Revisiting the Rajya Sabha’s role By Valerian Rodrigues

[avinash shahi]

There are a few formal tasks exclusive to the Rajya Sabha in addition
to the other chores it shares with its counterpart, the Lok Sabha,
such as the power to transfer a subject from the State List to Union
List for a specified period, to create additional All-India Services,
and to endorse Emergency under Article 352 for a limited period when
the Lok Sabha remains dissolved. While it does not have the power to
approve money bills, it can offer its own suggestions on them, and
while it has no representation in the Estimates Committee, its members
have a proportionate share in all other committees of the Parliament,
including those closely linked with financial dealings such as the
Public Accounts Committee, Committee on Public Undertakings and the
Standing Committees related to Ministries/Departments. The removal of
the domicile requirement mandated by the Representation of the People
Act, 1951, by the five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court in 2006 in
Kuldip Nayar v. Union of India and Others has further watered down the
mark of diversity that was the hallmark of the Rajya Sabha. In other
words, the Rajya Sabha has turned out to be another chamber of the
Parliament akin to the Lok Sabha, except for the mode of selection of
its members.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/revisiting-the-rajya-sabhas-role/article8757501.ece
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Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU