POLITY
5. Parliament and state legislature - structure ,
functioning , the conduct of business, power &
legislature and issues arising out these.
The democratic form of government adopted by India has at its core an institution of elected legislature i.e.
Parliament responsible for legislation. Our democracy rests on the belief of citizens that the parliament will
perform this function. But of late, there has been serious of disruptions and events that has broken the ethos
of parliament.
Several instances of disruptions and physical violence have been witnessed. This exhibition of unruly
behaviour serves as a failure of smooth and worthwhile functioning, pushing citizens to lose faith in the
democratic organ.
The reason parliamentarians resort to obstructionism and sloganeering in both house of parliament and the
major factors which drive them are:
Lack of parliamentary ethics:- The ethical standards of legislators have declined. Concern for the
country and the sense of responsibility is declining day by day.
Less sitting: Reduced number of days of sitting often causes insufficient time allocation for many
sensitive and worthy issues. To raise attention some members resort to sloganeering.
Controversial actions by ruling party: Like resorting to ordinances to avoid legislative scrutinise,
redefining bills as money bills to get easy passage in Rajyasabha where government lacks majority
etc. invoke ire of opposition.
Criminalization of politics: 31% of MPs in current Lok Sabha are from criminal background such
leaders erodes the moral authority of the parliament.
Limelight: Frequent elections motivate parties to do unjustified criticism on the floor which helps
them come in lime light easily.
Delegated legislation:- Lack of subject expertise to parliamentarians resulting in delegated legislation
and bureaucratization.
Misuse of parliamentary privileges.
Measures to address this issue:
, Sittings: Number of days of sittings should be increased. NCRWC has recommended fixing number
of working days to Loksabha-120 and Rajyasabha-100.
Monetary penalties for indiscipline: MPs disrupting the parliament should be penalized.
Strict parliamentary guidelines should be made and Speaker/chairman should be given enough
power to take action if they are violated.
Powers of ethics committees should be increased.
Need to evolve Code of conduct for parliamentarians.
Codification of parliamentary privileges.
Since live sessions are aired on TV, an online platform should be made for the public to rate sessions
and MPs. This will increase the public participation and make MPs conscious of their duties.
As recommended by 2nd ARC, power to disqualify members of parliament for defection should be
vested with President guided by the advice of Election Commission.
Deference to parliamentary processes builds public trust:
Public trust can be harnessed through consultation and involvement of the public in the work of
legislatures. Dedicated TV channels and live broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings has contributed to a
discernible increase in public interest in parliamentary proceedings.
More scrutiny will keep chances open for more evolved mechanism: The sharp debate on the floor of
Parliament cannot replace the careful analysis done by Parliamentary Committees, which act as a bridge
between Parliament and people. E.g. in the act regarding APMC, states could have got ‘opt out’ option.
More discussion and deliberations: A lot of the farmers legitimate fears have less to do with the text and
more with the context. More reasoned deliberation will avoid hasty legislation. E.g. Select Committee for
surrogacy bill met with representatives of different groups and heard the testimony of the National Human
Rights Commission, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and multiple state governments
along with the government department piloting the Bill. Based on its own study, evidence and feedback from
experts and citizens, the committee suggested certain changes to the government’s Bill.
Sanctity of law making process: Throwing papers, sloganeering, breaking mikes lowers the sanctity of the
parliamentary processes and reduces deference of the house in the eyes of people. This was on full display
during the debate and passage of the two agricultural Bills in the Rajya Sabha.
CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS
Criminalisation of politics means rising participation of criminals in the electoral process and selection of the
same as elected representatives of the people.acc. to ADR, There is an increase of 109% ( in 2019) in the number
of MPs with declared serious criminal cases since 2009.29% of those elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 have
, declared serious crimes.
The Santhanam Committee Report 1963
It referred to political corruption as more dangerous than corruption of officials and recommended for Vigilance
Commission both at the Centre and in the States.
Vohra Committee Report (1993)
It studied the problem of the criminalization of politics and of the nexus among criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in
India. However, even after the submission of report 25 years ago, the report has not been made public by the
government.
