Summoning of Parliament

Also called: Article 85 · Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Summoning of Parliament means the President calling each House of Parliament to meet for a session "at such time and place as he thinks fit" (Article 85(1)). No more than six months may pass between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next [1].

It matters because this rule makes sure Parliament meets at least twice a year. That keeps the government answerable to the elected House. In practice, though, the government of the day picks the dates [4].

Explanation

Key words you need first

• Session: the run of sittings from a House's first sitting until prorogation (the formal end of a session). Put simply, it is the time from one prorogation to the next [3].
• Sitting: one day's meeting of a House, about six hours (NCERT) [3].
• Summoning starts a session. Prorogation ends it. The President does both (Art. 85(1) and Art. 85(2)(a)).
• The President summons each House separately. Normally both Houses are called for the same period.

How summoning works, step by step

1. The government chooses the dates. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) picks when the session will start and end. The CCPA is a group of senior ministers [4].
2. The President issues the summons. The President acts on the government's choice and sends the summons to MPs [4].
3. The House meets and the session runs. The House sits day by day. The Speaker or Chairman can pause sittings by adjournment (a short break inside the same session) [3].
4. The sitting ends with adjournment sine die. The presiding officer closes the sitting without fixing a date to meet again [3].
5. The President prorogues the House. The prorogation order usually comes a few days after adjournment sine die [3].
6. Time limit for the next summons: the next session must begin within six months of the last sitting of the previous session [1].

Conditions and limits of the six-month rule

• What the rule counts: the gap between sessions. It does not fix a minimum number of sitting days [1].
• So Parliament must meet at least twice a year.

• But a very short session is still enough to satisfy the rule.

• No fixed calendar: India has no fixed parliamentary calendar set by law [4].

• The three usual sessions are a convention, not law:

Session	Usual months
Budget session	February to April/May (NCERT). PRS gives January to May [4]
Monsoon session	July to August/September
Winter session	November to December

• Special sessions: the President can also summon Parliament for a special session outside these three.

In the Constitution and practice

• Article 85(1): the President summons each House. The gap between sessions cannot be more than six months [1].
• Origin: 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].
• Linked articles:
• Art. 85(2)(a): the President prorogues a House.
• Art. 85(2)(b): the President dissolves the Lok Sabha.
• Art. 87: the President must address both Houses together at the start of the first session after each general election and the first session of each year. The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951 limited the address to these two occasions. Before that, it was needed at the start of every session [3].

• Art. 123: the President can issue ordinances (temporary laws made by the executive) only when Parliament is not in session. So the gaps between summonses are when ordinances can be made.

• Who really decides: the CCPA, not the President acting alone. This gives the government control over when Parliament meets [4].

• Key instances:
• September 2023 special session: it began on 18 September 2023 in the old building with a debate on "75 years of Parliament" [6].
  • On 19 September 2023, MPs gathered in the Central Hall. The Houses then moved to the new Sansad Bhavan. The old building was renamed Samvidhan Sadan [6].
  • In this session Parliament passed the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam). It reserves one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State/UT assemblies. The Lok Sabha passed it 454 to 2, and the Rajya Sabha passed it unanimously [6].
• Falling sitting days: the Lok Sabha met about 130 days a year in the 1950s and about 70 days by the 2000s [5].
• 2020 (COVID-19 year): Parliament met for only 33 days, the lowest since 2008 (46 days) [4].
• 17th Lok Sabha (2019–2024): it held 274 sittings, the fewest of any full-term Lok Sabha [5].

Don't confuse with

• Prorogation (Art. 85(2)(a)): summoning starts a session and prorogation ends it. The President does both, on the government's advice [2].
• Adjournment / adjournment sine die: these are done by the Speaker or Chairman, not the President. They pause or close a sitting, not a session [3].
• Dissolution (Art. 85(2)(b)): this ends the Lok Sabha itself and leads to a general election. The Rajya Sabha is never dissolved (Art. 83(1)), but it is summoned and prorogued like the Lok Sabha [3].
• Joint sitting (Art. 108): this is a single meeting of both Houses together, called to settle a disagreement over a bill. Ordinary summoning calls each House to meet separately.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 85(1): the maximum gap between two sessions is six months. The Government of India Act, 1935 allowed 12 months [4].
• Trap: the six-month rule counts the gap between sessions, not the number of sitting days. The Constitution sets no minimum sitting days [1].
• Trap: the three sessions (budget, monsoon, winter) are a convention, not a constitutional rule. India has no fixed calendar [4].
• The CCPA picks session dates. The President only issues the summons [4].
• Summoning, prorogation and dissolution → President. Adjournment and adjournment sine die → Speaker or Chairman.
• The September 2023 special session was the first session held in the new Sansad Bhavan. The 106th Amendment (one-third reservation for women) was passed in it [6].

Mains Points

• The executive controls the calendar:
• The CCPA decides when Parliament meets, so the government can call short sessions when it faces hard questions [4].
• Long gaps between sessions also leave room for ordinances (Art. 123), which skip debate in Parliament.

• Possible reforms: a calendar fixed by law, or a rule letting a set share of MPs demand a session.

• Fewer sitting days weaken scrutiny:

• Sitting days fell from about 130 a year in the 1950s to about 70 in the 2000s, and to 33 in 2020 [4][5].
• Fewer days mean less time to examine bills, budgets and policy.

• Several parliamentary committees have proposed at least 120 sitting days a year [4].

• Reform proposals:

• A 2017 private member's bill by Naresh Gujral proposed four sessions a year, including a 15-day special session on urgent public issues [4].
• The trade-off: a fixed calendar strengthens Parliament, but it reduces the government's flexibility to call sessions when they are needed.

Related concepts

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

Read more

• Sessions, sittings and the life of a House