The Indian Constitution has provisions for holding joint session of the two Houses of the Parliament. Enumerate the occasions when this would normally happen and also the occasions when it cannot, with reason thereof.

The parliament of India is the supreme legislative organ of the Republic of India. Part V of the Indian Constitution deals with the affairs of the Parliament.

Joint sitting: Being a bicameral state, the Indian parliament has two houses viz. Upper House (Rajya Sabha or Council of States) and Lower House (Lok Sabha or House of the People).To sort out any deadlock between the two houses there is a provision of joint sitting in the constitution which enables the President of India to call for a joint sitting and the sitting is chaired by the speaker of the Lok sabha or, in his absence, by the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Constitutional enlistment: Article 108 of the Indian Constitution provides for a joint sitting of both Houses of the Parliament to resolve deadlock over the passage of a bill.

Conditions: Joint Session of Parliament can be summoned if it satisfied the following three conditions (after a bill has been passed by one house and transferred to the other house)

• If it is rejected by the other house
• If the house disagrees on the amendments made to the bill
• If the bill has been elapsed by the other house for more than six months since its receipt without passing

Exceptions: In case of a Constitution Amendment Bill, which has to be passed by both houses of Parliament separately as per article 368 and in the case of a money bill, which only requires the Lok Sabha’s approval to pass as per article 110, a joint sitting cannot be summoned.

Topics: GS-IV: Ethics and Human Interface