The state legislature: the Legislative Assembly

Detail

1. What the state legislature is made of (Art. 168)

• Under Art. 168, the state legislature has two parts: the Governor and the House or Houses.
• Unicameral states (with one House) have only a Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha).

• Bicameral states (with two Houses) have an Assembly and a Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad).

• The Governor is not a member of either House. The Governor is still part of the legislature because:

• the Governor calls the House to meet (summons), ends a session (prorogues) and can end the Assembly's life (dissolves) (Art. 174) [5];
• the Governor addresses the House (Arts. 175-176) [5];
• a bill becomes law only after the Governor's assent (Art. 200) [5].

2. Composition of the Legislative Assembly (Art. 170)

• Size: at least 60 and at most 500 members. All are chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies (fixed areas, each electing one member) [3].
• Equal ratio: each constituency should have about the same population per seat across the whole state, "so far as practicable" [3].
• Readjustment: after each census, Parliament decides by law how seats and constituencies are redrawn (delimitation) [3].

• The total number of seats is currently frozen until the first census after 2026 (provisos to Art. 170(3)) [3][5].

• Exceptions to the 60-seat minimum:

State	Seats	Basis
Sikkim	32	Art. 371F [5]
Goa	40	special statute
Mizoram	40	Art. 371G (minimum 40) [5]

• Reserved seats: seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in proportion to their share of the state's population (Art. 332).
• Women's reservation: the 106th Amendment (2023) added Art. 332A. It reserves one-third of Assembly seats for women, including one-third of the SC/ST seats.

• It takes effect only after the next census and the delimitation based on it (see elections-electoral-system).

• Anglo-Indian nomination ended: the Governor's power to nominate one Anglo-Indian member (Art. 333) lapsed in 2020 under the 104th Amendment (2019) [5].

3. Term and qualifications (Arts. 172-173)

• Term: five years from the date fixed for the Assembly's first meeting. When the five years end, the Assembly is dissolved automatically [4].

• The Governor can dissolve it earlier on the Chief Minister's advice, or under President's rule.

• Extension during a national emergency:

• Parliament can extend the term by law, one year at a time [4].

• The extension cannot run beyond six months after the emergency ends [4].

• Qualifications (Art. 173):

• the member must be a citizen of India;
• the member must be at least 25 for the Assembly (30 for the Council);

• the member must take an oath before an authorised person [5].

• Disqualification:

• general grounds such as an office of profit or unsound mind (Art. 191(1));
• defection (Art. 191(2) read with the Tenth Schedule, the anti-defection law) [5].
• Under Art. 192, the Governor decides general disqualification cases on the opinion of the Election Commission, and must act on that opinion [5].

4. Presiding officers: the Speaker and Deputy Speaker (Arts. 178-187)

• Election: the Assembly elects a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members (Art. 178) [5].

• Removal (Art. 179): 1. At least 14 days' notice of the resolution must be given. 2. The resolution must pass by a majority of all the then members of the House (an effective majority) [5]. 3. The Speaker cannot preside while their own removal is being discussed, but may speak and vote at the first stage (Art. 181) [5].

• Continuity: when the Assembly is dissolved, the Speaker stays in office until just before the new Assembly first meets (Art. 179) [5].

• Casting vote: the Speaker votes only to break a tie (Art. 189) [5].
• Main powers:
• Money bill certification (Art. 199(3)): the Speaker decides whether a bill is a money bill (a bill only about taxes, government borrowing or spending from state funds). That decision is final [5].

• Defection cases: the Speaker decides disqualification under the Tenth Schedule (see political-parties).

  • In Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992), the Supreme Court held that these decisions can be challenged in court (judicial review, the courts' power to check whether a decision is lawful).

• Secretariat: each House has its own staff (Art. 187) [5].

• Quorum: the minimum attendance needed to do business is 10 members or one-tenth of the House, whichever is greater (Art. 189) [5].

5. Powers of the Assembly

5.1 Law-making

• The Assembly makes laws on subjects in the State List and the Concurrent List (Seventh Schedule; Art. 246) (NCERT Class 8: the Union, State and Concurrent Lists).
• Ordinary bills in bicameral states (Arts. 196-197):
• the Council can hold back a bill for at most three months the first time and one month the second time;
• after that, the Assembly's will prevails;
• there is no joint sitting at the state level, unlike Parliament [5].

5.2 Control over the executive

• Art. 164(2): the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Assembly. This means all ministers stand or fall together, and the government stays in office only while it has a majority in the Assembly [5].
• Tools the Assembly uses:
• questions;
• motions such as adjournment, calling-attention and cut motions;
• debate on the Governor's address;

• the no-confidence motion, which forces the government to resign if it passes.

