Summoning Special Session Of Parliament Without Disclosing Agenda To Members Is Improper : PDT Achary

He was commenting on the controversy relating to the Union Government not announcing the agenda for the special session convened for the Parliament from September 18 to 22.

In an interview with LiveLaw, Achary said that as per normal practice, when the summons for the Parliament session are issued to the members, all relevant papers relating to the sitting are sent to them. As per the convention, the agenda is to be announced when the President formally summons the session. He said that though the President has formally summoned the House for the special session, the agenda has not been announced. This is unusual and unprecedented.

"When you convene a special session, there must be a purpose. Without there being a purpose, you cannot hold a special session. Without a purpose, there is no point in saying it is a special session. There has to be a purpose. And that purpose will have to be special. Then who should be informed about it? The members. The house means its members. Why the session is being called? What exactly is the business which is going to be transacted in the session? This must be known to them. Of course, it is true that the Government does not have to consult the opposition before calling the special session. It is the prerogative of the government of the day to call a session whenever they want. But disclosing the purpose of the session to the members is a must. The members must get information about the purpose. Otherwise, they will be left in the dark", he said.

Achary further asked what is the need to keep the agenda a secret.

"I don't see the purpose of keeping everything secret. There is no purpose in keeping things secret. House, after all, is not a secret chamber. It is a public forum. Whatever is done there is seen by the public. There is nothing secret about it. Therefore, the secrecy that is being maintained by the government with regard to the special session will end anyways on September 18th. Because you will have to disclose what is going to be the business which will be transacted in the house. So what is the purpose of maintaining this kind of secrecy, I don't know", he said.

According to him, this is an unprecedented situation. He said that he has not come across any such instance of a special session being called without disclosing the agenda. When he was serving the Lok Sabha, a Special Session was convened to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Republic. He also cited the Special Session convened to pass the GST bills. In all such instances, the agenda for the session was known to the members.

"According to me, this is unprecedented. I don't really understand why the agenda has not been announced. If there is no agenda, there is no need for a special session. For a special session, a special purpose must be there. A special agenda must be there. Without that, it would be meaningless. Along with the summons, the members should have been told about the real agenda that is going to be taken up during the session", he said.

The interview can be watched here.