What is difference between Adjournment and Prorogation?
Q. Which is/are true?- Published on 03 Mar 17a. The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than four months
b. Presiding officer can call a sitting of the House at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die
c. The Presiding officer declares prorogation of the session
d. None of the above
ANSWER: Presiding officer can call a sitting of the House at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die
Summoning -
- The President from time to time summons each House of Parliament to meet.
- The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months.
- In other words, the Parliament should meet at least twice a year.
There are usually 3 sessions in a year -
1. Budget Session (February to May).
2. Monsoon Session (July to September).
3. Winter Session (November to December).
- A ‘session’ of Parliament is the period spanning between the first sitting of a House and its prorogation (or dissolution in the case of the Lok Sabha).
- During a session, the House meets every day to transact business.
- The period spanning between the prorogation of a House and its reassembly in a new session is called ‘recess’.
Adjournment -
- A session of Parliament consists of many meetings.
- Each meeting of a day consists of two sittings - a morning sitting from 11 am to 1 pm and post-lunch sitting from 2 pm to 6 pm.
- A sitting of Parliament can be terminated by adjournment or adjournment sine die or prorogation or dissolution(in the case of the Lok Sabha).
- An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time,which may be hours, days or weeks.
- It does not affect the bills or any other business pending before the House and the same can be resumed when the House meets again.
Adjournment Sine Die -
- Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period.
- Thus, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called adjournment sine die.
- The power of adjournment as well as adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.
- He can also call a sitting of the House before the date or time to which it has been adjourned or at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die.
Prorogation -
- The presiding officer (Speaker or Chairman) declares the House adjourned sine die, when the business of a session is completed.
- Within the next few days, the President issues a notification for prorogation of the session.
- However, the President can also prorogue the House while in session.
- It terminates a sitting as well as session of the house.
- Though it does not affect the bills or any other business pending before the House, all pending notices (other than those for introducing bills) lapse on prorogation and fresh notices have to be given for the next session.
- In Britain, prorogation brings to an end all bills or any other business pending before the House.
