All About The Types of Bills In Indian Parliament And The Process of Enacting As Laws

Published: Monday, May 30, 2022, 12:42 [IST]

As the process of enacting laws there is a provision of a legislative body called Parliament, in our constitution. Initially a legislative proposal is presented in the form of a Bill in the Parliament, which goes through various stages before becoming a law. A bill becomes law after receiving the approval of both houses of Parliament and finally the assent of the President of India.

So let's know about the types of bills and the procedure of enactment as laws.

Types of Bills in Indian Parliament

So before knowing about the procedure of passing a bill, let's know about the types of bills that are considered for making laws. The bills are categorized in 4 ways, i.e.

Ordinary Bills : article 107 and 108 of Indian constitution briefs about it. Ordinary bills are related to any other matter except financial matters.

Money Bill : Article 110 briefs about it. All the matters like public expenditure, revenue, taxation etc come under this.

Financial Bills : Discussed under article 117[1] and 117[3]. It provides for Financial matters which are different from money bills.

Constitutional amendment Bill: Article 368 briefs about it. It provides special power related to amendments of the provisions of the constitution.

How Do Money and Ordinary Bills Differ?

These bills differ at some points from each other. For example Ordinary bill and Money Bill. While the Ordinary bill can be introduced in either house of Parliament cuz Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha without Presidential recommendation, by a Minister or a private member, the Money bill can be introduced only in Lok Sabha only after the recommendation of the President and is introduced by a Minister in power only.

However in the case of headlock there is a provision of joint sitting for an Ordinary bill but for Money bill there is no provision of a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament. Also, while the President can reject, approve or return an ordinary bill for reconsideration, he can not return the Money bill to reconsider it.

The Process of Enactment of Bills

While talking about the process of an investment of base first we need to understand as all the four bills are different with specific purposes, there are separate procedures for their enactment too. So starting from the Ordinary bill let's know about the stages involved in the procedure.

Procedure For Ordinary Bills

The enactment of an ordinary bill involves a procedure of 5 stages. Let's know about it in detail.
1.First reading

The bill is introduced in either House of Parliament by a Minister or a member.
The member starts to read it starting from its title and objectives.
No discussion takes place at this stage.

2. Second Reading

It is divided into general discussion, committee stage and consideration stage.
A general discussion takes place. The bill can be referred to the selected Committee or joint committee of two houses.
After the scrutiny by the committee it gives back the bill to the house.
Now the clauses are discussed and voted by members. If needed some amendments can be added as a part of the Bill.

3.Third Reading: Either the bill is passed by the house or it is rejected.

4. Bill in The 2nd House

Same as before, all the 3 readings take place here. Now there are four alternatives;

The house mein pass the bill without amendment
With amendments it can return the bill to the first house for reconsideration.
It can reject the bill or it may keep it pending.
If the action is not taken for 6 month a deadlock appears, a joint sitting is summoned by the President where with the majority of members the bill is passed.

5. Assent of the President
The bill after being passed by the both houses of parliament is sent for the assent of the President. He may;

Give his assent to the bill, or
Withhold his assent to the bill, or
Return the bill for reconsideration.

After the President's assent the bill becomes an Act and is placed on the statute book.

Procedure For Money Bill

As per the article 110 of the Indian Constitution, any bill comprising matters related to tax, borrowing of money, expenditure, consolidation funds comes under the category of money bills. Let's know about the procedure of passing the Money Bill.

Money bill is introduced in Lok Sabha, and sent to Rajya sabha for a period of 14 days, to make recommendations.
Rajya Sabha has limited powers on the Money bill. It can't make any amendment, only can suggest the recommendations, to which Lok Sabha can either accept or reject it.
After passing by the house the final assent of the President is required. He may give his assent or withhold it but can not give it back for reconsideration, as it was presented in Lok Sabha after his permission.

Procedure For Financial Bills

Similar to the Money bill, Financial bill (1) under article 117[1], is introduced only in Lok Sabha, after the prior permission of the President. Financial bills (1) not only covers matters which come under article 110, but also matters of general concerns related to financial activities. But in this case Rajya Sabha has the right to make amendments or reject the bill. In case of disagreement over a bill, a joint session is summoned by the President where by majority of voting the issue is resolved.

Financial bill (2) [article 117(3)] is like an ordinary bill and follows the same procedure applied for ordinary bills.

Procedure For Parliamentary Amendment Bills

The bill is introduced in either house of Parliament, by a Minister or a private member. It must be noted that there is no provision for joint sitting in case of deadlock. With the special majority that is;

More than 50% of members of the total membership of the house; and
Two third of the members of the house present and voting;

the Parliamentary amendment bill is passed from both houses of Parliament. Here the President can't return the bill or withhold it unlike ordinary bills, he is abided to give his assent. After the Presidential assent, the Parliamentary amendment bill becomes an Act and gets its place in the Statute book.

So this was all about the types of bills and the procedure of converting legislatures into acts. The similar procedure is followed in case of state legislatures, for enactment of bills into acts with some changes by the state government.