Special Session of Parliament from Sept. 18 to 22; agenda under wraps

• Recently the Union government announced a Special Session of Parliament from September 18 to 22, shortly after the conclusion of the G-20 Summit in New Delhi.

Sessions of Parliament:

• The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution.
• The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs which is formalised by the President, in whose name MPs are summoned to meet for a session.
• India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar.
• By convention Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.

Budget Session

• It is the longest session
• Starts towards the end of January, and concludes by the end of April or first week of May.
• The session has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.

Monsoon Session

• The three-week session usually begins in July and finishes in August.

Winter Session

• held from November to December.

Summoning of Parliament:

• Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet.
• The President summons each House of the Parliament from time to time.
• The gap between two sessions of the Parliament cannot exceed 6 months, which means the Parliament meets at least two times in one year.

Adjournment

• Adjournment terminates the sitting of the House which meets again at the time appointed for the next sitting.
• The postponement may be for a specified time such as hours, days or weeks.

Adjournment sine die

• If the meeting is terminated without any definite time/ date fixed for the next meeting, it is called Adjournment sine die.

Prorogation:

• Prorogation is the end of session and not the dissolution of the house (in case of Lok Sabha, as Rajya Sabha does not dissolve).
• The time between the Prorogation and reassembly is called Recess.

Prelims Takeaway

• Session of parliament
• Prorogation