Parliamentary sessions are an integral part of any democracy where negotiations, discussions, debates and even sometimes quarrels are normal part of its working. These proceedings are an essential part of the Indian law-making which further define Indian society. To aid this rigorous process of decision making and negotiations different committees are formed for efficiency purposes. These committees give special emphasis to specific bills and also are designed in such a manner that they add a specific touch of expertise in the analysis of the matters pertaining to the bill. That’s why there are also sometimes referred to as mini parliaments. This practice in return not only increases the horizon of deliberation over the bill but also gives a bonus chance to the law makers to enhance the very quality of it by considering various factors into the questions. The structure of this system is designed in a way that it is perfect enough to fit the needs of various diverse laws which are required by the public, elaborative discussion of which would be duly made in the article further. Thus it is safe to say that the very concept of standing committee is an impeccable effort towards competent law making which can prove to be a valuable feature if used in an efficient manner.

Establishment and significance

For the starters the parliament as an institution has huge amount of work that are of complex nature because to run a country there are a lot of laws in hand which are diverse, complicated and technical as well at times. To ease down on this work there are mainly two types of committees in the parliament first is the AD-hoc committee which exists on the temporary basis and are usually agenda specific after that specific project is done with the committee is dissolved. In the past such a committee was formed to enquire into the matters of 2G scam, Bofors contract etc. On the other hand there is standing parliamentary committee which are formed for 1 year and their work runs whole year long. These are not agenda specific but their role is to aid the process of law making by discussing and researching on the potential laws on which the parliament as whole is working on. The most recent development which could be seen in context of the workings of these committees was in regards of the discussions pertaining to Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Amendment Rules of 2018 due to which Dr Shahsi Tharoor who was the head of the standing committee dealing with the bill had summoned the CEO of facebook India in order to enquire about some privacy issues coming under the ambit of the bill. This move was further questioned by the ruling party but the standing committee was completely in its powers to take such an action. Initially the system was set up in April 1993 by India after independence while the parliament was chaired by the honourable vice president KR Naryanan. At that time the committees were segregated into 17 departments and as of now to meet the evolving needs we have 24 standing committees within the ambit of the parliament. These committees comprise of 31 members 21 of which are from Lok Sabha while 10 members are from Rajya Sabha. Viewing from the analytical point view the significance of these committees lie in the fact that they provide the representatives the opportunities to deliberate upon the issue by being away from the public eye. Not only this but while they are in these committees they are also not under their constituency pressure which is the case while they are present within the on record parliamentary debates. The main task of these committees is to prepare reports regarding different bills by analysing and researching upon them from every aspect possible, these reports are not binding in nature to the government but definitely bear an advisory and persuasive value. Although there is no separate provision within the Indian law which talks about standing parliamentary committees but section 105(4) which states “The provisions of clauses ( 1 ), ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) shall apply in relation to persons who by virtue of this constitution have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of, a House of Parliament or any committee thereof as they apply in relation to members of Parliament”[1]  of the Indian constitution gives them the powers and privileges to be involved in such process. Adding to this the essence of the committee is to scrutinise the bills with the specific expertise which the members posses. They are efficiently able to do so because under the concept the members are able to make decisions without any politics involved. The process also sometimes initiates collection of public feedback and mutual consensus. This deep determination of public needs and socio economic analysis make the upcoming law more competent for the societal needs while meeting the principles of the welfare state in a better manner.

Critical analysis

Diverting towards a bit critical aspect of the system if we may see the very latest developments itself recently the parliament passed 22 bills within a span of few days, the reason behind this which has been duly pointed out by many policy makers is that none of these bills was discussed by the standing parliamentary committee. This situation arose because the concerned authorities failed to form the required standing committees as well due to which the government evidently misused the situation to get the bills passed without much deliberation or debate. This in return reflects badly upon the law making capacity of the country. Since law formulation is a crucial task for the working of any country which not only affect the daily lives of people but also influences the socio-political, financial, cultural, economic and moral well being of the state. In some previous years the working of the standing committee have shown tremendous success as due to this diversity of our country such expertise within the discussion is an inevitable need for our country. As per PRS Legislative Research, in “the 16th Lok Sabha, 25% of the Bills introduced were referred to Committees, much lower than 71% and 60% in the 15th and 14th Lok Sabha respectively”[2]. Such a trend bears the potential of public outrage since much consultation is not done upon the passed laws which would further hinder the proper implementation of these laws since they might not be widely accepted by the general public. Keeping in mind the overall analysis of the concept and the extensive importance it holds within the procedure of law making it might be a feasible option that to bring in some more level of authority and reform for these committees so that full fruit of their existence and work done can be borne by the parliament. For this it has been highlighted that provided these committees with full time staff, larger ambit of research support and regulations making such scrutinies mandatory for the bills can be one of the many measures which can be taken to maintain the prestige of these committees. As the function performed by them is not only the part of law making proceedings but they also act as an indirect guardian for the appropriate consideration which any competent bill requires so as to make it a successful and fool proof law in the future.   

References 

1)     https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/parliamentary-committees-1438142790-1 

2)     https://www.prsindia.org/parliamentary-committees/2194 

3)     https://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/rsat_work/CHAPTER%E2%80%9425.pdf 

4)     https://www.jurist.org/commentary/2020/09/avirup-mandal-vatsla-varandani-shashi-tharoor-summons-facebook/