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TAMIL NADU LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Practice
and Procedure (Contd...) 16. Rules to be observed by the Members while participating in the Assembly Meeting. A Member present at a sitting of the House and not speaking- (i) shall bow to the Chair when taking or leaving his seat; (ii) shall not pass between the Chair and any Member who is speaking; If necessary a Member may go out from the House through the Gate near his seat; (iii) shall maintain silence and during unavoidable circumstances, a Member may speak with other Member in low voice without interrupting the proceedings of the House; (iv) when the Speaker enters the House during the commencement of Assembly meeting, all the Members should stand in their places till the Speaker takes his seat. (v) shall not stand in the House or the leave the House when the Speaker is addressing the House; (vi) shall not interrupt a Member while speaking by disorderly expressions or noise or in any other disorderly manner; (vii) shall not read any newspapers or books or magazines except in connection with the business of the House: (viii) the Members who are present in the lobby should not obstruct the proceedings of the House by speaking or laughing loudly. (ix) Members should not bring in to the House umbrellas, walking sticks or any other objects prohibited by law (x) shall not obstruct the proceedings or interrupt and avoid making running commentaries when speeches are being made in the House; 17. To catch the Speaker's eye. A Member who wishes to speak must rise in his place and present himself to the notice of the Speaker. If two or more Members rise at the same time the Speaker in theory calls upon the Member whom he first observes to rise. In practice he decides who shall speak. Normally names of intending speakers are given to the Speaker in advance by the party whips. However, it is left to the Speaker to call upon any Member to speak. Mere handing over of list by whips does not guarantee that everyone in the list would be called. It is entirely within the discretion of the Speaker and the time factor. 18. Allotment of time for Speeches by Members. The Member should finish his speech within the time limit allotted by the Speaker. Interruptions of the other Members will also be accounted for in the time allotted to the Member. When, for the purpose of elucidating a point during discussion, any Member has occasion to ask a question of another Member who is speaking, he may ask the question with the permission of the Speaker. If the Speaker does not permit such Member to ask any question the Member who is speaking may continue his speech. The bell in the Speaker's table will ring to inform the Member that the time allowed to him is going to end within few seconds. When the Speaker calls upon another Member to speak, the Member who is already speaking should finish his speech and should take his seat immediately. He should not continue his speech. 19. Rules to be observed by the Members while speaking. Members should speak in the House by constantly seeing the Presiding Officer. Any Member who desires to speak on any matter before the House shall rise in his seat and on being called by the Speaker address his remarks to him from his place: Every speech must be strictly relevant to the matter before the Assembly. The Speaker, after having called the attention of the House to the conduct of a Member who persists in irrelevance or in tedious repetition either of his own arguments or of the arguments used by other Members in debate or is speaking for the purpose of obstructing business, may direct him to discontinue his speech. Members should not speak with the persons available in the Officers gallery and Press gallery. Members should not make any request to Officers and Press people during his speech. The Members who happen to make his maiden speech may speak with the written speech prepared by him. Other Members should not read the prepared speeches in the House. However, they may keep some notes during their speech. If any documents or any quotations are mentioned by the Members during their speech, the copies of the same must be given to the Speaker in advance. However, the documents quoted by the Ministers should be accepted unless points mentioned by the Ministers have not been accepted by the House. A Member while speaking must not - (i) give his opinion about or refer to any matter on which a judicial decision is pending; (ii) make a personal charge against a Member; (iii) use offensive expression about the conduct of proceedings of the Parliament or any State Legislature; (iv) reflect on any decision of the House except on a motion for rescinding it; (v) reflect upon the conduct of the Speaker, except on a substantive motion for his removal; (vi) reflect upon the office of the Speaker or attribute any motive to the Legislature Secretariat; (vii) reflect upon the conduct of President or any Governor or any Court of Justice or use the Governor's or President's name for the purpose of influencing a debate; (viii) utter treasonable, seditious, defamatory or unparliamentary words; or (ix) use his right of speech for the purpose of obstructing the business of the Assembly. 20. Mentioning others while speaking in the House. Whenever a Member commences his speech he must rise in his place and say: Honourable Speaker Sir or Honourable Deputy Speaker Sir or Honourable acting Chairman Sir as the case may be depending upon the person presiding the House. Except the Speaker, no other Member shall call upon other Members by name. The Member must call upon other Member as Honourable Member only. No Member shall use the word 'you' towards other Member because as per parliamentary convention the word you denotes the Hon. Speaker only. Hence, Members must call upon other Members as Hon. Member or Respected Friend. 