This article is written by Shivani Nair, from Manipal University Jaipur. This is an exhaustive article which deals with the topic of Bills: Essential and Types and the procedure by which bills are passed in a parliament.

Introduction

The laws in any country are made by the government at different levels of the organisation. The organization could be the Union or the Central Government, or the State government. Some of the laws can also be made by the local Municipal Councils at the district level.

Bills 

The procedure for the passage of the bill in the Union level requires the Bill to pass through two legislative houses of the parliament. However, in the case of the States, it depends upon the kinds of legislatures they have, whether they are bicameral or unicameral.

Making the laws is the basic function of the Parliament. Therefore, any legislative proposal that is to be made as a law, requires it to be brought before the Parliament in the form of Bills. A Bill is a statute in the draft of any legislative proposal and cannot become an Act of Parliament, thereby, making it a law, unless and until it gets approved by the Houses of the Parliament and the President of India’s assent. To become an Act, it has to pass through various stages of the Parliament, before it actually turns out to be an Act of the Parliament. This procedure is also similar in the case of the State legislative bodies too. The Bill can be introduced either by the Minister or can be introduced by any person who is not a Minister. In the case of the former, it shall be called a government’s Bill and in the case of the latter it shall be called the Bill of a Private Member.

Types

There are four different kinds of Bills that are passed in the Parliament of India. They can be classified as:

• Ordinary Bills- These are the bills that are concerned with any matters related to the law, which does not include matters related to finance. There are five stages through which an ordinary bill becomes a law.
• Money Bills- These are the bills that deal with the matter related to the money under Article 110(1) of the Constitution of India. This Article states that any provision that deals with the imposition, the abolition, the remission, the alteration or regulation of any tax, any matters related to the Consolidated Funds, or which provides imposition of fines and the likes, is deemed to be a Money Bill. Anything, that the Speaker of the House, gives his certificate to, in the case of a Money Bill, becomes the final verdict and cannot be changed or challenged. This Bill, however, can only be introduced in the Lower House of the Parliament, or the Lok Sabha on the President’s recommendation. 
• Finance Bill- This Bill involves all the matters which do not fall under the ambit of the Money Bill. They deal with matters related to revenue and expenditure. Finance Bills are of three kinds namely: 

1. Money Bills under Article 110(1).
2. Finance Bill [I] under Article 117(1) – They can be introduced only in the Lower House of the Parliament or the Lok Sabha and that too upon the recommendation of the President of India. 
3. Finance Bill [II] under Article 117(3)– They can be introduced in any House of the Parliament, be it the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha and do not require the recommendation of the President of India for the introduction of the Bill. Both the houses have equal powers to either amend the Bill or to reject the Bill. 

• Constitutional Amendment Bills- The power vested by the Constitution to the Parliament to amend the Bills gives the right to make amendments in the Constitution. These can be introduced in both the houses of the Parliament. The power vests in the proviso of the constitutional Article 368(2) for its introduction, but not in the legislatures of the States. These Bills can be introduced by a Minister or a Private Member and do not require the recommendation of the President. There are three kinds of constitutional amendment bills:

1. Bills that the Parliament needs to pass by a simple majority.
2. Bills that the Parliament needs to pass by a special majority.
3. Bills that the Parliament needs to pass by a special majority but also needs to be ratified by the State Legislatures by not less than one half of them. 

Essentials of a bill

There are a few essentials that differentiate a Bill from an Act of the Parliament. A Bill is a draft, assented by the President after which, it becomes an Act. After the framing of the Bill, it has to be published in the newspapers after which, the general public is asked to comment on the Bill, for suggestions. The Bill may be incorporated, whilst keeping in mind the public opinion and amended and then introduced by the Minister or the Private Member in the Houses of the Parliament. The Bills may be Public Bill or Private Bill. The former refers to any matter pertaining to the general public whereas the latter refers to the matters related to a particular organization, institution or person. Any bill that is pending for its approval lapses if the Lok Sabha is dissolved. 

Introduction of a bill in Parliament Houses

Any Bill that is introduced, undergoes three readings in each of the Houses of the Parliament, i.e., the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, which are also known as the Lower House and the Upper House of the Parliament before it has been submitted to the President of India for its assent. The three readings are:

1. The First Reading: 

• A motion that introduces a Bill for leave in the House on the adoption of the Bill which is introduced. or,
• In such a case, where the Bill has been introduced or passed by the other House, the Laying, on the Table, of the other House of the Bill, as passed.

