RAS question
What happens to a bill pending in Parliament when the House is prorogued?
Correct answer: (D) The bill does not lapse.
A Bill pending in Parliament does not lapse merely because the Houses are prorogued.
Explanation
When the Houses are prorogued, pending Bills are preserved, not terminated. Article 107 of the Constitution expressly states that a Bill pending in Parliament shall not lapse by reason of prorogation of the Houses. The separate lapse rule is tied to dissolution of the House of the People: a Bill pending in the Lok Sabha, or passed by the Lok Sabha and pending in the Rajya Sabha, lapses on such dissolution, subject to Article 108. A Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha that has not been passed by the Lok Sabha does not lapse on dissolution. So, for prorogation, the Bill survives.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Lapse is linked to dissolution of the Lok Sabha for specified Bills, while Article 107 says prorogation itself does not make a pending Bill lapse.
- (B) Prorogation only leaves pending Bills alive; Article 107 does not create any automatic reference to a Select Committee.
- (C) Article 107 preserves a pending Bill through prorogation, so prorogation cannot by itself convert a pending Bill into a passed Bill.
Concept
This tests parliamentary procedure, especially the difference between prorogation and dissolution in the legislative process. For RAS, the trap is that both words sound like endings, but only the specified dissolution situations affect whether a Bill lapses.