This article is written by Aniket Tiwari, a 1st-year student at Law School, Banaras Hindu University. This article is about the State Legislature and includes all the Articles related to it which is mentioned in the Constitution of India.
Table of Contents
The Constitution of India is regarded as one of the lengthiest written constitutions in the whole world. Our Constitution gives us a federal structure where the powers between the Central Government and the State Government are divided. Most of us know about the working of the Central Legislature and the powers related to the Central Legislature. Part VI of the Constitution deals with the State Legislature. In this article, we will discuss this part of the Indian Constitution in detail. Here we will discuss the unicameral and bicameral legislature. The creation and abolition of these Houses of the State Legislature. The qualification of a person to be a member of the State Legislature. Ultimately, we will discuss Articles 168 to 212 of the Indian Constitution. It is quite complex to understand the working and procedure of work in State Legislature but after going through the Constitution of India it becomes easier for one to understand it.
Bicameral and Unicameral Legislature
Before discussing what is a bicameral and unicameral legislature, let us first discuss what is the legislature. The legislature is the law-making body of the State. It is first among the three organs of the state. It can make laws as well as administers the government. As mentioned in Article 168 of the Indian Constitution, a state can have a unicameral legislature (It should be Legislative Assembly) as well as a bicameral legislature (Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly). According to Article 168 of the Indian Constitution, there shall be legislature in every State and it shall consist of the Governor.
Unicameral legislature refers to having only one legislative chamber which performs all the functions like enacting laws, passing a budget, and discussing matters of national and international importance. It is predominant in the world as most countries have a unicameral legislature. It is an effective form of the legislature as the law-making process becomes easier and reduces the possibility of obstacle in lawmaking process. Another advantage is that it is economically feasible to maintain a single chamber of the legislature. It is the most prevailing system in India as most of the States of India have a unicameral legislature. The members of the unicameral legislature (Legislative Assembly) elected directly by the citizens of the State.
By bicameral legislature, we refer to the State having two separate law-making Houses to perform the functions like passing the budget and enacting laws. India has a bicameral legislature at the Centre level while the State can make the bicameral legislature. In India, only 7 States have a bicameral legislature. It may be seen that a bicameral legislature may not be as effective as a unicameral legislature. However, it works as a barricade in some cases as it somehow makes the law-making process more complex.
Abolition or Creation of Legislative Councils
In our country, the Legislative Council (also known as Vidhan Parishad) is the Upper House of a bicameral legislature. The creation of which is given in Article 169 of the Indian Constitution and can also be abolished according to Article 169 of the Constitution.
Article 168 mentions about the Legislative Council in some of the States of our country. There is no rule of having a bicameral legislature in the State of India. It is because our Constitution framers knew that it will not be possible for every State to have a bicameral legislature ( due to financial or any other reason).
Article 169 talks about the creation or abolition of the Legislative Council. For the creation or abolition of the Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly must pass a resolution that must be supported by more than 50% of the total strength of the assembly. It must be supported by more than 2/3rd of the total members pres