Prorogation

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

Meaning

Prorogation is the President's formal order that ends a session of a House of Parliament (Art. 85(2)(a)). It usually comes a few days after the Speaker or Chairman has adjourned the House sine die [3]. It matters because it marks where one session ends and the next begins. Pending bills survive it, but pending notices lapse. It also opens the gap in which the President can make ordinances.

Explanation

How it works, step by step

1. The session's business ends. The Speaker (Lok Sabha) or Chairman (Rajya Sabha) adjourns the House sine die, which means without fixing a date to meet again [3].
2. The government advises. The Union government advises the President to end the session [2].
3. The President prorogues. The President issues the prorogation order under Art. 85(2)(a). This order usually comes a few days after the adjournment sine die [3].
4. The gap begins. The House stays prorogued until the President summons it again under Art. 85(1). - The gap between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next cannot be more than six months [1].

What survives and what lapses

• Bills survive.
• Art. 107(3) says a pending bill does not lapse because a House is prorogued [2].

• In the next session, the bill continues from the stage it had reached.

• Notices lapse.

• All pending notices lapse, except notices to introduce bills [2].
• A notice is a member's written request to raise a matter, such as a motion or a question.

• Members must give fresh notices in the next session [2].

• The House itself survives. Prorogation ends only the session. It does not end the House. Ending the Lok Sabha itself is dissolution.

Its place in the life of a House

• Session: the time from one prorogation to the next [3]. Prorogation is therefore the formal end point of every session.
• Applies to both Houses. The President can prorogue either House or both Houses. The Rajya Sabha can be prorogued even though it can never be dissolved (Art. 83(1)).
• Limits:
• Prorogation cannot be used to keep Parliament closed for more than six months, because of the six-month rule in Art. 85(1) [1].
• The President acts on the government's advice, not alone [2].

In the Constitution and practice

• Art. 85(2)(a): the President may prorogue the Houses or either House.
• Art. 85(1): the President summons the Houses. No more than six months may pass between two sessions [1].

• Dr B.R. Ambedkar took this rule from the Government of India Act, 1935. He cut the maximum gap from 12 months to six months [4].

• Art. 107(3): bills do not lapse on prorogation [2].

• Art. 123, the link to ordinances:
• An ordinance is a temporary law made by the executive.
• The President can make an ordinance only when both Houses are not in session.

• Prorogation creates this condition, so long gaps between sessions leave more room for ordinances.

• Who really decides: the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA), a group of senior ministers, fixes session dates. The President then acts on its decision. India has no fixed parliamentary calendar [4].

• In practice: Parliament usually meets for three sessions a year (budget, monsoon and winter). This is a convention, not a law. Each session ends with adjournment sine die and then prorogation [3].

Don't confuse with

• Adjournment: the Speaker or Chairman pauses a sitting for hours, days or weeks. The session continues and all business stays alive [3]. Prorogation ends the whole session, and only the President can order it.
• Adjournment sine die: the presiding officer ends the sitting without fixing a date to meet again [3]. It is done by the Speaker or Chairman, and it is not the formal end of the session. The President's prorogation order usually follows it.
• Dissolution (Art. 85(2)(b)): ends the Lok Sabha itself, and a general election must follow. Many pending bills lapse on dissolution [2]. On prorogation, no bill lapses. The Rajya Sabha can be prorogued but is never dissolved (Art. 83(1)).
• Summoning (Art. 85(1)): the opposite step. The President calls a House to meet and begin a new session [1].

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 85(2)(a) = prorogation. Art. 85(2)(b) = dissolution. Both are done by the President. Adjournment and adjournment sine die are done by the Speaker or Chairman [3].
• Art. 107(3): a pending bill does not lapse on prorogation [2].
• Trap: on prorogation, all pending notices lapse except notices to introduce bills [2].
• A session is the time from one prorogation to the next [3].
• Art. 85(1): the gap between two sessions cannot be more than six months. The Government of India Act, 1935 allowed 12 months [4].
• The CCPA, not the President acting alone, decides when sessions begin and end. There is no fixed calendar [4].

Mains Points

• Executive control over the session: the CCPA decides when Parliament meets and when a session ends [4].
• A government facing hard questions can end sessions early and keep sessions short.
• Long gaps after prorogation give the government more room to make ordinances (Art. 123).

• Fixing a calendar by law, or letting a set share of MPs demand a session, would strengthen Parliament's control over the executive.

• Fewer sitting days: the Lok Sabha met for about 130 days a year in the 1950s and about 70 in the 2000s [5]. In 2020 it met for only 33 days [4].

• Early prorogation and long gaps mean less scrutiny of bills, budgets and policy.

• Reform ideas include at least 120 sitting days a year, proposed by several parliamentary committees, and the four-session model in a 2017 private member's bill by Naresh Gujral [4].

• Balanced design: because bills survive prorogation (Art. 107(3)) [2], the work done on a bill is not wasted between sessions. This is very different from dissolution, when bills pending in the Lok Sabha lapse [2]. The lapse of notices does make members file their questions and motions again, but it lets each session start with a fresh agenda.

Related concepts

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

Read more

• Sessions, sittings and the life of a House