Private Bill To Amend Constitution Preamble : Rajya Sabha Reserves Ruling On Introduction

Can a Private Member's Bill seeking to amend the Preamble to the Constitution be introduced in Parliament without the prior assent of the President? The question came up for the consideration of the Deputy Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh who "reserved" his judgement on the introduction of a Private Member's Bill by BJP MP K.J.Alphons seeking to amend the Preamble to the Constitution after opposition members raised their voice against its introduction. 

The Constitution Amendment Bill seeks to replace the word 'Socialist' with 'Equitable' and add the words "to be born, to be fed, to be educated, to get a job and to be treated with dignity" after the term "Equality of Status and Opportunity". The Bill also seeks to introduce the following words into the text of the Constitution: "HAPPINESS, assuring a gross domestic happiness."

The Presiding Officer had initially allowed the introduction of the Bill despite 'Nos' being more prominent than 'Ayes'majority in the House. However, he later reserved his decision on it after Opposition members raised their objection to his decision.

RJD MP Manoj Jha objected to the introduction of the Bill on two grounds- 1) A Private Members Bill required the prior assent of the President under Art.117 of the Constitution which was missing in the present case; and 2) that the Deputy Chairman went ahead with the introduction despite 'Nos' clearly having majority the present case.

Mr.Jha averred to Rule 62 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) which provide that if a Private Members Bill, which cannot be introduced without the consent of the President, is sought to be introduced the member shall annex such sanction or recommendation.

Rule 62 reads as follows:

"If the Bill is a Bill which under the Constitution cannot be introduced without the previous sanction or recommendation of the President, the member shall annex to the notice such sanction or recommendation, conveyed through a Minister and the notice shall not be valid until this requirement is complied with."

Relying on this provision Mr.Jha stated:

"If the Honourable President is watching, he will not agree to a Bill which has not been sanctioned by him and in fact amending the very Preamble! What are we left with? My friends in the Treasury Benches are saying this has happened before..a bad precedent should not become the norm. Avoid these kinds of temptations."

"Sir, when you called for Ayes and Nos, the Nos were very prominent. Yet you chose Ayes, I don't know why," he further asked.

The Deputy Chairman however refuted the parliamentarian's arguments by saying that such a Bill would not require the assent of the President.

He further added the decision to introduce the Bill must be taken by the House and not the Chair himself.

''This bill does not require the assent of the President, I am making it clear to you. This is on the House to decide and not me,'' he added.

Seeing a logjam, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan suggested the chair to reserve its decision and give a decision later. Consenting to this, Deputy Chairman said, ''If this is the opinion of the House, then we reserve it.''

What does the Law say?

A member who is not a Minister is termed as a 'private member' and Bills introduced by him/her are called Private Member's Bill. In contrast, Bills introduced by ministers are known as government bills. Whether Private Member Bill has to be admitted or not is decided by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.

Private Member's Bill differs from government bills in that the Constitution provides that the MP who wants to move a Private Member's Bill has to give at least a month's notice, for the House Secretariat to examine it for compliance with constitutional provisions and rules on legislation. Further, while a government Bill can be introduced and discussed on any day, a private member's bill is only introduced and discussed on Fridays.

Constitution Amendment Bills are bills that seek to amend the provisions of the Constitution, including the Preamble. In fact, the only time an amendment has been made to the Preamble was by way of the 42^nd Constitution Amendment Act. Constitution Amendment Bills can be introduced in either House of Parliament. Such a Bill may be brought forward by the government or by a private member. In the Lok Sabha, if a Constitution Amendment Bill is initiated by a private member, in addition to being subject to the normal rules applicable to a private member's bill it also has to be examined and recommended for introduction in the House by the Committee on Private Member's Bills and Resolutions. In Rajya Sabha, there is no such additional requirement as no such Committee exists in the Rajya Sabha.

Constitution Amendment Bills and prior assent of the President

The prior assent of the President is not required for all Constitution Amendment Bills. Art.117 (1) mandates the prior consent of the President for matters falling under Art.110 (1) of the Constitution- which deals with Money Bills. Additionally, President's prior assent is required for Bills that seek to change or alter name, boundaries, area of a state, or formation a new state by separation of territory from any state under Article 3 of Indian constitution; State bills which impose restrictions upon freedom of trade under Article 304; Bill which imposes or varies any tax or duty in which states are interested under Article 274, to ensure financial autonomy of state and fiscal federalism.

In these limited cases, bills would require the prior assent of the President prior to its introduction in Parliament. 

What happens in case the introduction of a Bill is opposed in Parliament? In case the introduction of a Bill is opposed, the Presiding Officer may permit brief statements by the member who opposed the motions and the member who moved the motion and thereafter put the motion for the decision of the House.