Control, committees and self-regulation

In a parliamentary democracy, the executive comes from the majority in the Lok Sabha, so it could use unlimited power, turning into a 'Cabinet dictatorship' where the House merely follows. Only an active and vigilant Parliament can check it.

Parliamentary privilege. No action can be taken against a member for anything said in the legislature. The presiding officer has the final say on any breach of privilege. This lets members represent the people fearlessly and control the executive.

Instruments of control:

• Deliberation and discussion: during law-making and general debates. The Question Hour, held daily during sessions, makes ministers answer searching questions, and is perhaps the most effective method of keeping watch; attendance peaks then. In Zero Hour, members may raise any matter they think important, though ministers need not reply. Other tools include half-an-hour discussions and adjournment motions. Heated scenes, walkouts and protests waste time but are also techniques to extract concessions and force accountability.
• Approval or refusal of laws: a bill becomes law only with Parliament's approval. A government with a disciplined majority may find this easy, but approval comes from bargaining within the ruling party or coalition and with the opposition; if the government lacks a majority in the Rajya Sabha, it must make concessions, and some bills have failed.
• Financial control: the government must present the budget for approval. Parliament seldom refuses money, but can discuss why it is needed and examine misuse of funds using reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Public Accounts Committee. Through the budget it also shapes policy.
• No-confidence motion: the most powerful weapon. While the government keeps its majority, this power is more fictional than real; but since 1989 several governments have had to resign after losing their coalition partners' support.
• Control works only if there is enough time, members participate, and government and opposition are willing to compromise. Recently, fewer sittings, less debate, absence of quorum and boycotts have weakened it.

Committees. Parliament meets only in sessions and has limited time, so committees do much detailed work: studying bills, examining ministries' demands for grants and spending, investigating corruption.

• Since 1983, India has had departmentally related standing committees (over twenty), which oversee departments, their budgets and expenditure, and related bills.
• Joint Parliamentary Committees (JPCs), with members from both Houses, are set up to discuss a particular bill or investigate financial irregularities.
• Parliament rarely rejects committee suggestions, which has eased its burden.

Self-regulation. The presiding officer is the final authority on regulating business. The anti-defection law, the 52nd Amendment (1985), later modified by the 91st Amendment, stops a member elected on one party's ticket from 'defecting'. Defection means staying absent when the party directs attendance, voting against party instructions, or voluntarily leaving the party. The presiding officer decides such cases; a defector loses membership of the House and is barred from offices like ministership. Experience shows it has not stopped defections, but has strengthened party leaders and presiding officers over members.

Example (new): an MP who is told by her party to vote for a bill but votes against it may lose her seat under the anti-defection law, even if she believed the bill was harmful to her constituency.