Law-making in outline: kinds of bills and the two Houses

Detail

1. Law-making is a political process

• A bill is the draft of a proposed law. It becomes an Act only after both Houses pass it and the President gives assent (formal approval) under Art. 111.
• Who pushes for a new law:
• political parties and their election promises;
• interest groups (organised groups that try to influence policy, such as trade unions, business bodies and women's groups);
• the media;

• ordinary citizens and social movements.

• The Cabinet decides. Before it takes up a bill, it weighs:

• the money and other resources needed;
• how much support the bill has inside and outside Parliament;
• its likely effect on elections;

• the views of coalition partners.

• The ministry concerned writes the draft. For example, the Ministry of Women and Child Development handles child-marriage law.

• Government bill and private member's bill:
• A government bill is moved by a minister.
• A private member's bill is moved by an MP who is not a minister.
• Private members' bills rarely pass unless the government supports them.

2. NCERT's example: raising girls' age of marriage

• NCERT uses a bill that raises the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 to show how political this process is.
• What happened to the actual bill:
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 21 December 2021. It was sent to a committee the same day [3].
• The committee was the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports [3].
• The bill lapsed (died without being passed) [3]. This happened when the 17th Lok Sabha ended in 2024, because a bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses when the Lok Sabha is dissolved (Art. 107(5)).

3. A case study: the Right to Education (RTE) Act

• Roots in the DPSPs. The Directive Principles of State Policy are guidelines in Part IV of the Constitution that courts cannot enforce. They asked the State to provide free education to children.
• The courts stepped in. In the early 1990s the Supreme Court read a right to education into Art. 21 (the right to life and personal liberty).
• The 86th Amendment, 2002 inserted Art. 21A. It makes free and compulsory education for children aged 6 to 14 a Fundamental Right [7].

• Steps in Parliament: 1. The bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in 2008. 2. A parliamentary committee examined it. 3. The Lok Sabha passed it. 4. The President gave assent in August 2009.

• The RTE Act came into force on 1 April 2010 [6]. It applies to all kinds of schools, both government and private [7].

• Why it applies to the whole country: education is in the Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule. That is the list of subjects on which both Parliament and the state legislatures can make laws. A central law on a Concurrent subject therefore runs nationwide.

4. A case study of delay: women's reservation

• The Women's Reservation Bill was first introduced in 1996. It was brought back several times over almost 27 years, and each time parties failed to agree.
• It finally became the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, also called the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam [4]. Its main points:
• It reserves, "as nearly as may be", one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, the state assemblies and the Delhi Assembly. This includes one-third of the seats already reserved for SCs and STs [4].
• It takes effect only after a census is published and delimitation (redrawing of constituency boundaries) is carried out using that census [4].

• It lasts 15 years, and Parliament can extend it by law [4].

• The vote: the Lok Sabha passed it by 454 votes to 2, and the Rajya Sabha passed it unanimously [5].

• The detailed stages of a bill (readings, committees, assent, lapse) are covered in the parliamentary-procedure note.

5. Kinds of bills and how much power the Rajya Sabha has

Ordinary bill (Art. 107)

• This is any bill that is not a money, financial or constitution amendment bill.
• It can start in either House.
• Both Houses must pass it in the same form.
• If the Houses cannot agree (a deadlock), the President can call a joint sitting (Art. 108).
• The President may return it once for reconsideration (Art. 111). If both Houses pass it again, the President must give assent.

Money bill (Art. 110)

• A money bill contains only the matters listed in Art. 110(1): 1. imposing, abolishing, changing or regulating any tax; 2. government borrowing and guarantees; 3. custody of the Consolidated Fund and the Contingency Fund, and payments into or out of them; 4. appropriation (legal permission to spend) of money from the Consolidated Fund; 5. declaring any spending to be charged expenditure (spending that Parliament does not vote on, such as the President's salary); 6. receiving money into the Consolidated Fund or the public account, and its custody or issue; 7. any matter incidental to the above.

• Rules for a money bill:

• It needs the President's recommendation before it is introduced (Art. 117).
• It starts only in the Lok Sabha (Art. 109).

• The Speaker's certificate that it is a money bill is final (Art. 110(3)).

• What the Rajya Sabha can do (Art. 109):

• It can only make recommendations, and it must return the bill within 14 days.
• The Lok Sabha is free to accept or reject those recommendations.

• If the Rajya Sabha does not return the bill within 14 days, the bill is treated as passed by both Houses.

• There is no joint sitting for a money bill.

• The President cannot return a money bill for reconsideration.
• The disputes over the Speaker's certificate for the Aadhaar Act and the Finance Act are covered in the parliamentary-procedure note.

Financial bill, Category I (Art. 117(1))

• It contains money-bill matters plus other matters, so it does not qualify as a pure money bill.
• Like a money bill, it needs the President's recommendation and starts only in the Lok Sabha.
• Unlike a money bill, the Rajya Sabha can amend or reject it. A joint sitting is possible.

Financial bill, Category II (Art. 117(3))

• It involves spending from the Consolidated Fund but contains no Art. 110 matters.
• It can start in either House.
• It needs the President's recommendation only before a House considers it, not when it is introduced.
• In every other way it is treated like an ordinary bill, so a joint sitting is possible.

