Why a Parliament: the legislature in a parliamentary democracy

Detail

1. More than a law-making body

• Legislature means the elected body that makes laws. In a parliamentary democracy it also controls the government.
• Class 11 NCERT calls the legislature "the centre of all democratic political process". All of these happen inside it:
• walkouts (members leave the House to protest)
• protests
• unanimity, when all parties agree

• co-operation between government and opposition

• It is the most representative organ of government. Members are elected directly (Lok Sabha) or indirectly (Rajya Sabha). So the many views of a diverse society get a voice there.

• It holds the government accountable.
• The Council of Ministers stays in office only while it has the confidence (majority support) of the Lok Sabha.

• So the legislature can choose and dismiss the government.

• The "decline" debate

• Today the Cabinet starts most policies and sets the House's agenda.
• So critics say Parliament has declined and now mostly approves what the Cabinet decides. Section 11 looks at this claim.

2. Control in action: NCERT's examples

Date	Event	What it shows
28 Feb 2002 → 11 Mar 2002	The rise in fertiliser prices in Finance Minister Jaswant Singh's budget was rolled back (taken back) within 12 days	Pressure in the House can change a budget decision
1998	Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha's rise in urea prices was withdrawn after an opposition walkout	A protest inside the House can change policy
22 Feb 1983	The Lok Sabha suspended its normal business to debate the situation in Assam	The House can put a public crisis ahead of routine work
1985	Protests in Parliament over atrocities on Dalits in Andhra Pradesh	Parliament is a platform for the grievances of weaker sections

3. Composition: what "Parliament" means (Art. 79)

• Article 79: "There shall be a Parliament for the Union which shall consist of the President and two Houses to be known respectively as the Council of States [Rajya Sabha] and the House of the People [Lok Sabha]." [3]
• Origin: this was Draft Article 66. The Constituent Assembly adopted it without amendment on 3 January 1949 [3].

• A Drafting Committee member argued that the President is the executive head of the nation, so the President should be part of the legislature [3].

• The President is part of Parliament but is not a member of either House. The President does not sit in the House. Parliament's work still depends on the President:

Role	Article
Summons the Houses (calls them to meet) and prorogues them (ends a session)	Art. 85
Dissolves the Lok Sabha (ends its term early)	Art. 85(2)(b)
Addresses the Houses, including the special address at the start of the first session each year and after each general election	Art. 86, 87
Assents to bills: a bill becomes law only after the President's assent	Art. 111
Issues ordinances (temporary laws made when Parliament is not in session)	Art. 123

• Westminster link: this follows the British model, where Parliament is "the King/Queen-in-Parliament". The head of state is part of the legislature but does not sit in it as a member.
• Order of Part V: Class 8 NCERT notes that Part V (The Union) begins with Chapter I: The Executive. Chapter II: Parliament comes after it.
• This is a trap. The order of chapters does not make the executive superior. In a parliamentary system the executive is drawn from the legislature and answers to it.

4. Four heads of functions (Class 8 NCERT)

1. Constitutional: amends the Constitution (Art. 368) and takes part in electing and removing the President.
2. Law-making: passes laws on Union List and Concurrent List subjects (Seventh Schedule).
3. Executive accountability: controls ministers through questions, debates and no-confidence motions.
4. Financial accountability: no tax can be raised and no money spent without Parliament's approval (budget, demands for grants).

5. Parliamentary sovereignty: why it does not apply in India

• Parliamentary sovereignty is the British idea that Parliament can make or unmake any law, and no court can strike its laws down.
• India's Parliament is limited by:
• a written Constitution, which is the supreme law
• federalism: powers are divided between the Union and the states (Seventh Schedule), so Parliament cannot freely make laws on State List subjects
• Fundamental Rights (Part III): Art. 13 voids any law that takes away these rights
• judicial review: courts can strike down unconstitutional laws (Arts. 13, 32, 226)

• the basic structure doctrine: Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution, but it cannot destroy its core features, such as democracy, federalism or judicial review (Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala, 1973; see amendment-basic-structure)

• The opposite view: N.V. Gadgil told the Constituent Assembly on 18 November 1949 that the only limits on Parliament were procedural. In his view, the right majority could do almost anything.

• Later judgments rejected this view. After 1973, the limits on Parliament are about substance, not only procedure.

• The Indian balance: India sits between British parliamentary sovereignty and American judicial supremacy.

6. Parliament's home: from the old building to Samvidhan Sadan

• Old building: a circular building designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker and opened in 1927.

• The Constituent Assembly sat in its Central Hall from December 1946 to January 1950 to frame the Constitution [6].

• Special session, September 2023

• It began on 18 September 2023 in the old building.