21. Unparliamentary Language. Words or expressions which are in the nature of accusations or imputations against a Member of either House or (of) abusive nature ought not to be used in debate. Use of such language is a breach of order and if the Member using it does not immediately withdraw the offensive words at the request of the Speaker or the person presiding, he may be called upon to withdraw from the House. If the Speaker is of opinion that the word or words has or have been used in debate which is of are defamatory or indecent, or unparliamentary or undignified, of grossly irregular he may in his discretion, order that such word or words be expunged from the official report of the proceedings of the House and all consequential alterations made in such report and make an announcement in the Assembly of the fact of his having made such order. 22. Rules to be observed while making personal allegations against a Member or an Official. If any Member intends to make an accusation or level any personal charge against another Member, then he has to give prior notice to the Speaker as also to the Member concerned through the Assembly Secretariat and only after obtaining specific prior consent of the Speaker he can make the accusation or level the charge. Before giving his consent the Speaker must be convinced of the basis of the charges. If, however, a Member in his speech makes personal allegations against another Member without such prior consent of the Speaker, such portions would not form part of the record and the Speaker will expunge all such remarks from the proceedings of the House. If such objectionable portions are not severable from the rest of his speech then his entire speech is liable to be expunged and the Speaker may also direct the Member to discontinue his speech. Any remark or comment made by a Member, unless he is having the floor of the House or has the permission of the Speaker to intervene, will not normally form part of the proceedings of the House, and not specific order by the Speaker is necessary for such exclusion. 23. Questions. The first hour of every sitting of the Assembly will be available for the asking and answering of questions unless the House unanimously resolves otherwise. The Speaker may, in his discretion extend the question hour. The Speaker may dispense with the question hour, if the House meets at or after 10.00 a.m. on the first day of a meeting. Questions are asked mainly to elicit information, on matters of public importance which are within the congnisance of the Minister to whom they are addressed or in respect of which he has information. The question hour is also extensively used by the Members concerned to bring the grievances of their constituencies to the notice of the Government. No discussion shall be permitted during question hour. Questions are classified into three categories, namely (i) starred questions; (ii) unstarred questions ; and (iii) short notice questions. (i) Starred questions - These are questions to which oral answers are required that is, questions which must be answered by the Minister on the floor of the House. A member who desires an oral answer to his question should distinguish it by an asterisk (*) at the commencement of the question. If the question is admitted, then it will be entered in the list of questions for oral answer. The questions will be taken up in the order in which they appear in the list of questions for the day. Not more than two starred questions by the same Member shall be placed on the list of questions for oral answers on any one day; Provided that if names of more than one Member are clubbed in anyone of the questions listed for the day the Member whose name appears first in the group would be deemed to have given the question. The member on being called rises and says: "Mr. Speaker Sir, I put the question No. ......" and then resumes his seat. The Member is not required to read out the text of the question. On the question being put, it will be usually answered by the concerned Minister or in his absence, by another Minister. After a Minister had furnished the answer, supplementary questions, may be asked for the purpose of further elucidating any matter of fact arising out of the answer. The Member who asked the main question is given the first preference to ask one or two supplementary questions depending on the subject and nature of the questions. The Member must be quick to catch the 'eye' of the Speaker, if he wants to put a supplementary question, failing which he may miss/lose his chance and the Speaker may pass on to the next question. The number of supplementaries to be allowed is decided by the Speaker with reference to the importance of the question and the nature of the question. If, on a question being called, a Member in whose name it stands is absent, the Speaker, at the request of any Member, may direct that the answer to it be given. Starred questions which are not called for want of time or by reason of absence of the Member concerned, will be printed in the Official Report of the debates of the House, together with the answers. When all the questions entered in the list have been called, the Speaker may, if time permits, call again any question which has not been asked by reason of the absence of the Member in whose name it stands, permit the Member, if present, to ask the question. (ii) Unstarred questions.- Questions which are not starred will be treated as unstarred questions. They will be printed with the answers thereto and placed on the Table of the House. Unstarred questions are normally asked for the purpose of getting authentic information which the Members can use in their speeches on the floor of the House or otherwise. If in the opinion of the Speaker any Question given notice of as a Starred Question on any question put down for oral answers is of such nature that a written answer would be more appropriate, the Speaker may direct that such question be treated as Unstarred question and placed in the list of Unstarred Questions. If the Speaker thinks fit he may direct that a question admitted as Starred Question be treated as Unstarred, after consultation with the Member who has given notice of the Starred Question. (iii) Short Notice Questions.