. Only some bills lapse. It depends on where the bill is when dissolution happens. A bill that is with the Lok Sabha, or that has passed the Lok Sabha and is waiting in the Rajya Sabha, lapses. A bill that is still the Rajya Sabha's own pending bill, or that is with the President, survives [1].

This matters because a dissolution can wipe out years of law-making work. UPSC often tests the small differences between the bills that die and the bills that survive.

Explanation

What causes a lapse

• Only dissolution causes a lapse. Dissolution means the end of the Lok Sabha itself, done by the President (Art. 85(2)(b)).
• It happens when the five-year term runs out. The term counts from the House's first meeting (Art. 83(2)) [1].

• It also happens when the President dissolves the House early on the Prime Minister's advice. Examples: 1979, 1991, 1997 and 1999.

• Prorogation does not cause a lapse. Prorogation is the formal end of a session, done by the President (Art. 85(2)(a)). Under Art. 107(3), a pending bill does not lapse because a House is prorogued [1].

• Adjournment does not cause a lapse. In an adjournment, the Speaker or Chairman pauses a sitting, and all pending business stays alive [2].
• The Rajya Sabha is never dissolved (Art. 83(1)). It is a permanent House [2]. So bills lapse only because the Lok Sabha ends.

Which bills lapse and which survive

Where the bill is when the Lok Sabha is dissolved	Result
Pending in the Lok Sabha (whether it started there or came from the Rajya Sabha)	Lapses [1]
Passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha	Lapses [1]
Introduced in the Rajya Sabha and still pending there (not yet passed by it)	Survives [1]
Passed by both Houses and waiting for the President's assent	Survives [1]
Returned by the President for reconsideration (Art. 111)	Survives
Houses disagreed, and the President notified a joint sitting (Art. 108) before dissolution	Survives. The joint sitting can still be held [1]

The logic behind the rule

• Simple test: if the bill is with the Lok Sabha, or waiting in the Rajya Sabha after the Lok Sabha passed it, it dies. If it is in the Rajya Sabha's own hands, or with the President, it lives.
• Why a Lok Sabha-passed bill dies in the Rajya Sabha:
• The bill's passage depends on the vote of a Lok Sabha that no longer exists.

• If the Rajya Sabha changes it, the bill must go back to the Lok Sabha, and the House that passed it is gone.

• Why a Rajya Sabha bill survives:

• The Rajya Sabha is permanent, and the Lok Sabha has not yet voted on the bill.

• Nothing that the Lok Sabha decided is lost.

• Why a notified joint sitting survives: once the President notifies a joint sitting (a meeting of both Houses together to settle a deadlock), the process has moved beyond the ordinary stage in the separate Houses [1].

What lapses on prorogation (to avoid mixing up the two)

• Notices lapse. All pending notices lapse on prorogation, except notices to introduce bills. Members must give fresh notices in the next session [1].
• Bills do not lapse on prorogation (Art. 107(3)) [1].

In the Constitution and practice

• Art. 107 sets out the rules on passing bills and on when they lapse.
• Art. 107(3): a bill does not lapse when a House is prorogued [1].
• Art. 107(4): a bill pending in the Rajya Sabha that the Lok Sabha has not passed does not lapse when the Lok Sabha is dissolved.

• Art. 107(5): a bill pending in the Lok Sabha, or passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha, lapses on dissolution. This is subject to Art. 108.

• Art. 108 (joint sitting): if the President has notified a joint sitting before dissolution, the joint sitting can still be held after dissolution [1].

• Art. 111: a bill that the President returns for reconsideration does not lapse on dissolution.
• Art. 85(2): the President prorogues the Houses (clause (a)) and dissolves the Lok Sabha (clause (b)). Both are done on the government's advice [1].
• Art. 83: the Rajya Sabha is permanent (clause (1)). The end of the Lok Sabha's five-year term works as a dissolution (clause (2)) [1][2].
• In practice:
• Early dissolutions in 1979, 1991, 1997 and 1999 ended the Lok Sabha before its term was over. Every bill caught with the Lok Sabha at those points lapsed.
• The Speaker stays in office after dissolution, until just before the new Lok Sabha first meets (proviso to Art. 94). But the Speaker cannot save lapsed bills.
• A lame-duck session is the last session of an outgoing Lok Sabha, held after a new Lok Sabha has been elected. It is the last chance to pass bills before they lapse.

Don't confuse with

• Prorogation: it ends a session, and bills do not lapse (Art. 107(3)). Only pending notices lapse, except notices to introduce bills [1]. Dissolution ends the House, and some bills lapse.
• Adjournment / adjournment sine die: these are done by the Speaker or Chairman, not the President. They only pause or close sittings, and no bill lapses [2].
• A Rajya Sabha bill that the Lok Sabha has not passed vs. a Lok Sabha-passed bill pending in the Rajya Sabha: both are in the Rajya Sabha. The first survives dissolution and the second lapses [1].
• Dissolution of the Rajya Sabha: this never happens (Art. 83(1)). Only one-third of its members retire every two years [2]. So the Rajya Sabha's end never causes a lapse.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 107(3): bills do not lapse on prorogation. Notices lapse, except notices to introduce bills [1].
• Trap: a bill passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha lapses on dissolution. A bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha and still pending there survives [1].
• Art. 108: a joint sitting notified by the President before dissolution can still be held after dissolution [1].
• A bill passed by both Houses and waiting for the President's assent survives dissolution [1]. So does a bill returned by the President for reconsideration (Art. 111).
• Art. 85(2)(a) = prorogation; Art. 85(2)(b) = dissolution. Both are done by the President. Only dissolution causes bills to lapse.
• The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House (Art. 83(1)), so bills lapse only on dissolution of the Lok Sabha [2].

Mains Points

• Lapse of bills wastes legislative work:
• Bills that took years of committee study die when the Lok Sabha is dissolved.
• One reform option is to let pending bills carry over into the new House, as some parliaments allow.

• The counter-argument is that a newly elected House should set its own law-making priorities. Bringing back a lapsed bill also lets the new House take a fresh look at it.

• Executive control and dissolution:

• The President dissolves the Lok Sabha early on the Prime Minister's advice (examples: 1979, 1991, 1997, 1999).
• In practice, the government's choice of timing decides which pending bills die.

• Fewer sitting days make this worse. In 2020 Parliament met for only 33 days [3], so bills move slowly and more of them are left pending when a dissolution comes.

• Lame-duck sessions:

• Rushing bills through the last session to stop them lapsing can cut down scrutiny.
• Defeated members may still vote in a lame-duck session.
• Clear rules on what business is allowed in such a session would protect the quality of law-making.

Related concepts

• Session of Parliament
• Summoning of Parliament
• President's special address
• Adjournment
• Adjournment sine die
• Prorogation
• Dissolution of the Lok Sabha
• Lame-duck session
• Quorum

Read more

• Sessions, sittings and the life of a House