C H A P T E R  - 3 

COMMITTEES OF PARLIAMENT 

17.     Committee on Petitions 

                The Committee (Committee on Petitions) shall determine its own procedure in connection with all matters relating to the petition referred to it including implementation of recommendations contained in its Report presented to the Council.
  [Pamphlet entitled Rules and Directions relating  to Committee on Petitions,  22.6.1996] 

18   Committee on Subordinate Legislation 

(1)     The Committee on Subordinate Legislation may examine all ‘Orders’, whether laid before the Council or not, framed in pursuance of the provisions of the Constitution or a statute delegating power to a subordinate authority to make such orders. 

(2) The Committee may examine provisions of Bills which seek to -
(i)   delegate powers to make ‘Orders’, or
(ii)  amend earlier Acts delegating such powers, with a view to see whether suitable provisions for the laying of the ‘Orders’ before the Council have been made therein. 

(3) The Committee may examine any other matter relating to an ‘Order’ or any question of Subordinate Legislation arising therefrom.
  [R.S. Bulletin, Part-II, dated 10.4.1984]  [First Report of Committee on Subordinate Legislation, 1964.] 

19.                        Parliamentary Committees Tours 

                No Member of a Parliamentary Committee shall take with him/her on official tours of the Committee any member of his/her family, guest, relation or attendant.  If on medical grounds, a Member desires to take any person with him/her on such tours he/she should obtain the written permission of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha in the matter. 

                                            [R.S. Bulletin, Part-II, dated 16.4.1987]  

20.  Minute of dissent on the Report of a Committee 

(1)                 A minute of dissent on the report of a Committee shall be couched in temperate and decorous language and shall not refer to any discussion in the Committee nor cast aspersion on the Committee or Chairman of the Committee. 

(2)(i) If in the opinion of the Chairman of the Committee, a minute of dissent contains words, phrases or expressions which are unparliamentary, irrelevant or otherwise inappropriate, he may order such words, phrases or expressions to be expunged from the minute of dissent. 

  (ii) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-paragraph (1), the Chairman shall have the power to order expunctions in like circumstances or to review all decisions regarding expunction from minutes of dissent and his decision shall be final. 

                                          [R.S. Bulletin, Part-II, dated 28.11.1994] 

21.  Presentation of Report of Committee to Chairman when the Council is not in Session

(1)     Ordinarily the report of a Committee shall be presented to the Council but in case the Committee completes its report when the Council is not in Session, the Chairman of the Committee may present it to the Chairman.

(2)    The Chairman may order the printing, publication or circulation of the Report before it is presented to the Council.

(3)  Where a report is presented to the Chairman or where its printing, publication or circulation has been ordered by the Chairman, the fact shall be published in the Bulletin.

(4)  The Chairman may if so requested by the Committee direct that matters of factual nature or patent errors may be corrected in the report presented to him by a Committee before the report is printed, published or circulated and later presented to the Council.

(5)   The report shall be presented to the Council during the next Session at the first convenient opportunity by the Chairman or in his absence by a Member of the Committee.  While presenting the report, the Chairman or in his absence the Member presenting the report shall confine himself to a brief statement to the effect that the report was presented to the Chairman when the Council was not in session and that orders for its printing, publication or circulation were given by the Chairman.

(6)     Where the Committee ceases to exist after the presentation of the report to the Chairman, and before presentation of the report to the Council, the report shall be laid by the Secretary-General on the Table of the Council at the first convenient opportunity.  While laying the report the Secretary-General, shall make a statement to the effect that the report was presented to the Chairman before the Committee ceased to exist and where it was ordered by the Chairman to be printed, published or circulated, the Secretary-General  shall report the fact to the Council.

                                                 [R.S. Bulletin, Part-II, dated 25.1.1996] 

22.  Evidence of Officials of State Governments before the Parliamentary Committees 

“Whenever it is felt necessary to invite an official of a State Government to appear as a witness before a Committee or to ask the State Government to produce a document or paper before the Committee, the orders of the Chairman, Rajya Sabha shall be obtained before the official or the State Government is asked to comply with the request. 

In case the Chairman decides that it is not necessary to summon a particular State official as a witness, or that the State Government need not be asked to produce a paper, document or record, the Chairman of the Committee concerned may, if he thinks necessary, apprise the Committee of the Chairman’s decision.” 

                                             [R.S. Bulletin, Part-II, dated 28.1.1999] 

23.     Time of sittings of the Committee 

The following Direction by the Chairman, given on 6.12.2000 regarding time of sittings of the Committees is reproduced below for information of Members :- 

“Unless the Chairman otherwise permits, no sitting of a Committee shall be held  after the commencement of a sitting of the Council and before 1500 hours on the days when the Council is sitting”. 

[R.S. Bulletin, Part-II, dated 8.12.2000]