Legislative Council and Ordinary Bills

A State Legislative Council can examine, suggest changes to, and delay an ordinary bill passed by the Legislative Assembly, but it cannot permanently block it. Under Article 197, the Assembly can overcome the Council’s disagreement by passing the bill again and following the prescribed procedure.

What the Council can do on first consideration

When the Assembly passes an ordinary bill and transmits it to the Council, the Council may pass it, reject it, propose amendments, or leave it pending. Article 197(1) allows the Assembly to pass the bill again if any of the following occurs:

• The Council rejects the bill.
• More than three months elapse from the date the bill is laid before the Council without the Council passing it.
• The Council passes the bill with amendments to which the Assembly does not agree.

How the Assembly overcomes disagreement

The Assembly may pass the bill again in the same or a subsequent session, with or without the Council’s suggested amendments, and transmit it to the Council again. Under Article 197(2), the Council’s ability to hold up the bill is then further restricted.

• If the Council rejects the bill a second time, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses.
• The same result follows if more than one month elapses from the date the bill is laid before the Council again without its passage.
• Deemed passage also follows if the Council passes the bill with amendments to which the Assembly does not agree.
• The bill is deemed passed in the form approved by the Assembly on its second passage, together with any Council amendments subsequently agreed to by the Assembly.

Nature and limits of the Council’s power

The Council therefore exercises a suspensive, not an absolute, veto over ordinary bills originating in the Assembly. Its role permits scrutiny and reconsideration while preserving the Assembly’s final legislative authority.

• The two waiting periods are commonly summarised as three months plus one month; this does not include the time the Assembly itself takes to pass the bill again.
• There is no provision for a joint sitting of the two Houses of a State Legislature to resolve this disagreement.
• Deemed passage by both Houses completes the legislative stage, but the bill must still be presented to the Governor under Article 200.