Leaders of Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998,1999
Act No : 5
Section : SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT
LEADERS AND CHIEF WHIPS OF RECOGNISED PARTIES AND GROUPS IN PARLIAMENT (FACILITIES) ACT, 1998
5 of 1999
January 7, 1999
Prefatory Note—Statement of Objects and Reasons.—The Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998 (5 of 1999) contains provisions for extending telephone and secretarial facilities to the leaders and chief whips of recognised parties and groups in Parliament.
2. Section 2 of the Act defines "recognised group" and "recognised party" in relation to the Council of States and the House of the People as such groups and parties which are recognized for the purposes of the Act by the Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker of the House of the people under the rules regulating the procedure of the respective Houses.
3. In order to make the definition of "recognised group" and "recognised party" more clear, it is proposed to specify numerical strength required for recognition as such "recognised group" and "recognised party" for the purposes of the Act. Accordingly, it is proposed to amend Section 2 of the Act to provide that a recognized party shall have a strength of not less than fifty-five members being ten per cent of the total membership rounded off to the nearest higher number in respect of the Lok Sabha and not less than twenty- five members being ten per cent of the total membership rounded off to the nearest higher number in respect of the Rajya Sabha. Likewise a recognised group shall have a strength of not less than thirty members and not more than fifty-four members in respect of the Lok Sabha and not less than fifteen members and not more than twenty-four members in respect of the Rajya Sabha.
4. There has been persistent demand that the telephone and secretarial facilities under the Act, presently admissible only to the leaders and chief whips of the recognised parties and groups in Parliament, may also be extended to the deputy leaders of those parties and groups.
5. After due consideration of the matter, it is proposed to extend the aforesaid telephone and secretarial facilities to the deputy leaders of the recognised parties and groups in Parliament also.
6. Section 3 of the Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998 provides that "Leaders of Opposition" as defined in Section 2 of the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977 would not be extended the telephone and secretarial facilities under the Act. This was done in order to avoid duplication of extension of the facilities. It is now proposed similarly not to extend the telephone and secretarial facilities to those leaders, deputy leaders and chief whips of the recognised parties and groups who may be entitled to similar telephone and secretarial facilities by virtue of their holding the post of a Minister or representation on a parliamentary committee or other committee, council, boards, commissions or other bodies set up either by the Central or the State Governments or have in any other capacity been provided with similar telephone and secretarial facilities by the Government or a local authority or a corporation owned or controlled by the Government or any local authority,
7. It is also proposed to amend the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959 with a view to incorporating therein the office of the deputy leader of a recognised party or a recognised group so as to ensure that they are not disqualified from the membership of Parliament on account of their entitlement to the proposed facilities.
8. The facilities extended under the Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Telephone and Secretarial Facilities) Rules. 1999 were published on the 5th February. 1999 in the Gazette of India and the facilities under the said Rule are being availed by the leaders and chief whips of some of the recognised parties or groups from the said date. It is, therefore, proposed to give retrospective effect to the provisions of the said Act under which the said rules were purported to have been framed and to validate the action taken under the said rules.
9. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
An Act to provide for facilities to Leaders and Chief Whips of recognised parties and groups in Parliament Be it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
SECTION 01: SHORT TITLE AND COMMENCEMENT
(1) This Act may be called the Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998.
2"(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 5th day of February, 1999.".
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