What are the ‘rules for the conduct of businesses?
- Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business have been formulated under Article 118(1) of the Constitution wherein each House of Parliament is required to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business. Further, according to Art 118(3), the president, after consultation with the chairman of the council of states and the speaker of the house of the people, may make rules as to the procedure with respect to joint sittings of, and communications between, the 2 houses.
- Under Article 208(1), a house of legislature of a state may make rules for regulating, subject to provisions of the constitution, its procedure and the conduct of its business. Similarly, under Article208(3), in a state having legislative council, the governor may make rules as to the procedure with respect to communications between the 2 houses, after consultation with the speaker of legislative assembly and chairman of legislative council.
- Speaker in Lok Sabha and Chairman in Rajya Sabha are the final interpreters of provisions of rules of procedure and conduct of business. Rules committee considers the matters of procedure and conduct of business in the House and recommends necessary amendments or additions to the Rules of the House. The Lok Sabha committee consists of 15 members including the Speaker as its ex-officio chairman. In Rajya Sabha, it consists of 16 members including the Chairman as its ex-officio chairman.
- The Speaker/ Chairman may, if he deems it necessary, name a member who disregards the authority of the Chair or abuses the rules of the House by persistently and wilfully obstructing the business thereof. If a member is so named by the Speaker/ Chairman, a motion is moved and adopted by the House for suspending the member from the service of the House for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session. The House may, however, by another motion terminate the suspension. In an extreme case of misconduct, the House may expel a member from the House.