Constitution amendment bill (Art. 368)

• It can start in either House. It does not need the President's recommendation.
• Each House must pass it separately by a special majority: a majority of the House's total membership, and also two-thirds of members present and voting.
• There is no joint sitting. If one House rejects the bill, it fails.
• Pointer: see the amendment-basic-structure note.

Bill	Where it starts	President's recommendation	Rajya Sabha's power	Joint sitting
Ordinary	Either House	No	Full: pass, amend or reject	Yes
Money (Art. 110)	Lok Sabha only	Yes	Recommend only, within 14 days	No
Financial Category I (Art. 117(1))	Lok Sabha only	Yes	Amend or reject	Yes
Financial Category II (Art. 117(3))	Either House	Only before the House considers it	Full	Yes
Constitution amendment (Art. 368)	Either House	No	Equal; special majority in each House	No

6. Joint sitting (Art. 108)

• A joint sitting is a meeting of both Houses together. It is used to settle a deadlock on a bill.

• When the President can call one. A bill has passed one House, and then one of these happens: 1. the other House rejects it; 2. the Houses disagree on amendments; or 3. more than six months pass without the other House passing it.

• How it works:

• The Speaker presides (Art. 118(4)). If the Speaker is absent, the Deputy Speaker presides, and after the Deputy Speaker, the Rajya Sabha's Deputy Chairman.
• The bill passes by a majority of the total members of both Houses present and voting [2].

• No new amendments are allowed. The only amendments allowed are those made necessary by the delay or that deal with the points of disagreement.

• Where it cannot be used: money bills and constitution amendment bills. It is meant only for ordinary legislation [2].

• Survives dissolution: once the President has notified a joint sitting, it can still be held even if the Lok Sabha is dissolved in the meantime (Art. 108(5)).
• Why the Lok Sabha usually wins: in 2026 the Lok Sabha has 543 elected seats and the Rajya Sabha has a maximum of 250 members. With about twice as many votes, the Lok Sabha's view normally prevails.

7. The three joint sittings so far

Year	Bill	Cause of deadlock
1961	Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1959	The Houses disagreed on amendments [2]
1978	Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill, 1977	The Rajya Sabha rejected it [2]
26 March 2002	Prevention of Terrorism Bill (POTA), 2002	The Rajya Sabha rejected it after the Lok Sabha had passed it [2]

• All three bills were passed at the joint sitting [2]. (NCERT: mentions only that the Rajya Sabha rejected POTA and says outcomes have always favoured the Lok Sabha.)

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 110(3): the Speaker's decision on whether a bill is a money bill is final. Art. 109: the Rajya Sabha must return a money bill within 14 days, with recommendations only.
• A Financial bill Category I (Art. 117(1)) starts only in the Lok Sabha like a money bill, but the Rajya Sabha can reject it and a joint sitting is possible. This is a common trap.
• A Category II financial bill (Art. 117(3)) can start in either House. The President's recommendation is needed only before the House considers it.
• Joint sitting: called by the President, presided over by the Speaker (Art. 118(4)), decided by a simple majority of members present and voting. It is not available for money bills or constitution amendment bills.
• There have been three joint sittings: Dowry Prohibition (1961), Banking Service Commission (Repeal) (1978) and POTA (26 March 2002). All three bills were passed [2].
• A joint sitting already notified is held even if the Lok Sabha is dissolved (Art. 108(5)).
• The 86th Amendment, 2002 inserted Art. 21A (education for ages 6 to 14). The RTE Act, 2009 came into force on 1 April 2010 [6][7].
• The 106th Amendment, 2023 (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) gives women one-third of seats, starting after the next census and delimitation, for 15 years [4].
• The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 would have raised women's marriage age to 21. It was sent to a standing committee and lapsed [3].

Mains Points

• Is the Rajya Sabha being bypassed?
• Because the Speaker's certificate is final, a government can label a bill a "money bill" to escape scrutiny by the Rajya Sabha (see the Aadhaar Act and Finance Act disputes).
• This weakens the federal role of the Upper House, which represents the states.

• Reform idea: set clear tests for what counts as a money bill, or allow judicial review of the Speaker's certificate.

• The joint sitting tilts towards the Lok Sabha.

• The Lok Sabha has about twice as many members, so it wins at a joint sitting, as it did with POTA in 2002.
• Supporters say this respects the directly elected House.

• Critics say it reduces the Rajya Sabha's check on the majority. However, a joint sitting has been used only three times in about 70 years, which shows that the Houses usually settle differences by agreement.

• Law-making depends on politics, not just procedure.

• The Women's Reservation Bill took 27 years (1996 to 2023), and its seat reservation still waits for a census and delimitation [4].
• The child-marriage bill of 2021 lapsed [3].

• Delay usually comes from a lack of political agreement or coalition pressure, not from a lack of drafting.

• Committees make laws better.

• The RTE bill was examined by a committee before it was passed.
• Sending more bills to committees improves scrutiny. Delay or lapse is the trade-off.