The Monsoon Session, which was adjourned sine die on August 13, has yet to be prorogued. it has raised questions about whether the upcoming Winter Session of Parliament will be on track While the constitutional validity of the decision cannot be challenged.
Will there be a Winter session of Parliament?
Simply put, there will be no Winter Session. The tenure of a session ends with the House being adjourned sine die by the Presiding Officer- Speaker of the Lok Sabha or Chairman of the Rajya Sabha- which is followed by the parliamentary affairs ministry sending a proposal to the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs (CCPA) to prorogue the House. This proposal is then sent to the President by the Union Cabinet. The House is prorogued once the President signs the order, and a notification is issued.
Per Article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution, the President has the power to prorogue either House acting on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet. Because the Lok Sabha had been dissolved; in 1984, after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi; and finally in 2020, owing to the pandemic, in the past, Parliament did not convene for the Winter session four times since 1952: in 1975, during the Emergency; in 1979,.
In a detailed letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said there was no impropriety or irregularity in Parliament not being prorogued since the monsoon session ended in August, as there was “no constitutional requirement” prescribing a specific period within which a House must be prorogued following its adjournment sine die. If the government does not recommend proroguing the House to the President, the upcoming session will be considered part of the Monsoon session, according to people aware of the details. Former secretary general of the Lok Sabha and Constitutional expert PDT Achary, however, said the government needs to explain the reason for the delay. “For better and smooth parliamentary functioning, the government must tell the Opposition why it has not recommended the proroguing… In the past, when the House was not prorogued, there were reasons for it, and those were stated,” he said.
