The conditions governing admissibility of questions have been laid down under Rule
41 to 44 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. Apart from
these provisions, admissibility of questions is also determined by Direction 10A
of the Directions by the Speaker, Lok Sabha, past precedents, decisions and observations
from the Chair, well-established parliamentary practices, usages and conventions.
Questions relating to statutory corporations and limited companies in which Government
have financial or controlling interest are examined on merits and their admissibility
is regulated generally in the following manner:
(i) where a question relates to a matter of policy or refers to an act or omission
on the part of a Minister or raises a matter of public interest, although it may
pertain to a matter of day-to-day administration or an individual case, it is ordinarily
admitted.
(ii) a question which calls for information of statistical or descriptive nature
is generally admitted as Unstarred; and
(iii) a question which clearly relates to day-to-day administration and tends to
throw work on the Ministries and the Corporation not commensurate with the results
to achieved therefrom is normally disallowed.
The rules of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha and direction
of Directions by the Speaker Lok Sabha which are ordinarily followed in deciding
admissibility of the questions are detailed hereunder:
Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha
41. (1) Subject to the provisions of sub-rule (2), a question may be asked for the
purpose of obtaining information on a matter of public importance within the special
cognizance of the Minister to whom it is addressed.
(2) The right to ask a question is governed by the following conditions, namely:-
(i) it shall be clearly and precisely expressed and shall not be too general incapable
of any specific answer or in the nature of a leading question;
(ii) it shall not bring in any name or statement not strictly necessary to make
the question intelligible;
(iii) if it contains a statement the member shall make himself responsible for the
accuracy of the statement;
(iv) it shall not contain arguments, inferences, ironical expressions, imputations,
epithets or defamatory statements;
(v) it shall not ask for an expression of opinion or the solution of an abstract
legal question or of a hypothetical proposition;
(vi) it shall not ask as to the character or conduct of any person except in his
official or public capacity;
(vii) it shall not ordinarily exceed 150 words;
(viii) it shall not relate to a matter which is not primarily the concern of the
Government of India;
(ix) it shall not ask about proceedings in the Committee which have not been placed
before the House by a report from the Committee.
(x) it shall not reflect on the character or conduct of any person whose conduct
can only be challenged on a substantive motion;
(xi) it shall not make or imply a charge of a personal character;
(xii) it shall not raise questions of policy too large to be dealt with within the
limits of an answer to a question;
(xiii) it shall not repeat in substance questions already answered or to which an
answer has been refused;
(xiv) it shall not ask for information on trivial matters;
(xv) it shall not ordinarily ask for information on matters of past history;
(xvi) it shall not ask for information set forth in accessible documents or in ordinary
works of reference;
(xvii) it shall not raise matters under the control of bodies or persons not primarily
responsible to the Government of India;
(xviii) it shall not ask for information on matter which is under adjudication by
a court of law having jurisdiction in any part of India;
(xix) it shall not relate to a matter with which a Minister is not officially concerned;
(xx) it shall not refer discourteously to a friendly foreign country;
(xxi) it shall not seek information about matters which are in their nature secret,
such as composition of Cabinet Committees, Cabinet discussions, or advice given
to the President in relation to any matter in respect of which there is a constitutional,
statutory or conventional obligation not to disclose information;]
(xxii) it shall not ordinarily ask for information on matters which are under consideration
of a Parliamentary Committee; and
(xxiii) it shall not ordinarily ask about matters pending before any statutory tribunal
or statutory authority performing any judicial or quasijudicial functions or any
commission or court of enquiry appointed to enquire into, or investigate, any matter
but may refer to matters concerned with procedure or subject or stage of enquiry,
if it is not likely to prejudice the consideration of the matter by the tribunal
or commission or court of enquiry.]
Questions on matters of correspondence between Government of India and State
Governments
42. In matters which are or have been the subject of correspondence between the
Government of India and the Government of a State, no question shall be asked except
as to matters of fact, and the answer shall be confined to a statement of fact.
Speaker to decide admissibility
43. (1) The Speaker shall decide whether a question, or a part thereof, is or is
not admissible under these rules and may disallow any question, or a part thereof,
when in his opinion it is an abuse of the right of questioning or is calculated
to obstruct or prejudicially affect the procedure of the House or is in contravention
of these rules.
(2) Subject to the provisions of rule 38, the Speaker may direct that a question
be placed on the list of questions for answer on a date later than that specified
by a member in his notice if he is of the opinion that a longer period is necessary
to decide whether the question is or is not admissible.
Speaker to decide if a question is to be treated as starred or unstarred
44. If in the opinion of the Speaker any question put down for oral answer is of
such a nature that a written reply would be more appropriate, the Speaker may direct
that such question be placed on the list of questions for written answer:
Provided that the Speaker may, if he thinks fit, call upon the member who has given
notice of a question for oral answer to state in brief his reasons for desiring
an oral answer and, after considering the same, may direct that the question be
included in the list of questions for written answer.
Provided that the Speaker may, if he thinks fit, call upon the member who has given
notice of a question for oral answer to state in brief his reasons for desiring
an oral answer and, after considering the same, may direct that the question be
included in the list of questions for written answer.
Directions by the Speaker Lok Sabha
10A. Besides the conditions of admissibility of questions mentioned in rule 41,
a question shall be inadmissible on any of the following grounds:--
(i) it seeks information on matters which tend to encourage fissiparous and divisive
tendencies and weaken the unity and integrity of the country;
(ii) it relates to a matter of day-to-day administration or tends to further the
interest of an individual or a few individuals;
(iii) it relates to a matter falling primarily within the jurisdiction of the Chief
Election Commissioner, C&AG, Courts and other such functionaries;
(iv) it relates to petitions and memoranda received by Ministers which are not of
public importance;
(v) it relates to a matter under negotiation with a government of other country
and its disclosure may affect the course of negotiations to the detriment of the
national interests; and
(vi) it relates to a matter within the jurisdiction of the Speaker.