• Both Houses debated "Parliamentary Journey of 75 Years Starting from Samvidhan Sabha" [5].

• Renaming on 19 September 2023: the old building was named Samvidhan Sadan ("House of the Constitution"). The new building was named Sansad Bhavan [5].

• First Parliament elected in 1952: there have been 18 Lok Sabhas since then. The 18th Lok Sabha was constituted in June 2024, after the 2024 general election.

7. The new Sansad Bhavan (2023)

• Inaugurated on 28 May 2023. The Prime Minister dedicated it to the nation [2].
• First sitting: 19 September 2023, during the special session.
• That session passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, which is the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023. It reserves one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and in State/UT Legislative Assemblies [5].
• It was introduced as the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 [8].

• Votes: Lok Sabha 454 for and 2 against. Rajya Sabha passed it unanimously [5].

• Chambers

Chamber	Theme	Seats
Lok Sabha	Peacock (national bird)	888; about three times the size of the old chamber [2]
Rajya Sabha	Lotus (national flower)	384 [2]

• Design (Class 8 NCERT):
• triangular shape

• green construction that cuts electricity use by 30%

• Interpretation services: speeches are translated live so MPs can follow debates in their own language. (NCERT: interpretation was available in 12 languages, and six more were added.)

8. The Sengol

• What it is: a gold-plated silver sceptre (ceremonial staff) from the Chola tradition, with Nandi (the sacred bull) on top.
• Who made the 1947 Sengol: the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam (a Shaiva monastery in Tamil Nadu) had it made in 1947 to mark the transfer of power [4].

• Vummidi Bangaru Chetty, then 96 years old and linked to the family that made it, attended its installation in 2023 [7].

• Meaning: whoever receives the Sengol is "ordered" (Aanai in Tamil) to rule justly and impartially [4]. It stands for rule guided by dharma.

• 14 August 1947: priests of the Adheenam presented it to Jawaharlal Nehru on the night before Independence [4].
• Before 2023: it was displayed at Anand Bhawan, Prayagraj, simply as a walking stick [4].
• May 2023: it was installed beside the Speaker's chair in the new Lok Sabha chamber at the inauguration [2].
• The 2023 debate: critics questioned:
• whether the 1947 handover really symbolised the transfer of power
• whether a royal and religious symbol suits a secular republic

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 79: Parliament = President + Council of States + House of the People. The President is part of Parliament but not a member of either House.
• Draft Art. 66 became Art. 79. It was adopted without amendment on 3 January 1949.
• Part V (The Union): Chapter I is The Executive, and Chapter II is Parliament. The executive comes first in the text.
• Parliamentary sovereignty is a British doctrine. India follows constitutional supremacy, limited by judicial review and the basic structure (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973).
• New Sansad Bhavan: inaugurated 28 May 2023; first sitting 19 September 2023. Lok Sabha chamber: peacock, 888 seats. Rajya Sabha chamber: lotus, 384 seats.
• Samvidhan Sadan is the old building, not the new one. It was named on 19 September 2023.
• Trap: the 128th Amendment Bill, 2023 became the 106th Amendment Act, 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam: one-third reservation for women).
• Sengol: made by the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam; given to Nehru on 14 August 1947; kept at Anand Bhawan, Prayagraj; now beside the Speaker's chair. It is a Chola-tradition sceptre with Nandi on top.
• The Constituent Assembly sat in the Central Hall of the old building from December 1946 to January 1950.
• Ordinances: Art. 123. Summoning, prorogation and dissolution: Art. 85. Assent to bills: Art. 111.

Mains Points

• Centre of democratic politics vs decline: Parliament can still force rollbacks, as with fertiliser prices (2002) and urea (1998). But the Cabinet now controls the agenda, sittings are fewer and the anti-defection law ties MPs to the party line. Proposed reforms include a minimum number of sitting days, more use of committees, and fixed time for opposition business.
• Limited legislature: written constitutionalism, federalism, Fundamental Rights and the basic structure stop a majority from becoming a tyranny of the majority. Gadgil's 1949 view that the limits are only procedural shows the risk the courts later guarded against. A good answer weighs the democratic mandate against constitutional limits.
• President within Parliament: including the head of state in the legislature (Art. 79) keeps the two branches linked. Assent (Art. 111) and ordinances (Art. 123) show how much law-making depends on the executive. Too many ordinances weaken Parliament's role.
• Symbolism of the 2023 building: the new chambers have more seats for the coming delimitation, and passing the women's reservation law was the first work done there. On the other side, critics see the Sengol as a royal and religious symbol that sits uneasily with a secular republic. This is useful for GS-I and GS-II answers on democratic institutions and political symbolism.