10.1. Joint Sitting

The President may notify to the Houses his intention to summon them for a joint sitting in case of a deadlock. Such a notification cannot be made by the President if the Bill has already lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. However, once the President has notified his intention

to hold a joint sitting, the subsequent dissolution of Lok Sabha cannot stand in the way of the joint sitting being held.

The Speaker of Lok Sabha presides over a joint sitting of two Houses and the Deputy Speaker in his absence. If the Deputy Speaker is also absent, the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha presides. If he is also absent, such other person as may be determined by the members present at the joint sitting, presides over the meeting. It is clear that the Chairman of Rajya Sabha does not preside over a joint sitting as he is not a member of either House of Parliament.

The quorum to constitute a joint sitting is 1/10th of the total number of members of the two Houses. The joint sitting is governed by Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and not of Rajya Sabha. Normally, due to larger membership, the Lok Sabha succeeds in getting its demands fulfilled.

There are restrictions on amendments to the Bill, which may be proposed at the joint sitting:

i) If, after its passage in one House, the Bill has been rejected or has not been returned by the other House, only such amendments may be proposed at the joint sitting, which are made necessary by the delay in the passage of the Bill.

ii) Other amendments as are relevant to the matters pertaining to which the Houses have disagreed, may be proposed at the joint sitting.

Since 1950, the provision of a joint sitting has been invoked only four times for the following bills:

i) Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1960

ii) Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill, 1977

iii) Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2002

iv) Women’s Reservation Bill (2008)