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TAMIL NADU LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Practice and Procedure (Contd...) 31. Amendments. An amendment is an alteration proposed or made in a motion or Bill. An Amendment must be relevant to, and within the scope of the subject-matter of the Bill or motion to which it relates. It must be either to insert certain words in the motion or Bill or to leave out certain words and substitute others. If no specific time is prescribed for receipt of amendments for any Bill, such notice of amendments should be sent to the Office atleast one clear day before the day on which the item is to be taken up for discussion in the House. If more than one amendment is proposed, each such notice should indicate to which clause or sub-clause of the Bill that amendment reltes to. Normally notices of amendments of a negative nature such as for deletion of a whole clause of a Bill are not entertained. However, it is open to the Member to oppose the clause when the clause comes up for discussion before the House and submitted to its vote. Sometimes for purpose of convenience such notices are circulated to draw the attention of the House that certain Members are opposed to a particular clause and may seek discussion or vote of the House. But, such negative amendments are out of order. If the notice is only to seek the deletion of a particular sub-clause or group of words such notices are admitted on merits. The Speaker has got the power to decide the order in which notices of amendments to any particular clause of the Bill should be taken. It is not necessary for him to follow the order in which they were received in the Office. In the case of identical amendments, notice of amendment given by the mover of the Bill, if any, will have precedence. The Speaker has the power to select one of the several identical or substantially identical amendments to be proposed to the motion. Every amendment, except Government amendment, to a motion has to be seconded. If the amendments are not seconded immediately after they are moved, they will fall for want of a seconder. When the amendment is put to the vote of the House after discussion the Member should be in his seat and in the event of his absence in the House at that time the amendment will be deemed to have been withdrawn by him. 32. Governor's Ordinances. As soon as possible after an Ordinance is promulgated by the Governor under clause (1) of Article 213 of the Constitution, printed copies of such Ordinance shall be laid on the Table. The Ordinance shall cease to operate at the expiration of Six weeks from the reassembly of the Legislature where the Assembly and the Council are summoned to meet on different dates the period shall be reckoned from the latter to those dates. Within six weeks from the re-assembly of the Legislature any Member may after giving three clear days notice to the Secretary, move a motion disapproving the Ordinance and if such motion is passed it shall be forwarded to the Council with a message for its agreement. Whenever a Bill seeking to replace an ordinance with or without modification is introduced a statement explaining the circumstances which had necessitated immediate Legislation by ordinance should be laid on the table of the House along with the Bill. Whenever an Ordinance, which embodies wholly or partly or with modification the provisions of a Bill pending before the Assembly, is promulgated a statement explaining the circumstances which had necessitated immediate legislation by Ordinance shall be laid on the Table at the Commencement of the Session following the promulgation of the Ordinance. 33. Ratification of Amendments to the Constitution. As soon as a message for ratification of the amendment to the Constitution is received from a House of Parliament, a copy of the message together with the Bill, as passed by the Parliament shall be laid on the Table of the House. The Secretary shall forward a copy each of the message and the Bill, to the State Government at the first convenient opportunity. Any Member may, after giving three days' notice, move a resolution that the amendment to the Constitution proposed by the Bill be ratified. No amendment shall be proposed to such a resolution. 34. Financial Business. The discussion on the Annual Financial Statement or the statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the State in respect of every financial year will be in two stages: (1) General Discussion and (2) Voting of demands Members may participate in the general discussion and speak on Demands before the House. Whenever a demand is moved by the Minister, he will lay the Policy Notes before the Assembly. Members who wish to speak on the Demand, must speak only after reading the Policy Notes thoroughly. Members may give notice of motions for reduction of Demand in the prescribed form (commonly known as cut motions) subject to the conditions laid down in Rule 186(5) of the Assembly Rules. They should be sent to the Secretariat before the time fixed by the Speaker. Cut motions received after the prescribed time will be rejected. Normally opposition Members will give notices of cut motions. All notices of cut motions are printed and circulated. However the convention is that whenever more than one cut motion on the same demand, with the same subject matter, is given notice of by more than one Member, then any one cut motion as agreed upon between the various parties recognised by the Speaker, would be moved and all other cut motions will not be permitted to be moved. However, Members who have given notice of cut motions would be given preference to participate in the debate. Not more than 10 cut motions for each Demand should be given by any one Member. It is also the convention that cut motions on the Legislature Demand, unless it involves a Government action, will not be permitted to be moved . So also cut motions regarding the Legislature Secretariat will not be permitted to be moved as the Speaker is responsible for its functions. Any information required regarding the Legislature Secretariat, may be obtained either from the Secretary or from the Speaker. Some items are voted by the House and some are charged on the Consolidated Fund. Cut motions should relate only to items voted by the House. Discussion on Demands will end at 1.30 P.M. on the last day of taking up of Demands. This method is known as 'Guillotine'. 