- Speaker may with the consent of the Minister concerned order a question to be entered in the list of questions with shorter notice than 7 days. There is one more category of question called the 'Private Notice Question'. This privilege is given only to the Leader of Opposition. This is not listed in the List of starred Questions, but is orally asked and answered by the Minister concerned. Notice in writing shall be given. Not more than two starred questions by the same Member shall be placed on the list of questions for oral answers on any day. If names of more than one Member are clubbed in anyone of the questions, for the purpose of this rule, the Member whose name appears first in the group would be deemed to have given the question. Notices of Questions.- Notices of questions must be in writing. All such notices should be signed and addressed to the Secretary. It should also contain the name of the Member. The notice of each question may be on a separate sheet or form available to Members on request. Admissibility of Questions:- It must relate to the public affairs with which the Minister to whom it is addressed is officially connected, or to a matter of administration for which he is officially responsible or in respect of which he has information. The Speaker decides as to the admissibility of questions with reference to the provisions in rule 41 and his decision in the matter is final. A question must relate to a matter which is primarily the concern of this State. It should not supply any information or be put in such a way as to suggest an answer. If any statement of fact is made in a question, the Member concerned must take the responsibility for the accuracy of the Statement . A question, therefore, cannot be put based on newspaper reports. A question therefore, cannot also be asked for solution of a hypothetical proposition or for an expression of opinion or the interpretation of any law. If the information sought is available in accessible documents or books no question can be tabled for eliciting such information. It must not relate to a matter which, is pending in a Court of law, and it must not also relate to the conduct of a Judge in his judicial capacity. It must not refer to the character of any person except in his official or public capacity. It should not impute a charge of a personal character. It should not raise a question of policy too large to be dealt with within the limits of an answer to a question. It should be couched in proper language and must not contain epithets. A question should not be asked about trivial matters. It should not repeat in substance a question already answered or to which answer has been refused or seek information on matters pending before statutory tribunal or authority or all matters under consideration of a Legislature Committee or a Government Committee until a report of the Committee is published or on matters which are confidential or secret, for example, a decision of the Cabinet. Questions relating to the Legislative Assembly Secretariat are not raised and are not admitted as a mater of convention but the required information may be furnished to the Member concerned by the Assembly Secretariat on orders of the Speaker. If more than one Member gives notice of a question on the same or connected subject, the names of all the other Members will be bracketed with the name of the Member whose question has been admitted or whose question was received first in the office. If necessary, the text of the question will be amended suitably. The list of questions in Tamil to be answered on any particular day is circulated to Members a day in advance of the date of the meeting and copy of the list in Tamil also laid on the Table of the House before the commencement of the meeting. Printed statements, if any, referred to in the answers to the questions are also placed on the Table of the House along with the list before the commencement of the meeting. Where a statement is placed on the table of the House, an indication is given against the question concerned in the list of questions. 24. Half-an-Hour Discussion. No discussion shall be permitted at a question time in respect of a question or of any answer to a question. The Speaker may allot half-an-hour on three sittings in a week for raising a discussion on a matter of sufficient public importance which has been the subject matter of a question, oral or written, the answer to which was given within five days prior to the date of notice and which needs further elucidation on a matter of fact. Such discussions are held after the conclusion of the business for the day. A Member wishing to raise a matter if he has not obtained permission during question hour shall give notice in writing to the Secretary two days in a advance of the date on which the matter is desired to be raised. 25. Call Attention to Matters of Urgent Public Importance. A Member may, by giving notice in writing, call the attention of a Minister to any mater of urgent public importance, provided that if the Member who has given notice is unavoidably absent, any other Member with the permission of the Speaker may call the attention of the Minister on his behalf. If the importance of the subject so warrants, the Speaker may suomotu, direct that the statements on the matter be made. Such notices shall be taken up within seven days from the date of its admission and shall be taken up after questions in accordance with the list of business for the day. There shall be no debate on such a statement. But the Speaker may in his discretion permit not more than two questions by the Member who has called the attention of the Minister by way of elucidation or clarification. Not more than two matters shall be raised on the same day and the second matter shall not be raised by the same Member who had raised the first matter. In the event of more than two matters being presented for the same day priority shall be given to two matters which in the opinion of the Speaker are more urgent and important. The other notices may taken up on any subsequent day to be fixed by the Speaker. On the last day of the sitting, the Speaker may permit more than two matters to be raised. All other notices that may be pending on the last day of the sitting shall lapse. Provided that the statements, which have been received already shall be circulated to Members concerned. 