New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh assembly Monday passed the statutory resolution to abolish the state legislative council, with 133-0 votes.
The decision had been approved by the cabinet led Chief Minister by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy earlier the same day.
The move comes in the wake of the legislative council, dominated by members of the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), blocking the ruling YSRCP’s move to create three state capitals instead of a single capital city at Amaravati. Last week, the council had referred the contentious state capitals bill to a select committee for review.
The ruling YSRCP has in the past faced several hurdles in getting bills approved by the legislative council, which with a strength of 58, is dominated by TDP with 32 members.
For instance, the council had delayed and then rejected the proposal for separate commissions for SC and ST, and had also rejected the bill to introduce English medium education in government schools.
ThePrint explains what a legislative council is and its functions.
What is a legislative council?
India has a bicameral parliamentary system, with two Houses of Parliament. So, states have a Vidhan Sabha or legislative assembly, and may or may not have the Vidhan Parishad or the legislative council.
Legislative assembly members are elected directly by the people. Legislative assembly members, the governor, and a few other stakeholders then elect members to the legislative council.
While on one hand the creation of legislative councils is supposed to put in place checks and balances for hasty decisions, on the other hand, it is often criticised for being an entry point for leaders who could not win an election.
The arguments against creation of legislative councils also centre around the financial strain that it has on a state. The expenses differ from state to state. For instance, while Rajasthan had quoted an amount of Rs 100 crore, Assam had quoted a one-time expenditure of Rs 68.88 crore, and a recurring annual expenditure of Rs 19.28 crore.
How are members of a legislative council elected?
The final power to decide the composition of the legislative council is given to the Parliament. However, until Parliament makes a law on the matter, Article 171 of the Indian Constitution provides for the membership of the council.
Article 171 states that a legislative council cannot have more than 1/3rd of the total number of members in the legislative assembly, but it cannot have fewer than 40 members.
About 1/3rd of these members are elected by members of the legislative assembly, another 1/3rd by electorates consisting of members of municipalities, district boards and other local authorities in the state, 1/12th by an electorate consisting of teachers, 1/12th by registered graduates, and 1/6th are nominated by the Governor.
The Governor nominates members from among those who have distinguished themselves in literature, science, art, the cooperative movement, and social service.
Each of these members needs to be an Indian citizen, who is at least 30 years old. Members also cannot simultaneously be Members of Parliament and the state legislature.
Also, 1/3rd of legislative council’s members retire every two years, like in the Rajya Sabha.
Once in place, the legislative council elects its Chairman and Deputy Chairman from among its members.
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Why do some states have it and others don’t?
As of January 2020, in addition to Andhra Pradesh, 5 other states have a legislative council. These are Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.
The creation of a legislative council in Tamil Nadu has been a contentious issue for over 25 years now. The council was abolished by a resolution in 1986. The DMK and AIADMK have wrestled on the issue ever since. While DMK tried to restore the council in 2010, the AIADMK withdrew the decision right after it came to power the next year.
The option to have a second House is left to the state legislative assemblies, subject to Parliamentary approval. For instance, the proposals to create legislative councils in Rajasthan and Assam have been pending with the Rajya Sabha since 2012 and 2013 respectively.
The parliamentary panel that examined Rajasthan’s bill for creation of a legislative council had suggested that a national policy for creation and abolition of councils be put in place, so that it is not left to the “whims and fancy” of the governments.
How is it created or abolished?
Article 169 of the Constitution allows Parliament to create or abolish the council in a state if the legislative assembly of that state passes a resolution for the purpose by a special majority, i.e. by a majority of the total membership of the assembly and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the assembly present and voting.
Andhra Pradesh had a legislative council from 1958. It was then abolished in 1985 and reconstituted in 2007.
Since the resolution has already been passed by the Andhra Pradesh state assembly, the government will now send it to the Governor for his approval, after which it will be sent to Parliament for ratification.
What does a legislative council do?
In comparison to Rajya Sabha, legislative councils have very limited powers.
Article 197 places several restrictions on the powers of the legislative councils on non-money bills. It allows the legislative assembly to reject any amendments proposed by the legislative council to any such bills.
The Assembly has to reconsider a non-money bill if it is passed by the legislative assembly but not by the legislative council. However, if the bill is approved by the Assembly for the second time and sent to the legislative council, the council cannot do much to stop it from being passed.
The provision states that in such a situation, if the council does not pass the bill or keeps it pending for more than a month, then the bill “shall be deemed to have been passed” by both Houses.
As for money bills, Article 198 allows the legislative council to make its recommendations for amendments within 14 days of receiving the bill. However, the legislative assembly could accept or reject these recommendations.
If the legislative council does not revert within 14 days, the money bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses.
Also read: Jagan Mohan Reddy’s 3-capital plan for Andhra faces legislative hurdle