• The Council can ask questions but cannot remove the government. Only the Assembly can.

5.3 Financial control (Arts. 198-207)

• Money bills are introduced only in the Assembly, and only with the Governor's recommendation (Arts. 198, 207) [5].
• The Council's limited role: it must return a money bill within 14 days, with recommendations only. The Assembly may reject these recommendations [5].
• Steps in the state budget:

Step	Article	What happens
1. Annual financial statement (the budget)	202	Laid before the House on the Governor's behalf
2. Demands for grants	203	Voted only by the Assembly; charged expenditure is not voted on
3. Appropriation bill	204	Allows money to be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund of the State
4. Supplementary or excess grants	205	For spending above the budget
5. Vote on account	206	Advance grant for part of the year before the full budget passes
Financial bills	207	Need the Governor's recommendation

[5]

5.4 Electoral functions

• Rajya Sabha: elected MLAs choose the state's Rajya Sabha members by the single transferable vote (Art. 80(4)). Under this system, voters rank candidates, and votes beyond what a winner needs pass to the next choice [5].
• President: elected MLAs are part of the electoral college for the President (Art. 54). Nominated members do not vote [5].
• MLAs do not vote in the Vice-President's election. That electoral college has only MPs (Art. 66) [5].

5.5 Constituent functions

• Art. 368(2) proviso: amendments that affect the federal structure need ratification by at least half the state legislatures. Examples include the election of the President, the Seventh Schedule lists, representation of states in Parliament, the High Courts and Art. 368 itself [5].
• Art. 169 (creating or abolishing a Council): 1. The Assembly passes a resolution by a majority of its total membership and two-thirds of members present and voting. 2. Parliament then passes a law by simple majority. 3. Such a law is not treated as an amendment under Art. 368 [5].

5.6 Privileges and immunity

• Art. 194: members have freedom of speech in the House. They cannot be taken to court for anything said or any vote given there. These privileges mirror those of MPs (see parliamentary-procedure) [5].
• Art. 212: courts cannot question the validity of the House's proceedings on the ground of a mere irregularity of procedure [5].
• Art. 211: the Assembly cannot discuss the conduct of a Supreme Court or High Court judge in office [5].

6. Limits on state legislative power

• Territorial reach: state laws apply only within the state (Art. 245(1)). Only Parliament can make laws with effect outside India [5].
• Parliament's power over the State List (see federalism-centre-state):

Article	Trigger	Condition
249	National interest	Rajya Sabha resolution passed by two-thirds present and voting; lasts one year and can be renewed
250	National emergency in force	Law lapses six months after the emergency ends
251	Conflict with a law under Arts. 249/250	The Union law prevails
252	Two or more states ask for it	Resolutions passed by those state legislatures
253	To carry out treaties	No state consent needed

[5]

• Repugnancy (Art. 254): a repugnant law is one that clashes with another law on the same subject.
• If a state law on a Concurrent List subject clashes with a Union law, the Union law prevails.

• Exception (Art. 254(2)): a state law reserved for and assented to by the President prevails in that state. Parliament can still override it later [5].

• Reservation of bills: the Governor may reserve a bill for the President (Art. 200). The President may then give assent or withhold it, or ask for a non-money bill to be reconsidered. The Assembly must reconsider it within six months (Art. 201) [5]. (Details in Section 7 of the parent note.)

• Trade restrictions (Art. 304(b)): a state law placing reasonable restrictions on trade needs the previous sanction of the President before its bill is introduced [5].
• Shelter under Arts. 31A and 31C: a state law gets protection from challenge under the Fundamental Rights only if it is reserved for and assented to by the President [5].
• Art. 31A covers land reform laws.

• Art. 31C covers laws giving effect to the Directive Principles.

• President's rule (Art. 356) (see emergency-provisions): 1. The Governor reports that government cannot be carried on as the Constitution requires (or the President is otherwise satisfied of this). 2. The President issues a proclamation. 3. The Assembly is suspended or dissolved. 4. Parliament (or the President, if Parliament authorises it) makes the state's laws [5].

7. Recent rulings on assent to Assembly bills (2025)

• State of Tamil Nadu v. Governor of Tamil Nadu (8 April 2025):
• Between January 2020 and April 2023, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed 12 bills that were pending with the Governor [7].

• The Court held that Governors must act on bills. It set timelines and treated pending bills as having received deemed assent (assent assumed after the deadline passes) [7][8].

