What are Private Members’ Bills: Only 14 have become laws, the last one in 1970

Introduced Private Members Bill “Prevention of Wasteful Expenditure on Special Occasions Bill”. HIGHLIGHTS
Not more that 50 people in Barat

Not more than 10 dishes to be served

Not more than Rs 2500 in Shagan or Gifts

Will help in improving sex ratio

No more foeticide@IYC pic.twitter.com/jyq4wY3rSN

— Jasbir Singh Gill MP official account (@JasbirGillKSMP) August 4, 2023

Explaining why he introduced the Private Members’ Bill, Gill said, “The cut in wasteful expenditure on marriages could go a long way in checking female foeticide, as a girl child then would not be seen as a burden.”

Private Members’ Bills are legislative proposals introduced by a member of the House who is not a minister (the Bills introduced by them are Government Bills). In the Lok Sabha, the House allots the last two-and-a-half hours of business every Friday for transaction of private members’ business, which includes Private Members’ Bills and Private Members’ Resolutions. In the Rajya Sabha, two-and-a-half hours every alternate Friday during a Session are generally allotted for the same.

The Rajya Sabha Secretariat handbook says the importance of Private Members’ Bills “lies in the fact that they enable legislators to draw attention to issues which might not be represented in government Bills or to highlight the issues and gaps in the existing legal framework requiring legislative intervention”.

Private member bills in Lok Sabha across sessions.
Source: Parliament Library.
Graph by Anjishnu Das

But it is notoriously hard to push these Bills through. To date, only 14 of such Bills have become Acts. Six of the 14 Bills became law in 1956 and the last one to receive parliamentary approval was the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968, on August 9, 1970.

Though the last Bill to be passed by Parliament was more than five decades ago, these draft laws constitute a major chunk of legislative business. The 16th Lok Sabha saw 1,114 Private Members’ Bills being introduced. In the last 10 years, as against 78 Government Bills, 459 Private Members’ Bills have been introduced in the Rajya Sabha, the handbook notes. On December 9, 2021, more than 50 such Bills, including one seeking to revert to the ballot papers for voting, were introduced in the Lok Sabha.

The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, was introduced as a Private Members’ Bill by MP Tiruchi Siva in the Rajya Sabha and was passed in the Upper House. It then went to the Lok Sabha. However, while discussion on this Bill was underway in the Lower House, the government introduced a “substantially identical” Bill called the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016. The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha. In 2018, Siva’s Bill was removed from the Register of Bills in the Lower House. It eventually lapsed, as the the 16th Lok Sabha dissolved.

Subsequently, in 2019, the government introduced the Transgender (Protection of Rights) Bill in the Lok Sabha. It received the assent of the Rajya Sabha and then the President, becoming an Act that year.

Though the motion for introducing a Private Members’ Bill is not opposed by convention, there have been instances when objections were raised.

Last December, BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena introduced a Private Members’ Bill in the Rajya Sabha seeking the constitution of a committee to prepare and implement a Uniform Civil Code in the country. Opposition MPs protested against the move, pointing out that Meena’s Uniform Civil Code in India Bill, 2020, was listed at least six times in the past but never introduced because of the objections of the Opposition and intervention of the Treasury Benches.

But how do the Houses of Parliament decide which Bills to take up? In the Rajya Sabha, the Chairman decides it. Technically, it is the Speaker who takes the call in the Lok Sabha but a Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions allots time to these Bills and examines the ones that seek to amend the Constitution before they are introduced. The Committee classifies the Bills according to their nature, urgency, and importance. The House then decides the relative precedence in each category. In both Houses, the relative precedence of Bills in a particular category is determined by ballot or a draw of lots.

Often, MPs push their contentious agenda through these Bills. The Rajya Sabha handbook notes that many a time these Bills fail as they are “not comprehensive in nature and require a broader perspective”. As recommended by the Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions in their Fourteenth Report, a Lok Sabha member cannot introduce more than four Private Members’ Bills during a session. In the Rajya Sabha, an MP can give a maximum of three notices for the introduction of Private Members’ Bills during a Session.

The 14 Private Members’ Bills that became Acts are:

📌 Syed Mohammad Ahmed Kazmi of the Congress introduced the first Private Members’ Bill that become an Act in the Lok Sabha in 1952. The Muslim Wakf Bill, 1952, was introduced to “provide for the better governance and administration of Muslim Wakfs and the supervision of the Muttawallis management on them”.

📌 The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 1953, brought in amendments to Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

📌 The Indian Registration (Amendment) Bill, 1955, amended Section 2 of the Registration Act 1908, seeking to consolidate the enactments related to the registration of documents.

📌 The Parliamentary Proceeding (Protection of Publication) Bill, 1956, protects the publications of reports of proceedings of Parliament.

📌 The Women’s and Children’s Institutions (Licensing) Bill, 1954, became an Act that provides licence to institutions established and maintained for the reception, care, protection, and welfare of women and children.

📌 The Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and National Importance) Bill, 1954, was introduced “to provide for the preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance, for the regulation of archaeological excavations and for the protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects”.

📌 The Hindu Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 1956, amended Section 10 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.

📌 The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 1957, amended Section 198 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898.

📌 The Orphanages and Other Charitable Homes (Supervision and Control) Bill, 1959, dealt with the supervision and control of orphanages and homes for neglected women or children

📌 The Indian Marine Insurance Bill, 1959, codified the law relating to marine insurance.

📌 The Hindu Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 1963, amended provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, on grounds of divorce.

📌 The Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 1964, amended Sections 3 a and 5 of the Salaries, and Allowances of Members of Parliament Act, 1954.

📌 The Indian Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 1963, amended Sections 292 and 293, among others, of the Indian Penal Code of 1860.

📌 The Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968, dealt with the “enlarged appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court in regard to criminal matters”.