2. The Second Reading: 

There are two different stages in the case of the second reading. These are: 

1. The first stage- It includes the discussions that have been made on the principles of the Bill and the provisions of the Bill generally on the following motions, either all, or anyone of them- that the Bill has to be taken into consideration, or that the Bill has to be referred to a Select committee of the House, or that the Bill has to be referred to a Joint Committee of the House with the occurrence of the other House, or the Bill has to be circulated in order to elicit the opinion thereof. 
2. The second stage- This includes the consideration of the Bill, clause by clause, which has been introduced in the Houses of the Parliament, or which has been reported by the Select Committee or the Joint Committee, as the case may be. 

In the case where the Bill has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha and passed on to the Lok Sabha, the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha is the one to lay it on the Table of the Lok Sabha. In such a case, the second reading refers to the Bill which has been passed by the Rajya Sabha has to be taken into consideration, or the Bill which has been referred to the Select Committee if it has already not been referred to the Joint Committee. 

3. The Third Reading: 

It means and includes the discussion on the topic that the Bill or the Bill as amended, may be passed. Almost a similar procedure of the introduction of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha is followed. 

After the Bill has been passed in both the Houses of the Parliament, it then goes to the President of India, for his assent, after which, it becomes an Act or the law. 

The joint sitting of both Houses in certain cases 

Article 108(1), talks about the Joint sitting of both the Houses of the Parliament in certain cases. It states that a Bill apart from the Money Bill or any Bill which seeks to amend the Constitution, when passed by one of the Houses of the Parliament, gets rejected by the other House, or that both the Houses have disagreed on the amendments made in the Bill, or that six months have passed from the date of the receipt of the Bill by the other House without the other House passing the Bill, the President, if he wishes, may, unless the Bill has lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, give notification to the Houses by any message, if they are sitting, or by the public notification if they are not sitting, the intention of his, to summon them to a meeting of Joint Sitting. Rules have been established by the President in case of a Joint Sitting under Article 118(3). 

Special procedure in respect of Money Bills

There has been a restriction in certain cases related to the procedure of assent of the Bills. Though normal Bills may be introduced in any House of the Parliament, it is not so, in the case of Money Bills. These can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha with a prior recommendation from the President. Any question regarding the authenticity of the Money Bill shall be answered by the Speaker and his decision shall be final. The Rajya Sabha has to pass the Money Bill to the Lok Sabha in a period of 14 days from its receipt date. It may return it with or without recommendations. It lies in the hands of Lok Sabha to either accept or reject the recommendations put forth. 

If the Rajya Sabha fails to return the Bill after the completion of 14 days, the Bill will be deemed to have been passed by both the Houses of the Parliament at the expiry of the 14 days in the same form it was passed by the Lok Sabha. 

Assent to bills

The Assent means an agreement to the Bills. After the passage of the Bill in both the Houses of the Parliament, it is then presented to the President of India for his assent. The President has three options- he can either assent to the Bill, or can withhold his assent to the Bill, or can return the Bill, if the Bill so returned is not a Money Bill with a message for reconsideration of the whole of the Bill or any provision of the Bill so put forth or he may put forth his desire to introduce any amendments in the Bill that was presented before him, in his recommendation while returning it back. 

The President, in case of a Money Bill, may either give or withhold his assent also known as the absolute veto. A Money Bill cannot be returned to the house with any sort of reconsideration or recommendation. 

In the case of a constitutional amendment Bill, the President is bound to give his assent, if the Bill was passed by a special majority and in the necessary areas, was also passed by ratification by the required number of State Legislatures. 

If the President gives his assent for the Bill, it becomes an Act of the Parliament from the date of his assent and that gets published in the Official Gazette of India. If he rejects the Bill and the Parliament sends it back to him again, he must accept it and give his assent. In that way, he cannot exercise his power of veto. 

Conclusion

Therefore, a Bill is just a draft, before it becomes an Act of the Parliament. For it to become an Act of the Parliament, the Bill must follow various procedures that have been listed above. Thereby, making it a law of the land. Only when the procedures are followed for each and every kind of Bill, only then, it can be eligible to be deemed as a law.

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