35. Point of Order. A Member who wishes to raise a point of order, that is, to call the attention of the Speaker to what he believes is a breach of order, that is a breach of the rules of procedure, and, if necessary, to ask his opinion thereon, may interrupt another Member's speech for the purpose. The other Member must sit down. The point of order must relate to the business before the House at the moment, however, the Speaker may permit a Member to raise a point of order during the interval between the termination of one item of business and the commencement of another if it relates to maintenance of order in or arrangement of business before the House The Speaker may order expunction of any portion of the proceedings of the House relating to any point of order by the Members, when in his opinion it is an abuse of the right of raising a point of order. 36. Personal Explanation. A Member may, with the permission of the Speaker clarify his position, when misquoted or wrongly quoted by another Member, or if a Member wants to apologise or to be excused for his conduct. A Member may also make a personal explanation although there is no question before the House. But no debatable matter may be brought forward and no debate shall arise therefrom. 37. Motions. A matter requiring the decision of the Assembly is brought forward by means of a motion proposed by a Member and a question stated or read out by the Speaker thereon. Before the question on a motion is proposed from the Chair it is not in order for any Member to speak on it or move an amendment or any other motion. No motion shall be published before it has been admitted by the Speaker and circulated to Members. Every motion must be proposed by one Member and seconded by another though the seconder of a substantive motion may reserve his right of speech till later stage of the debate, a motion not seconded is forthwith dropped; an exception to the above is when a motion is moved by a Minister or if the motion is one for the reduction of any Budget grant. A Member who has moved a motion or an amendment to a motion may withdraw the same with the leave of the Assembly expressed without dissentient voice: If an amendment has been proposed to the motion the original motion shall not be withdrawn until the amendment has been disposed of. A member who has moved a substantive motion may speak again by way of reply, and mover of an adjournment motion under Rule 56 shall have the right of reply. If the motion is moved by a private Member, the Minister to whose Department the matter relates shall after the mover has replied, have the right of speaking again whether he has previously spoken in the debate or not. A Member when replying shall confine himself to matters raised during the debate and shall not introduce new debatable matters. 38. No-Day-Yet-Named Motions. Save in so for as otherwise provided in the Constitution or in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rules, no discussion of a matter of general public interest shall take place except on a motion made with the consent of the Speaker. Notice of such a motion is to be given in writing addressed to the Secretary. In order that a motion may be admissible, it must conform to the conditions laid down in rule 80 of the Assembly Rules. The Speaker decides the admissibility of a motion or a part thereof. If the Speaker admits notice of a motion and no date is fixed for the discussion of such motion, it shall be immediately notified in the Information sheet with the heading "No-Day-Yet-Named-Motions". The Speaker after considering the state of business in the House and in consultation with the Leader of the House allot a day or days or part of a day for the discussion of any such motion. The Speaker shall at the appointed hour on the allotted day or the last of the allotted days as the case may be, forthwith put every question necessary to determine the decision of the House on the original question. 39. Procedure for Pointing out Mistake or Inaccuracy In a Statement made by Minister or Member. A member wishing to point out a mistake or inaccuracy in a statement made by a Minister or any other Member, shall before referring the matter in the House, write to the Speaker pointing out the particulars of the mistake or inaccuracy and seek his permission to raise the matter in the House. The Member may place before the Speaker such evidence he may have in support of his allegation. The Speaker may if he thinks fit, bring the matter to the notice of the Minister or the Member concerned for the purpose of ascertaining the factual position in regard to the allegation made. The Speaker may then, if he thinks it necessary, permit the Member who made the allegation to raise the matter in the House and the Member so permitted shall before making the statement inform the Minister or the Member concerned. The Minister or the Member concerned may make a statement by way of reply with the permission of the Speaker and after having informed the other Member concerned. 