RAS question
Joint session of Parliament under Article 108 is presided over by:
Correct answer: (B) Speaker of Lok Sabha.
A joint sitting of Parliament under Article 108 is presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Explanation
Article 108 deals with a deadlock on a Bill between the two Houses and allows the President to summon both Houses to meet in a joint sitting for deliberation and voting. The presiding officer, however, is fixed by Article 118(4): at a joint sitting of the two Houses, the Speaker of the House of the People, that is the Lok Sabha, presides. The Constitution also says that if the Speaker is absent, the person determined by the rules of procedure made for joint sittings will preside. This is why the answer is the Speaker of Lok Sabha, not the authority that summons the sitting or any other constitutional office.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Prime Minister may participate in parliamentary proceedings, but the Constitution does not assign the presiding role at a joint sitting to the Prime Minister.
- (C) The President may notify and summon the Houses for a joint sitting under Article 108, but Article 118(4) gives the chair to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
- (D) The Vice-President is not named as the presiding officer for a joint sitting; Article 118(4) names the Speaker of the House of the People.
Concept
This tests the separation between the power to summon a joint sitting and the authority to preside over it. RAS repeatedly asks such Parliament-procedure points because they turn on precise constitutional articles, not general institutional hierarchy.