New Delhi: The decision of the Centre to not hold the Winter Session of parliament, ostensibly on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, has been criticised by sections of the opposition. Critics have said that the BJP government has done so to avoid discussions around the ongoing farmers agitation, the economic crisis facing the country, the pandemic and the crisis on the China border.
Constitutional experts The Wire spoke to have said that while the Narendra Modi government may be technically and constitutionally right in skipping the session, it has erred traditionally and conventionally.
Constitution originally provided for two sessions in a year
Talking to The Wire, former secretary general of Lok Sabha P.D.T. Achary said, “There have been a few occasions in the past when there have been only two sessions of parliament.”
Normally, there are three sessions – the Budget Session, now held from end of January to early April; the Monsoon session, from July to August, and the Winter session from November to December, he said. So two sessions are related to the season and one is related to the Budget. That is how the sessions are planned.
When the constitution was originally framed, Achary said, the provision pertaining to sittings of parliament said it should have at least two sessions in a year. “That was the original position. But there was a problem as in 1950, the Winter Session spilled over to 1951. So after that, the issue was raised on whether there should be more than two sessions. But then it was said that the constitutional provision is very clear and that there should be only two sessions. So they decided to have just one more session in 1951. So that made it two sessions.”
Amended provision said ‘gap between two sessions should not be six months’
PDT Achary. Credit: PTI
Later, he said, the constitution was amended and the provision said that the gap between two sessions should not be six months. “It meant that the gap between two sessions should be less than six months. So this is the outer limit now. That shows that the constitution envisages two sessions in a year. But there can be more sessions than that.”
However, Achary said, from the first parliament onwards, there have been three sessions and this tradition has continued ever since. Even during 1962 (the year of the India-China war) and also in 1965 and 1971 (when India fought with Pakistan), parliament held three sessions and there was no disruption.
“It was only in 1975 after the Emergency was declared that they did away with the Winter session. So they only had the Budget and Monsoon sessions that year,” he said. “Similarly in 1984, after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the general elections were held in late December and so the Winter Session that year was also terminated.”
Thereafter, in 2008, the then UPA government had not held a Winter Session. But it had instead gone for an extended Monsoon Session for a few days in December.
‘Sessions rarely skipped, convention has been to hold three per annum’
So, Achary said, there have been occasions when the Winter sessions were skipped, but these instances are few and far between. Parliament always realised the importance of every session. Sessions are essentially used for conducting government business and to have discussions. Normally, the government has an agenda for the sessions and it lists out the Bills it wants to get passed.
As such, Achary said, sessions were seldom skipped. “In fact, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Speaker used to announce the date of convening of the next session on the last day of the session. That was discontinued later and so now no one knows when parliament would meet again. However, while sessions are usually held as per the pattern, and sometimes they may get pushed ahead by a few days or a month or so, normally they are not skipped. This was the convention.”
Also read: No Winter Session Of Parliament, Govt Suggests January 2021 Budget Session
On the Modi government deciding to skip the Winter Session, Achary said: “If they want to hold only two sessions in a year they are free to do so – the constitution permits them. It all depends of the government. It is the prerogative of the government to call the session.”
Little else apart from financial matters may be discussed in Budget Session
However, he noted that this may deprive the MPs an opportunity to discuss pressing issues. “In the Budget session there is little scope for any legislative business to be transacted because much of the session is taken up for dealing with the financial business. With the passage of the Finance Bill, the primary legislative business of the House gets over. After that very few days are left for other legislative business. That is why the two other sessions are convened.”
Achary also pointed out that the Budget session is usually the longest, running from February to May, whereas the other sessions are usually of one-and-a-half-month duration each. “Budget session is exclusively for financial matters and therefore due to skipping of the Winter Session now many of the normal bills will get pushed to the next Monsoon session. Due to this the government would take the ordinance route to conduct much of the legislative business. This is not in conformity with the parliamentary way of doing things.”
To prevent crowding of business in one session, he said, it is better to convene all three sessions.
‘No consultation before calling off session’
In fact, the opposition too had criticised the Centre’s decision to skip the Winter Session on this ground. Though the Centre claimed that many parties did not want the session due to the COVID-19 situation, the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Left parties and Shiv Sena said no consultation were held while the All India Trinamool Congress said it was opposed to a shortened session.
Union parliamentary affairs minister Prahlad Joshi had cited concerns around COVID-19 as the primary reason for not having the session. It was stated that several MPs and parliament officials who had attended the Monsoon Session held over 10 days from September 14 had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Besides, three MPs – Anil Gasti, Balli Durga Prasad Rao and H. Vasanthakumar – and Union minister of state for railways Suresh Angadi also died after contracting the virus.
Joshi had also assured that the government was willing to hold the next session of parliament at the earliest possible time. He also wrote to Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and said that “winter months are very crucial for managing the pandemic because of recent spurt in cases during this period, particularly in Delhi.”
Opposition wanted to discuss farmers’ protest
But opposition leaders claimed that this is only an attempt by the Centre to avoid discussing important issues, particularly the farmers’ protests. Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s parliamentary leader Elamaram Kareem was quoted as saying, “It’s a national issue, but Modi government doesn’t discuss serious national issues.”
Some other leaders, like Nawab Malik of NCP demanded that Parliament should meet, even if for a couple of days, to discuss the farmers issue.