40. Privileges. A Member may, with the consent of the Speaker, raise a question involving a breach of privilege, either of a Member or of the House or of a Committee thereof. Notice of a motion to raise a question of privilege together with a brief statement shall be given at least one hour before the commencement of the sitting on the day on which the question is proposed to be raised to (i) the Speaker (ii) the Secretary and (iii) the Leader of the House. If the question raised is based on a document, the notice shall be accompanied by the document. The notice intended for the Leader of the House may be handed over to the Secretary for being forwarded to the Leader of the House. In respect of a matter of privilege arising during the sitting of the House the Speaker may waive such notice and deal with the matter as he deems fit. On the Speaker giving his consent to raise a question of privilege it must be raised after the questions and before the list of business for the day is entered upon. A question of privilege arising during the sitting of the House shall be entitled to immediate precedence over all other business. The right to raise a question of privilege shall be governed by the following conditions, namely:- (1) The question shall be restricted to a specific matter of recent occurrence; (2) The matter, in the opinion of the Speaker requires the intervention of the House. If the Speaker gives his consent under Rule 219 of the Assembly Rules and holds that the matter proposed to be discussed warrants intervention of the House he may at his discretion call the Member concerned to make a short statement relevant thereto: The Speaker may give an opportunity to the Member against whom the matter is sought to be raised to briefly explain his case. If the Speaker, holds that the matter raised affects the privilege or amounts to a contempt of the House and requires the intervention of the House he may allow a motion to be made by any Member that the alleged breach of privilege be referred to the Committee of privileges or in the alternative that it be dealt with by the House itself. Notwithstanding anything contained in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rules, the Speaker may suo motu refer any question of privilege to the Committee of Privileges for examination, investigation and report. 41. Divisions. On the conclusion of the debate on a motion, the Speaker will put the question to the vote of the House and decide it by voices. The Speaker will say: "Those in favour of the motion will please say 'AYE'. The Members in favour of the motion will say loudly 'AYE'. Again the Speaker will say: "Those against the motion 'will please say 'No'. The Members who are against the motion will say loudly 'No'. The Speaker will weight the two voices and determine whether "AYES" would have it or "NOES" would have it. He will declare whether Ayes/Noes have it and pause for a moment. If the Assessment of the Speaker is challenged, then he will order that the vote of the House be counted by division. After the Speaker orders that the division be taken, the division bell will be rung continuously for some determined time (2 minutes)and the Members shall occupy their allotted places in the House within that time. If the Members are outside the House, as soon as the bell begins to ring, they should immediately make haste to the House and occupy their seats before the bell ceases to ring. After the bell ceases to ring, the Speaker or the person Presiding, will direct all the doors of the House to be closed and after such closure no Member shall be allowed to enter the House. The Speaker will again put the motion to the vote of the House and declare the result on the strength of the voices. If the opinion of the Speaker is again challenged before he finally declares the result, then votes will be counted by means of a division. It is open to the Speaker to decide the mode of taking the votes, either by simply counting the heads or by recording the names of Members who are for and against the motion. This first method is resorted to when there are frequent calls for division. The other method is known as roll call method. The Speaker will first call the members block by block who are in favour of the motion and those who are against the motion to stand up, and the Secretary will mark their votes by calling out the names of each Member. After the name of a Member is called and marked, the Member should resume his seat. After recording the names of Members whether in favour or against the motion the Speaker will call those who are neutral to the motion to stand up. The Secretary will mark their votes also. If the House decides that the names of the Members voting on a motion either for or against need not be recorded in the debates, the numbers supporting the motion or the numbers opposing the motion should be recorded. In the case of a Division, before the result is announced by the Chair, the vote of the Member can be challenged on the ground of personal, pecuniary or direct interest in the matter to be decided by the House. In such a case, the Chair may, if he considers necessary call upon the Member making the challenge to state precisely the grounds of his objection and the Member whose vote has been challenged to state his case and then decide whether the vote of the Member should be disallowed or not. The decision of the Chair in this regard is final. On the Secretary furnishing the details of the voting, the Speaker will announce the result to the House. In case the House divides equally, the Speaker has got a casting vote. Usually he casts his vote in such a way that the House can have another opportunity for considering the question. When the Speaker announces the results of the Division to the House, no objection should be raised. 