CDS (I) 2021 General Knowledge · Question 51 of 120

Correct — D, That the Bill be referred to a Joint Committee of the House without the concurrence of the other House. The whole option turns on its last five words. Once a Bill has been introduced and published, the member in charge may move that it be taken into consideration, that it be referred to a Select Committee of that House, that it be circulated for eliciting opinion, or that it be referred to a Joint Committee of the Houses — but a Joint Committee, by definition, is drawn from both Houses. One House cannot conscript members of the other, so a reference to a Joint Committee is made by a motion in one House which is then transmitted to the other for its agreement, and the committee is constituted only when the second House concurs. Strip the concurrence away and the motion becomes something the House has no power to make. A Select Committee is different precisely because it is a committee of that House alone, which is why option (c) is competent and option (d) is not.

• (a)That the Bill be taken into consideration — This is the ordinary second-reading motion and the usual route for a Bill that needs no committee scrutiny — the House proceeds straight to general discussion and then to clause-by-clause consideration.
• (b)That the Bill be circulated for the purpose of eliciting public opinion — A competent motion, and the widest of the four in reach. It is used where a Bill affects a large public interest, and opinions are gathered through the State Governments before the Bill returns to the House.
• (c)That the Bill be referred to a Select Committee — Competent, because a Select Committee is a committee of that House alone. No other House is involved, so no concurrence is needed — which is exactly the contrast the question is built on.

An ordinary Bill passes through three readings in each House. The first reading is introduction, after leave is granted, followed by publication in the Gazette. The second reading has two stages: first the House decides what to do with the Bill — take it into consideration, send it to a Select or Joint Committee, or circulate it for opinion — and then it goes through the Bill clause by clause. The third reading is confined to accepting or rejecting the Bill as a whole, with only formal amendments allowed. The Bill then goes to the second House, and finally to the President for assent.

The question rewards reading to the end of the option. Three alternatives are stated plainly and the fourth carries a qualifying tail that reverses its meaning, which is a standard construction in polity papers. A useful rule for handling it is that any parliamentary act which binds or draws upon the other House needs that House to agree: a Joint Committee needs concurrence, and a joint sitting under Article 108 needs a presidential summons after a deadlock. Anything internal to one House — its own Select Committee, its own rules, its own motions — does not. It is worth noting what the question is not about: the Joint Committee referred to here is a committee on a Bill, quite distinct from a joint sitting of the two Houses, which is a constitutional device for resolving disagreement and has been used only three times since 1950.

• After a Bill is introduced and published, the member in charge may move that it be taken into consideration, referred to a Select Committee of the House, referred to a Joint Committee of the Houses with the concurrence of the other House, or circulated for eliciting opinion.
• A Select Committee is drawn from the House considering the Bill; a Joint Committee is drawn from both Houses, which is why the second House must concur.
• An ordinary Bill goes through three readings in each House — introduction, consideration and clause-by-clause scrutiny, and passing.
• A joint sitting of the two Houses under Article 108 is a different device altogether, summoned by the President to break a deadlock, and has been used three times.
• Money Bills follow a separate route: they may be introduced only in the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha must return them within fourteen days.

• Missing the qualifying tail of an option; the motion itself is competent, and only the words 'without the concurrence of the other House' make it impossible.
• Treating a Joint Committee on a Bill as the same thing as a joint sitting of the two Houses under Article 108.
• Assuming a Select Committee also needs the other House's agreement; it is a committee of one House only.

Asked as a which-cannot-be-done item, where the wrong option is a real procedure with one condition removed or reversed.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The essential difference between a Select Committee and a Joint Committee on a Bill is that a Joint Committee

  • (a)is chaired by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha
  • (b)consists of members of both Houses and requires the concurrence of the other House
  • (c)may amend the Constitution
  • (d)reports directly to the President of India

  Answer(b) consists of members of both Houses and requires the concurrence of the other House — a Select Committee is drawn from one House only.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The third reading of a Bill in a House of Parliament is confined to

  • (a)clause-by-clause consideration of the Bill
  • (b)accepting or rejecting the Bill as a whole, with only formal amendments
  • (c)deciding whether the Bill should be circulated for public opinion
  • (d)granting leave for the Bill to be introduced

  Answer(b) accepting or rejecting the Bill as a whole, with only formal amendments — the substantive scrutiny happens at the second reading.