Is Stoppage of Legislative Activities During Emergency Situations Justified?

03 Jul 2020

By : Ajin Raj

Categories : Articles

The Author, Ajin Raj, is a 3rd-year, BA.LLB student at University of Kerala. He is currently interning with LatestLaws.com.

INTRODUCTION

Law making is the most important job in a Parliamentary system. The Indian legislative branch consists of the President, the Rajya Sabha (council of states) and the Lok Sabha (house of people). As India has a bicameral legislation the bills are passed through the two houses. Once a draft is cleared in the Cabinet meeting, the next step is its introduction in the legislative body. After the bill has been passed by both the houses it is sent to the President for approval, then it becomes an Act. Also, the laws are made through the three-tier system that is Union government, State government, and Local self government. The Constitution of India also adopts a three-fold distribution of the subjects of legislative power by placing them in any one of the three Lists, namely, I (Union List), II (State List) and III (Concurrent List) [1]. Thus, legislation and its activities are inseparable part of our country.

LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITIES DURING EMERGENCY

Situation around the World

Emergencies are sometimes inevitable and they occur at all of a sudden like the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This pandemic has led to emergency situation not only in India but to the whole world. Lockdown and strict rules have imposed in most of the countries in order to prevent the spreading of the pandemic. Most of the countries have partially or temporarily suspended legislative activities. The countries like Israel, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, etc. have special rules for legislatures in times of emergency situations like public emergencies, natural disasters, war, contagious diseases etc. In Spain the legislative activities are carried out as much as possible through videoconferencing, telematic voting, etc [2].

Most of the countries have special rules for emergency and these rules allow certain reductions in the general legislative proceedings. In a situation where all the people are restricted from travelling, the Parliaments of the countries around the world have opted for working of the offices with minimum number of members and communicating through video conferencing. While the bills cannot be passed because the voting procedure cannot take place without the quorum number of members required.

While the Indian Ocean island Maldives, which is one of the world’s smallest countries, is conducting virtual online parliamentary sessions including taking part in debates, casting votes, committee meetings without being physically present at the Parliament. The working of the Parliament is continuing to be normal while the health emergency is declared in the country due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Maldives Parliament is the first legislative body in the world to go virtual [3]. In New Jersey, one of the states which is hardest-hit by the pandemic, the lawmakers voted by phone to pass legislation providing financial assistance for workers impacted by the pandemic. There are many other countries which perform their legislative activities virtually which is a good example to the whole world. Instead of closing up the legislative activities completely it is better to exist virtually than not at all.

Situation in India

In India, as it is a democratic country, the legislature plays a key role in it. During an emergency situation, the system of legislation fails as there are no special rules for the operation of the Parliament in emergency situations. Generally, the Lok Sabha proceedings are regulated by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha proceedings are regulated by the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Rajya Sabha. According to Article 118(1) of the Constitution each house of the Parliament may make rules and regulations subject to the provisions of the Constitution for its procedure and conduct of business [4].

According to Article 100 of the Constitution it is mandatory that the quorum requirement for both houses of Parliament shall be one-tenth of the total number of members of the House [5]. However, there is no special arrangement in Parliament to form a special kind of joining in the time of emergency. In India the activities of the Legislature have got apparently stopped functioning by the lockdown imposed due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine dine on March 23, 2020 after the passage of Finance Bill, 2020 without any debate due to the situation arising out of the pandemic [6]. This is probably the first time in the history of India where a pandemic is testing the legislative activities of the State.

The lockdown has been carried out by the State governments and District authorities under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Further directions were made by the State government and authorities under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897. The imposed nationwide lockdown due to the pandemic has also affected the Fundamental Rights of the citizens guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Right to Education and Right to Privacy is also a Fundamental Right which is affected by the actions of the State due to the crisis.

The President of India can declare three types of emergencies that is national, state and financial emergencies under Articles 352, 356 and 360 in addition to promulgating ordinances under Article 123. But the central government has not declared emergency during the period of this pandemic. The Indian Constitution has no provision for environmental or public health emergencies. Sufficient rules are not passed by the Legislature to tackle the emergency situation thus the Legislature comes to a stagnant position due to this crisis.

CONCLUSION

The framers of the Indian Constitution had never imagined that the organs of the Constitution will stop functioning one day suddenly due to spread of a disease. The Indian Constitution is a living document and it had undergone major evolution and changes during the course of time. Dr. BR Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution in his closing speech told to the constituent assembly, “Because I feel, however a good Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out to be bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot” [7]. The working of the Constitution not solely depends on the document but its effects depend on those who are implementing it.

So, the law-making body needs to look upon this matter because only the Legislature can guide the Executive to the right direction. The stagnant position of Legislature in India during emergency, as mentioned earlier, is a major drawback because as law making body is the backbone of our country. Special laws should be made to face such emergency situations immediately. Also, there should be a designated subgroup of members to constitute a kind of emergency parliament with devolved powers from the whole Parliament to address crisis situations.

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