Which one of the following Bills must be passed by each House of the Indian Parliament separately, by special majority?

examrobotsa's picture
Q: 66 (IAS/2003)
Which one of the following Bills must be passed by each House of the Indian Parliament separately, by special majority?

question_subject: 

Polity

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,255,49,21,21,7,255

keywords: 

{'indian parliament': [11, 0, 5, 3], 'constitution amendment bill': [0, 0, 0, 2], 'finance bill': [1, 0, 0, 0], 'ordinary bill': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'special majority': [0, 0, 1, 2], 'money bill': [7, 1, 3, 9], 'bills': [3, 0, 1, 3]}

The correct answer is a Constitution Amendment Bill.

Option 1 (Ordinary Bill) is not correct as an Ordinary Bill does not require a special majority in each house; it can be passed with a simple majority.

Option 2 (Money Bill) is also incorrect as a Money Bill only needs to be passed in the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) with a simple majority, after which the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) can only propose amendments but not reject the bill.

Option 3 (Finance Bill) is similar to a Money Bill in that it only requires passage in the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha can suggest amendments but not withhold its consent.

Option 4 (Constitution Amendment Bill) is correct–it requires a special majority in each House of Parliament. It is this requirement that distinguishes it from the other types of bills. A `special majority` in this context means not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting, which must be more than half of the total membership of the House. This is stipulated in Article 368 of the Indian Constitution.