Article 107 is a provision for introduction of a Bill and the passing thereof by the House of the People and the Council of States. Article 111 relates to the presentation of such a Bill to the President for his assent. The Rules of Business of either House provide for authentication as to the passing of the Bill and the assent thereto by the President. Article 122 of the Constitution says:

“The validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.”

Indeed the fact that the Bill appertaining to Constitution (Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Act, 1971 was duly introduced and passed and the amendment obtained the ratification by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the States by resolutions to that effect passed by those legislatures before the Bill was presented to the President for his assent, and such assent was given thereto by the President, is clear. All the above functions are Federal functions. They are necessarily political questions. In a case appertaining to the Amendment of the Constitution of United States of America, Hughes, Chief Justice, speaking for the Supreme Court remarked:

[Read more..]

*Senior Advocate, Supreme Court

** This Article was first published in Supreme Court Cases (1973) 1 SCC J-8. It has been reproduced with the kind permission of Eastern Book Company.

Join the discussion

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.