• Presidential Reference No. 1 of 2025 (opinion of 20 November 2025, five-judge bench):

• The President asked the Court for its opinion under Art. 143.
• Under Art. 200, the Governor has three options:
  • give assent;
  • reserve the bill for the President;
  • withhold assent and return the bill to the legislature with comments (not allowed for money bills) [6][8].
• Courts should not set timelines where the Constitution sets none [6][8].
• The Constitution has no concept of "deemed assent" [6][8].
• Decisions under Art. 200 are not justiciable (cannot be reviewed by courts on their merits), and here the Governor is not bound by the ministers' advice [8].
• The Court may give only limited directions in cases of prolonged inaction [8].
• Effect: this opinion reverses the April 2025 rule on timelines and deemed assent [8].

8. How Assemblies actually work

• NCERT (Class 8) points to frequent disruption and low productivity in legislatures, and these problems apply to state Assemblies too.
• PRS data:

Indicator	Figure
Average sitting days per Assembly	24 (2025); 21 (2024); 23 (2023) [2]
Highest average sittings, 2021-2025	Kerala 41, Odisha 39, Karnataka 37 [2]
Lowest average sittings, 2021-2025	Nagaland 8, Tripura 9 [2]
Bills passed by all states	600+ (2025); about 500 (2024) [2]
Bills passed on the day of introduction	30% (2025) [2]
Assemblies that passed all bills on the day of introduction or the next day (2025)	Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry and Punjab [2]

(NCERT/PRS earlier estimate: about 20 sitting days a year.)

• Consequence:
• few sittings mean bills are passed quickly;
• quick passage leaves little time for committee scrutiny or debate;

• so the Assembly's check on the executive becomes weaker.

• Symbol of the state: NCERT (Class 8) uses Karnataka's Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, built under Chief Minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah, to show the Assembly as a symbol of the state's people and power.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 170: an Assembly has 60-500 directly elected members. Sikkim has 32 (Art. 371F); Goa and Mizoram have 40.
• Art. 172: during a national emergency, Parliament can extend an Assembly's term one year at a time, but never beyond six months after the emergency ends.
• Art. 199(3): the Speaker's certificate that a bill is a money bill is final. The Council can hold a money bill for only 14 days.
• Art. 169: creating or abolishing a Council needs an Assembly resolution (majority of total membership plus two-thirds present and voting), then a Parliament law by simple majority. This is not an Art. 368 amendment.
• Trap: MLAs vote for the President (Art. 54) but not the Vice-President (Art. 66). Nominated members vote in neither election.
• Trap: there is no joint sitting to settle a deadlock between the two Houses of a state legislature.
• Art. 332A (106th Amendment, 2023) gives women one-third of Assembly seats, starting only after the next census-based delimitation. The 104th Amendment (2019) ended Anglo-Indian nomination (Art. 333).
• Art. 304(b): previous presidential sanction is needed for state bills restricting trade. Art. 254(2): a state law with presidential assent prevails over a clashing Union law in that state.
• Presidential Reference No. 1 of 2025 (20 November 2025): no court-set timelines for assent and no "deemed assent". This reverses State of Tamil Nadu v. Governor (April 2025).
• PRS, 2025: state Assemblies sat for an average of 24 days. Kerala had the highest average sittings for 2021-2025 (41).

Mains Points

• Weak deliberation:
• Assemblies sat for an average of only 24 days in 2025, and 30% of bills passed the day they were introduced [2].
• So state laws are made with little debate or committee scrutiny.

• Reforms: a legal minimum number of sitting days, compulsory referral of bills to committees, and a fixed gap between introducing and passing a bill.

• Governor's assent and federalism:

• The April 2025 judgment set timelines for the Governor [7]. The November 2025 opinion said courts cannot impose them [6][8].
• The issue is now the balance between the Governor's constitutional role and the elected Assembly's will.
• Sarkaria (1988) and Punchhi (2010) both favoured fixed time limits for decisions on bills.

• Way forward: Parliament could add timelines to the Constitution by amendment.

• Speaker as defection judge:

• Speakers belong to a party, and some delay defection cases.
• This weakens the Tenth Schedule.

• Reform proposals: an independent tribunal, or time-bound decisions, to protect the stability and legitimacy of the Assembly.

• Limits on state power:

• Arts. 249-254, 304(b), 31A/31C and 356 show India's "centralised federation", in which the Union is stronger than the states.
• Argument for: these limits protect national unity and the common market.
• Argument against: their misuse, especially of Art. 356 before S.R. Bommai (1994), shrinks the Assembly's democratic space.