42. Papers Placed on the Table of the House. A paper is deemed to have been placed on the table of the House or laid before the Assembly on the date on which a note to that effect is entered in the list of business for the day or is found in the official Report of the Proceedings of the Assembly. Copies of all such papers are made available to Members. All such papers can be divided into two categories namely (a) Papers placed on the Table of the House in pursuance of certain statutes and (b) Papers placed on the Table of the House for the information of Members. (a) Papers laid inpursuance of Statutes - Rules framed by the Executive Government in pursuance of powers conferred on it by various statutes come under this category. As the Legislature by itself is not in a position to frame all the rules that are necessary to carry out the intention and purpose of the various Acts passed by it and as it involves a lot of time and technicalities to do so, such powers are conferred on the Executive by the Statutes themselves. However, the Legislature reserves the power to scrutinise such exercise of power by the Executive by directing that the rules framed in pursuance of such authority be placed on the Table of the House and be subject to such modifications as both the House may make within a prescribed period from the date on which they are placed on the Table of the House. Accordingly, such rules, regulations and notifications issued under various Acts are placed on the House. Members may give notice of amendments to rules and notifications placed on the Table in accordance with the Statutes. Wherever any paper has to be placed on the Table of the House within a particular time limit and if there is any delay in the same it should be accompanied by an explanatory note giving the reasons for such delay along with the notification or paper. If any annual reports of the Public Undertakings in regard to their performance and the annual accounts together with the Audit Reports thereon of the Public Undertakings have to be placed on the Table of the House as per the orders issued by the Speaker, such reports should be accompanied by an explanatory note containing the reasons for the delay in laying the papers if there is a lapse of one year after the last date of the account year of the Public Undertakings. Such explanatory note should be authenticated by the Minister concerned. (b) Papers placed on the Table for the information of Members; White papers and administration reports, which are issued by the Government and other papers which will be of interest to Members come under this category. At times reports containing statistical information and other particulars on important topics are gathered from various Departments and presented to the Assembly by the Government. As the reports are presented with white covers, they are known as "WHITE PAPERS" Statements containing lengthy statistics and particulars which are answers to questions will also come under this category. Papers may be either actually laid on the Table on the day on which an entry to that effect is made in the agenda for the day or sent by post earlier to Members if the House is not in session and an entry accordingly made in the agenda for the first day of the next meeting. There are provisions in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rules for Constitution of the Committee on Papers Laid on the Table. 43. Petitions to Assembly. Petitions to the Assembly must confine to the conditions laid down in Rule 276 of the Assembly Rules. The petitions to the Assembly must be addressed to the Members of the Assembly, dated and signed by the petitioner or petitioners and countersigned by the Member presenting them. A Member desiring to present a petition to the House shall give advance intimation of his intention to the Secretary. No Member shall present a petition for himself. A Member may present a petition with the consent of the Speaker and on a day fixed for that purpose after questions and before the other business for that day is entered upon. Every Member presenting a petition shall confine himself to a statement in the form as specified in Rule 278 of the Assembly Rules and there shall be no debate in the Assembly on it. Committee on Petitions was constituted on 13.5.1986. 44. Effect of Prorogation of the Session of the Assembly. On the Prorogation of a Session, all pending notices and business shall lapse, except question, statutory motions, Bills which have been introduced, and the resolutions which have been moved in the House. Such business which have not lapsed shall be carried over to the next session from the stage reached by it in the expiring Session: Provided that, except in the case of questions, fresh notice of appropriate motions shall be given therefor. Prorogation shall not affect the work of any Committee or Select/Joint Select Committee. 45. Elections to the Legislature Committees. Elections to the Legislature Committees shall be held according to the
principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Necessary rules for the same have been framed by the Speaker.
The motion will be moved in
the House of the Legislature to elect Members of the Legislature Committees.
As soon as motion is put to vote of the House and carried, the last date
of nomination to be filed for the post of Member of the Committee,
the date of scrutinisation of the
nominations and the last date of withdrawal of nomination and the date
of elections if required
will be announced by the Speaker in the Assembly.
The nomination papers can be obtained from the Secretary if there is
election the date and time of the election will be intimated to the Members.
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