Reasons for Criminalisation of Politics
Vote Bank politics: as majority of the voters are manoeuvrable, purchasable. Expenditure for vote buying
and other illegitimate purposes through criminals leads to nexus between politicians and criminals.
Corruption: nexus between politicians and criminals have become stronger as politicians get their election
funding as well as muscle and manpower from such criminals. This also encouraged criminals themselves to
use their power to win elections. Money spent during campaigning is considered as an investment which is
compensated by corruption.
Inefficiency in The Functioning of EC: For the past several general elections there has existed a gulf
between the EC and the voter. Common people hardly come to know the rules made by the commission.
Model Code of Conduct is openly flouted by candidates without any stringent repercussions.
Denial of Justice and Rule of Law: Toothless laws against convicted criminals standing for elections
further encourage this process. Not more than 6 per cent of the criminal cases against Indian MPs and
MLAs ended in a conviction, as per the data submitted by the Centre to the Supreme Court. This is in sharp
contrast to the overall conviction rate of 46% at the national level under IPC.
Lack on inner party democracy: Though the Representation of the People Act (RPA) disqualifies a sitting
legislator or a candidate on certain grounds, there is nothing regulating the appointments to offices within
the party. A politician may be disqualified from being a legislator, but (s)he may continue to hold high
positions within his/her party.
Impact of Criminalization
The law-breakers get elected as lawmakers- The people who are being tried for various offences are given
the opportunity to make laws for the whole country, which undermines the sanctity of the Parliament.
Loss of public faith in Judicial machinery- It is apparent that those with political influence take advantage
of their power by delaying hearings, obtaining repeated adjournments and filing innumerable interlocutory
petitions to stall any meaningful progress. This question the credibility of the judiciary.
Tainted Democracy: Where the rule of law is weakly enforced and social divisions are rampant, a
candidate’s criminal reputation could be perceived as an asset. This brings in the culture of muscle and
money power in the politics.
Self-perpetuating: Since the parties focus on winnability of the candidate (also hampering the inner party
democracy), they tend to include more and more influential elements. Thus, criminalization of politics
perpetuates itself and deteriorates the overall electoral culture.
Laws against this
5. Parliament and state legislature - structure ,
functioning , the conduct of business, power &
legislature and issues arising out these.
The democratic form of government adopted by India has at its core an institution of elected legislature i.e.
Parliament responsible for legislation. Our democracy rests on the belief of citizens that the parliament will
perform this function. But of late, there has been serious of disruptions and events that has broken the ethos
of parliament.
Several instances of disruptions and physical violence have been witnessed. This exhibition of unruly
behaviour serves as a failure of smooth and worthwhile functioning, pushing citizens to lose faith in the
democratic organ.
The reason parliamentarians resort to obstructionism and sloganeering in both house of parliament and the
major factors which drive them are:
Lack of parliamentary ethics:- The ethical standards of legislators have declined. Concern for the
country and the sense of responsibility is declining day by day.
Less sitting: Reduced number of days of sitting often causes insufficient time allocation for many
sensitive and worthy issues. To raise attention some members resort to sloganeering.
Controversial actions by ruling party: Like resorting to ordinances to avoid legislative scrutinise,
redefining bills as money bills to get easy passage in Rajyasabha where government lacks majority
etc. invoke ire of opposition.
Criminalization of politics: 31% of MPs in current Lok Sabha are from criminal background such
leaders erodes the moral authority of the parliament.
Limelight: Frequent elections motivate parties to do unjustified criticism on the floor which helps
them come in lime light easily.
Delegated legislation:- Lack of subject expertise to parliamentarians resulting in delegated legislation
and bureaucratization.
Misuse of parliamentary privileges.
Measures to address this issue:
, Sittings: Number of days of sittings should be increased. NCRWC has recommended fixing number
of working days to Loksabha-120 and Rajyasabha-100.
Monetary penalties for indiscipline: MPs disrupting the parliament should be penalized.
Strict parliamentary guidelines should be made and Speaker/chairman should be given enough
power to take action if they are violated.
Powers of ethics committees should be increased.
Need to evolve Code of conduct for parliamentarians.
Codification of parliamentary privileges.
Since live sessions are aired on TV, an online platform should be made for the public to rate sessions
and MPs. This will increase the public participation and make MPs conscious of their duties.