26. Adjournment Motions. A notice of a motion for the adjournment of the business of the House for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance may be given by any Member. Normally such notices are given from the Opposition. The matter sought to be raised must conform to the condition laid down in Rule 64 of the Assembly Rules. A Member desirous of moving a motion for adjournment of the business of the House shall hand over three copies of such notice together with a brief statement on the matter sought to be raised to the Office atleast an hour before or if it is to be handed over to the Secretary or Speaker atleast half an hour before the commencement of the sitting, for being to the Leader of the House or the Speaker and the consent of the Speaker shall be obtained to seek the leave of the House to make the motion. The Speaker may withhold consent to the matter being raised in any manner in the House. Even if no decision of the Speaker has been communicated to the Members concerned, Members should not raise it on the floor of the House in any manner, whatsoever. The Speaker may, if the notice does not disclose sufficient facts about the matter, either on the floor of the House or otherwise obtain information in writing from the Member or the Minister concerned, and then decide the admissibility of such notice. If more than one notice has been received, the Speaker, in his discretion, select one such notice which he considers most important to be brought before the House. If the Speaker considers that any matter sought to be raised could be more appropriately dealt with in any other form under the Rules, he can order such conversion and fix the date on which it will be taken up and intimate the Member concerned of the same and his decision thereon shall be final and the matter shall not be raised on the floor of the House in any other manner whatsoever. If the Speaker holds that the motion is not in order he may in his discretion state the reasons for his opinion. If the Speaker holds that the matter is in order, then the Member shall ask for the leave of the House to make the motion for the adjournment of the business of the House. Leave shall be deemed to have been granted if not less than 24 Members, viz., quorum prescribed for a meeting of the House, stand up and support for such leave being given. If leave is granted the motion will be taken up on the same day an hour and a half before the time fixed for the conclusion of business. The debate on a motion, if not earlier concluded shall automatically terminate at the end of two hours after the commencement of the debate and thereafter no question can be put to the vote of the House. 27. Discussion for Short Duration not Exceeding One Hour on Urgent Matters of Administration. Any Member desirous of raising a discussion on an urgent matter of administration may give notice in writing to the Secretary specifying clearly and precisely the matter to be raised. The notice shall be accompanied by an explanatory note stating reasons for raising a discussion on the matter. The matter admissible under this rule for discussion shall confine to the conditions laid down in rule 76 of the Assembly Rules. If the notice is admitted, the Speaker may in consultation with the Leader of the House fix the date on which such matter may be taken up for discussion and allow such time for discussion not exceeding one hour. 28. Private Member's Business. On all days other than Thursday, no business other than Government business shall be transacted except with the consent of the Leader of the House. On all Thursdays on which the Assembly sits except Thursdays allotted for the discussion of Financial Matters and for discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor's Address, the Business of Private Members shall have precedence: However the Speaker may in consultation with the Leader of the House, allot in lieu thereof a day or days respectively, as the case may be, after completion of the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the Governor's Address and Financial Matters for transacting Private Members Business. On a motion made by a Minister for the suspension of this rule, the Assembly may resolve to give precedence to Government business even on these Thursdays on which the Private Members Business has precedence under this Rule. When a Thursday has been taken over for the transaction of Government business, the Speaker may allot another day in lieu thereof in the same or subsequent week for the Private Members Business. 