THE RAJYA SABHA
Opposite page: India Gate in New Delhi; This page: Parliament House.
parliamentary standing committees were established in the Indian Parliament in 1993 following the pattern of the select committees of the United Kingdom House of Commons which were introduced there in 1979 to examine the policies and programmes of individual government departments. Normally in India both the Houses of Parliament have been referring almost all Bills to the relevant department-related parliamentary standing committee for scrutiny and examination. As of now the Rajya Sabha has referred some of the Bills to its select committee for examination and report even though such Bills have been already examined by a department-related parliamentary standing committee and passed by the Lok Sabha. So far the Lok Sabha has not done such a thing.
The foundational philosophy
behind the reference of Bills to committees of both the Houses of Parliament or a committee of either House has been to enable deep examination and reassessment of their scope and thematic content. It is quite usual to refer Bills, introduced in either House, to a department-related parliamentary standing committee operating under the control of one House but consisting of Members of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, or to a select committee of either House. However, it is rare to see a Bill referred to a select committee of the Rajya Sabha after it has been thoroughly examined by a department-related standing committee and passed by the Lok Sabha. When the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, to set up an ombudsman at the national and state
level, was taken up in the Rajya Sabha for consideration and passage on 21 May 2012, a Member of the House moved an amendment to refer it to a select committee of the Council. The Lokpal Bill 2011 was first
introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2011. It was then referred to the Department Related Parliamentary Standing on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (functioning under the Rajya Sabha) which after detailed examination recommended alterations and accordingly reported to the Lok Sabha. The House debated and passed the legislation and transmitted it to the Council of States. When the Bill was being taken up for consideration, a Member of that House moved a motion and the Bill was referred to a select committee. This was the third time that a Bill
examined by a department-related standing committee of Parliament and passed by the Lok Sabha had been referred to a select committee of Rajya Sabha. It happened for the first time on 7 August 1995 when the Rajya Sabha took a unanimous decision to refer the Trade Marks Bill, 1995, which was examined by the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (functioning under the Rajya Sabha) and passed by the Lok Sabha, to its select committee for further scrutiny and examination. Again on 4 August 1997 the Rajya Sabha took a decision to refer the Coast Guard (Amendment) Bill, 1996 to its select committee even though it was examined by the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence and passed by the Lok Sabha.
The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One | 59
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