Glossary

Glossary - Legislature

v Unicameral: The state legislature which has only Legislative Assembly as House of People is called as Unicameral.

v Bicameral: The system of legislature which consists of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council is called as Bicameral system.

v Quorum of the House: One tenth of the total number of members of Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha constitutes the quorum for a meeting of the House.

v Bill: The law is primarily introduced in the Parliament in the form of ‘bill’ as proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature.

v Amendment: The constitution of India has a unique provision to make the Constitution contemporarily relevant for changing conditions and needs but without changing the basic structure of the doctrine.

v Immunity of the Member: Exemption of a member from service of legal process and arrest within the precincts of the House.

v Joint Session: When there is a special occasion or event of disagreement between the two houses on certain legislative measures, the Speaker of the House of the people presides the joint sessions of the parliament to resolve the disagreement.

v Sessions: When the Parliament meet for discussing various agenda and approving bills, motions with a scheduled meeting is called Session.

v NO Confidence Motion: This is the procedure to acquire the support of majority of the members in The Lok Sabha / Legislative Assembly and their confidence to head the government by a Prime Minister/The Chief Minister. If the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister lose the confidence of the Lok Sabha/Legislative Assembly, then the entire government has to quit and face the election.

v Question Hour : The first hour of a sitting of the House allotted for asking and answering of questions.

v Quorum : The minimum number of members required to be present at a sitting of the House or a Committee for valid transaction of its business. The quorum to constitute a sitting of the House is one-tenth of the total number of members of the House.