As recommended by 2nd ARC, power to disqualify members of parliament for defection should be
vested with President guided by the advice of Election Commission.
Deference to parliamentary processes builds public trust:
Public trust can be harnessed through consultation and involvement of the public in the work of
legislatures. Dedicated TV channels and live broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings has contributed to a
discernible increase in public interest in parliamentary proceedings.
More scrutiny will keep chances open for more evolved mechanism: The sharp debate on the floor of
Parliament cannot replace the careful analysis done by Parliamentary Committees, which act as a bridge
between Parliament and people. E.g. in the act regarding APMC, states could have got ‘opt out’ option.
More discussion and deliberations: A lot of the farmers legitimate fears have less to do with the text and
more with the context. More reasoned deliberation will avoid hasty legislation. E.g. Select Committee for
surrogacy bill met with representatives of different groups and heard the testimony of the National Human
Rights Commission, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and multiple state governments
along with the government department piloting the Bill. Based on its own study, evidence and feedback from
experts and citizens, the committee suggested certain changes to the government’s Bill.
Sanctity of law making process: Throwing papers, sloganeering, breaking mikes lowers the sanctity of the
parliamentary processes and reduces deference of the house in the eyes of people. This was on full display
during the debate and passage of the two agricultural Bills in the Rajya Sabha.
CRIMINALIZATION OF POLITICS
Criminalisation of politics means rising participation of criminals in the electoral process and selection of the
same as elected representatives of the people.acc. to ADR, There is an increase of 109% ( in 2019) in the number
of MPs with declared serious criminal cases since 2009.29% of those elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 have
, declared serious crimes.
The Santhanam Committee Report 1963
It referred to political corruption as more dangerous than corruption of officials and recommended for Vigilance
Commission both at the Centre and in the States.
Vohra Committee Report (1993)
It studied the problem of the criminalization of politics and of the nexus among criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in
India. However, even after the submission of report 25 years ago, the report has not been made public by the
government.
Reasons for Criminalisation of Politics
Vote Bank politics: as majority of the voters are manoeuvrable, purchasable. Expenditure for vote buying
and other illegitimate purposes through criminals leads to nexus between politicians and criminals.
Corruption: nexus between politicians and criminals have become stronger as politicians get their election
funding as well as muscle and manpower from such criminals. This also encouraged criminals themselves to
use their power to win elections. Money spent during campaigning is considered as an investment which is
compensated by corruption.
Inefficiency in The Functioning of EC: For the past several general elections there has existed a gulf
between the EC and the voter. Common people hardly come to know the rules made by the commission.
Model Code of Conduct is openly flouted by candidates without any stringent repercussions.
Denial of Justice and Rule of Law: Toothless laws against convicted criminals standing for elections
further encourage this process. Not more than 6 per cent of the criminal cases against Indian MPs and
MLAs ended in a conviction, as per the data submitted by the Centre to the Supreme Court. This is in sharp
contrast to the overall conviction rate of 46% at the national level under IPC.
Lack on inner party democracy: Though the Representation of the People Act (RPA) disqualifies a sitting
legislator or a candidate on certain grounds, there is nothing regulating the appointments to offices within
the party. A politician may be disqualified from being a legislator, but (s)he may continue to hold high
positions within his/her party.
Impact of Criminalization
The law-breakers get elected as lawmakers- The people who are being tried for various offences are given
the opportunity to make laws for the whole country, which undermines the sanctity of the Parliament.
Loss of public faith in Judicial machinery- It is apparent that those with political influence take advantage
of their power by delaying hearings, obtaining repeated adjournments and filing innumerable interlocutory
petitions to stall any meaningful progress. This question the credibility of the judiciary.
Tainted Democracy: Where the rule of law is weakly enforced and social divisions are rampant, a
candidate’s criminal reputation could be perceived as an asset. This brings in the culture of muscle and
money power in the politics.
Self-perpetuating: Since the parties focus on winnability of the candidate (also hampering the inner party
democracy), they tend to include more and more influential elements. Thus, criminalization of politics
perpetuates itself and deteriorates the overall electoral culture.
Laws against this
