With reference to the Parliament of India, consider the following statements: 1. A private member’s bill is a bill presented by a Member of Parliament who is not elected but only nominated by the President of India. 2. Recently, a private member’s bill has been passed in the Parliament of India for the first time in its history. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect: Private member's bills are introduced by Members of Parliament (MPs) who are not ministers i.e., they do not hold any position in the government. These bills allow non-ministerial MPs to propose legislative changes, reflecting their views or those of their political parties on important issues.
Statement 2 is incorrect: While the passage rate of private member's bills is very low, it is not true that no such bill has ever been passed in recent times. Since 1952, a total of 14 private member's bills have been passed by Parliament. One of the most notable examples is the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1970, which was successfully enacted. However, the majority of private member's bills fail to become law due to a lack of government backing, time constraints, or procedural hurdles.
Hence, the correct answer is option (D) neither 1 nor 2.