Context: The President’s Address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is likely to be held in the new Parliament, while the rest of the first part of the Budget Session may continue at the old Parliament, according to sources. The Budget Session of the Parliament commences on January 31 and the first part will go on till February 10. The Parliament will reconvene on March 12 and go on till April 6.
Presidents Address – Article 86 (1) and Article 87
- Article 86(1) of the Constitution provides that the President may address either House of Parliament or both Houses assembled together, and for that purpose require the attendance of members. However, since the commencement of the Constitution, there has not been any occasion when the President has addressed either House or both Houses assembled together, under the provision of this article.
- Article 87 provides for the special address by the President.
- Clause (1) of that article provides that at the commencement of the first session after each general election to the House of the People and at the commencement of the first session of each year, the President shall address both Houses of Parliament assembled together and inform Parliament of the causes of its summons.
- Such an Address is called ‘special address‘; and it is also an annual feature. No other business is transacted till the President has addressed both Houses of Parliament assembled together.
- This Address has to be to both Houses of Parliament assembled together. If at the time of commencement of the first session of the year, Lok Sabha is not in existence and has been dissolved, and Rajya Sabha has to meet, Rajya Sabha can have its session without the President’s Address.
- In the case of the first session after each general election to Lok Sabha, the President addresses both Houses of Parliament assembled together after the members have made and subscribed the oath or affirmation and the Speaker has been elected.
Motion of Thanks
- The address is followed by a motion of thanks moved in each House by ruling party MPs, followed by discussions that last up to three or four days and conclude with the Prime Minister replying to the points raised during the discussion.
- After the PM’s reply, MPs vote on the motion of thanks and some may move amendments to the address.
- The amendments may emphasise or add issues addressed by the President or highlight those that did not find mention.
- Changes proposed by MPs are not passed in Parliament. Since 1952, only amendments proposed by Rajya sabha MPs have been passed during the vote on the address,
What is Joint Sitting of the Parliament for passage of Bills
- A joint sitting of both Houses may be called if a Bill has been passed by one House and rejected by the other or if the two Houses have disagreed on the amendments to be made in the Bill.
- In a joint sitting, the Bill needs to be passed by a simple majority of the members of both Houses present and voting.
- However, there is no provision of joint sittings on a Money Bill or a Constitution Amendment Bill.
- Over the last 60 years, only three such joint sittings have been held. These were on the
- Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1959,
- The Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill, 1977, and
- The Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2002.
- As per Article 108 of Constitution, a Joint session of Parliament can be summoned in the following situations.
- If after a Bill has been passed by one House and submitted to the other House—
- (a) the Bill is rejected by the other House; or
- (b) the Houses have finally disagreed as to the amendments to be made in the Bill; or
- (c) more than six months elapse from the date of the reception of the Bill by the other House without the Bill being passed by it, the President may, unless the Bill has elapsed by reason of a dissolution of the House of the People, notify to the Houses by message if they are sitting or by public notification if they are not sitting, their intention to summon them to meet in a joint sitting for the purpose of deliberating and voting on the Bill.
- However, in the calculating period of six months, those days are not considered when the house is prorogued or adjourned for more than 4 consecutive days.
- If the above conditions are satisfied, the President of India may summon the joint sitting of both the houses of parliament.
About the News
- This Joint sitting will be President Droupadi Murmu’s first address to the Parliament and the very first sitting in the under-construction Parliament building.
- The Session, according to sources, will be held in the Lok Sabha chamber, where last-minute finishing touches are being given.
- The new building does not have a Central Hall, where all joint sittings are held. The Lok Sabha chamber is capacious enough to accommodate members of both Houses.
- The Lok Sabha Secretariat has started preparing new “smart identity cards” for MPs for the new Parliament.
- “The Smart Card shall be highly secure with several safety features embedded in the system,” as per the Lok Sabha bulletin issued on January 11.
- The new building will also have smart cameras with face recognition features, to allow easy access for the members.