29. Resolution. A 'Resolution' is an expression of the opinion of the House with reference to some subject or a declaration of its intention to do something within its cognizance. Resolutions may be moved, after following the procedure prescribed, by any Member on matters of general public interest within the cognizance of the State Government. A Resolution may be in the form of a recommendation addressed to the Government or of a declaration of opinion by the House or in the form of a motion for the appointment of a Committee of the House for any purpose or in any other form suitable to the subject matter. A notice of fifteen clear days should be given to move a resolution. The Member should submit together with such notice the text of the resolution which he wants to move. The Speaker may with the consent of the Minister in-charge of the Department concerned, allow a resolution to be entered in the list of business with shorter notice than fifteen days, and without the procedure of a ballot and also fix its order of precedence in such list. A Member may give notice of any number of resolutions but he will be allowed to ballot for only one resolution. The resolution to be entered against the name of a Member in a ballot shall be in accordance with the preference indicated by him. If he does not indicate the preference of the resolution that is to be taken up at the next non-official day, the resolution received earliest in the Office will be ballotted. The relative precedence of resolution to be taken up on the Assembly will be determined by a ballot. A Member in whose name a resolution appears in the list of business may, when called upon, either move the resolution or withdraw it. If the Member is absent, then, the resolution standing in his name will be deemed to have been withdrawn. After a resolution has been moved, any Member may, subject to the restrictions regarding the admissibility of a resolution move an amendment to it. Notice of all such amendments should reach the Secretary one clear day before the date fixed for the discussion of the resolution. The Mover of a Resolution has got a right of reply after the discussion is over and a Minister has got a right of further reply, even if he has participated in the discussion, after the mover exercises his right of reply. If necessary, the Speaker may split a resolution and place each portion separately to the vote of the House. A copy of every resolution which has been passed by the Assembly will be forwarded to the Government by the Secretary. 30. Legislation. A Bill is a draft of an Act of the Legislature presented to either House of the Legislature by a Member or a Minister. It consists of (1) the title, (2) the enacting formula and (3) the body of the Bill divided into clauses. After the clauses, schedule are, if necessary, added. Any Member who desires to move for leave to introduce a Bill, shall give five days' notice of his intention and shall together with the notice, submit to the Secretary a copy of the draft Bill and a full Statement of Objects and Reasons. An intimation will be sent to the Member concerned whether the Bill requires the recommendation of the Governor for introduction or for its consideration on a request from the Member. The Governor will be addressed by the Assembly Secretariat seeking his recommendation if his recommendation is necessary and his decision will be intimated to the Member. The relative procedence of Bills to be introduced shall be determined by ballot. A ballot shall be for the names of the Members who have given notices of motions or leave to introduce the Bills which do not require the recommendation of the Governor for their introduction. In the case of Bills requiring the recommendation of the Governor for introduction, the name of the Member will be included in the ballot only if the recommendation of the Governor is received. A Member can ballot for only one Bill. The Bill to be entered against the name of a Member will be in accordance with the preference indicated by him and in the absence of such indication, in accordance with the priority of the receipt of notice. On the day on which the item is included in the Agenda, the Member concerned should move for leave to introduce the Bill. If such a motion is agreed to and leave is granted, the Bill may be introduced. When a motion for leave to introduce a Bill is brought before the House, it is customary that no elaborate speech is permitted by way of opposition. Such of those Members who want to record their objections for such introduction may briefly say they oppose such introduction. It is also not usual at that stage for any Member to address the House on the merits and demerits of such Bill, for after the introduction the bill will be published and against brought before the House for general discussion and detailed discussion of the clauses of such a Bill. As soon as may be after introduction, the Bill with the Statement of Objects and Reasons shall be published in the Gazette. The Speaker may also order the publication of any Bill with the Statement of Objects and Reasons in the Gazette although no motion has been made for leave to introduce the Bill and if the Bill is afterwards introduced it shall not be necessary to publish it again. At any time after the publication of the Bill in the Gazette and if no recommendation of the Governor for consideration of the Bill is necessary, the Member in-charge of the Bill, may after giving five days notice, make a motion in regard to the Bill that it be taken into consideration or that it be referred to a Select Committee of the House or Joint Select Committee or that it be circulated for the purpose of eliciting public opinion thereon. Assent is the final stage in the process of legislation. It is the process by which the Governor (or the President if a Bill is reserved for his consideration) gives his approval to the Bill passed by the two House, after which it is published as an Act of the Legislature. The assent to Bill is governed by the relevant Article of the Constitution. After the Bills are assented to, the fact is intimated to the Members. A Bill passed by one House, agreed to by the other House without amendments or with amendments to which the first House has agreed and assented to by the Governor (or the President) is called an "Act". In the legal vocabulary, Acts of Legislature are referred to as "Statutes". An Act comes into force from the date of commencement indicated in the
Act itself and in other cases from the date of its publication in the Gazette. |
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