Role of Legislative Councils

Source: The Hindu

Introduction 

Elections to 28 Legislative Council seats were held last week in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka. After the results, political parties and their leaders, including the Prime Minister, traded remarks, and this made the public curious about Legislative Councils.

What were Legislative Councils in British India? 

• The Government of India Act, 1935 introduced bicameral legislatures in six large provinces: Madras, Bombay, Bengal, the United Provinces, Bihar and Assam. 
• The electoral college for these councils was highly restricted and elitist. Only a very wealthy or educated minority had the right to vote. 
• The councils were meant to be revising chambers that reviewed the work of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies. They could not be dissolved. Each member served nine years, and one-third of the members retired every three years. 
• These Legislative Councils had the same powers as the Legislative Assemblies in passing bills. If the two houses disagreed, or a bill stayed pending in the council for 12 months, the Governor could break the deadlock only by calling a joint sitting of the provincial Assembly and Council.

What were the Constituent Assembly Debates on Legislative Councils? 

Whether States should have Legislative Councils was hotly debated in the Constituent Assembly. 

• Some members supported them as a check and balance against hasty laws passed by popularly elected Legislative Assemblies. Others saw them as an unnecessary burden on the public exchequer. 
• Members also objected that the most important aspects of how a Legislative Council is constituted were left to ordinary legislation of Parliament instead of being spelt out in the Constitution itself. 
• After considerable debate, the provisions on Legislative Councils were adopted.

What is the Structure of State Legislative Councils? 

Article 168 of the Constitution provides that the State legislatures of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka shall have a Legislative Council. 

Article 169 provides that Parliament may abolish or create a Legislative Council in a State by ordinary law. However, Parliament may pass such a law only if that State's Legislative Assembly first passes a resolution to that effect by a two-thirds majority. 

Article 171 provides that a council may have at most one-third as many members as the Legislative Assembly, and no fewer than 40. The members are chosen as follows: 

• One-third are elected by members of municipalities and local bodies. 
• One-twelfth are elected by people who have been graduates for at least three years. 
• One-twelfth are elected by secondary school teachers with at least three years of service. 
• One-third are elected by the MLAs of the State. 
• The remaining one-sixth are nominated. 

Article 172 provides that a State's Legislative Council cannot be dissolved. Each member serves six years, and one-third of the members retire every two years.

What are the Powers of the Legislative Council? 

• Ministers in a State, including the Chief Minister, can be members of its Legislative Council, just as Union ministers can be members of the Rajya Sabha. 
• In the legislative process, however, the council has little power. The Constitution provides no joint sitting to break a deadlock between the Assembly and the Council over bills. 
• If the two houses disagree, the bill as passed by the Assembly is final. The Council can only delay a bill's passage, for at most four months.

What are the Issues and the Way Forward? 

Political Considerations Behind Abolition and Creation: 

• Legislative Councils have mostly been abolished or created for political reasons. 
• The Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was abolished in 1986, when M.G. Ramachandran was Chief Minister. 
• In 2010, with M. Karunanidhi as Chief Minister, the Assembly passed a resolution to bring the council back. Before Parliament's law creating it could be notified, the Assembly passed another resolution in 2011, after J. Jayalalithaa became Chief Minister, opposing its revival. 
• The Andhra Pradesh council was abolished in 1985, when N.T. Rama Rao was Chief Minister, and was created again in 2007. 

Recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC): 

• In its report on Local Governance (2007), the Second ARC proposed that Parliament may, by law, create a Legislative Council in every State as a 'Council of Local Governments'. 
• It argued that, with literacy now much higher across the country, graduates and teachers no longer need a separate electorate. 
• Instead, all members of the council could be elected only by representatives of local bodies. 

Way Forward: 

• The Second ARC's recommendation should be discussed and suitably implemented. 
• Even with its limited legislative powers, a council built this way could work as an effective 'revising house' that protects and strengthens the interests of local bodies. 
• Otherwise, the councils might as well be abolished in the six States that have them, instead of staying on as mere ornaments in those State legislatures.

Conclusion 

Legislative Councils were meant to be revising chambers that check hasty laws passed by State Assemblies, but they have often been created and abolished for political reasons. The Constitution sets out their composition, tenure and role, yet their legislative powers are limited: they can only delay bills. The Second Administrative Reforms Commission's proposal to turn them into Councils of Local Governments, with members elected only by local body representatives, gives them a clear purpose in strengthening local self-government. Without such a change, there is a case for abolishing them rather than keeping them as ornamental bodies.