Article 107: Procedure of Passing of an Ordinary Bill by the Parliament under the Constitution of India

Introduction

There are four kinds of bills that can be passed by the Parliament. These are ordinary,  money,  financial and Constitutional Amendment bills. Separate procedures have been provided for these Bills. Article 107 covers ordinary bills. Article 109 deals with the special procedure related to Money Bill, Article 117 deals with the special procedures for the financial bill and Article 368 deals with the Constitutional Amendments. 

An ordinary Bill covers the subject matters other than those covered by money bill (Art. 110) or a financial Bill (Art. 119).  The passing of bills is an important legislative power of the Union Government. This article will explain the procedure of passing the ordinary bill under the Constitution of India and related provisions.

Constitutional Framework under Article 107 for passing of Ordinary Bills

Text of the provision

107. Provisions as to introduction and passing of Bills.—

(1) Subject to the provisions of articles 109 and 117 with respect to Money Bills and other financial Bills, a Bill may originate in either House of Parliament.

 (2) Subject to the provisions of articles 108 and 109, a Bill shall not be deemed to have been passed by the Houses of Parliament unless it has been agreed to by both Houses, either without amendment or with such amendments only as are agreed to by both Houses. 

(3) A Bill pending in Parliament shall not lapse by reason of the prorogation of the Houses.

(4) A Bill pending in the Council of States which has not been passed by the House of the People shall not lapse on a dissolution of the House of the People. 

(5) A Bill which is pending in the House of the People, or which having been passed by the House of the People is pending in the Council of States, shall, subject to the provisions of article 108, lapse on a dissolution of the House of the People. 

Interpretation of the provision

Clause 1 of Article 107 provides that an ordinary Bill can originate in either  House of the Parliament, unlike money bill and the financial Bill which can not be introduced in the Council of States. It is worth noting here that the provision does exclude money bills and financial bills, but not the Constitutional Amendment Bill. It is so because the Constitutional Amendment Bill, as per Article 368 can be introduced in either House of the Parliament. Therefore, no point of excluding such Bills from this provision. 

Clause 2 of the Article provides that an ordinary Bill shall be deemed to have been passed by the Parliament only when both the Houses have agreed to it. In case of amendments in the Bill, both the Houses must have agreed to the amendments as well. However, this is not the case in the Money Bill, where the House of People has the discretion whether to accept the amendment recommended by the Council of States. Therefore, in the case of the money Bill, both Houses are not required to agree on the amendment. That is why the provision has been subjected to Article 109. 

Further, in case of a deadlock between the two Houses over an ordinary Bill, a joint sitting is summoned by the President, and the Bill with or without amendment if the Bill has been passed by majority of the members present and voting in the joint sitting, then the bill is deemed to be passed. It can be noted here that in the joint sitting members of both Houses are sitting together, and the separate agreement on the amendment by both the Houses is not required, but agreement by majority is sufficient. That is why joint sitting has also been excluded in this provision.

Further, Clause 3, 4 and 5 of the provision is related to the lapse of the Bill. If a bill is lapsed, then it needs to be reintroduced in the House afresh. Clause 3 clarifies that a Bill does not lapse merely by the prorogation of the Houses (prorogation under Article 85). It is because it merely marks the end of a session and not the dissolution of the house. The Bill can further be deliberated in the next session. 

Clause 4 provides that a Bill does not lapses if it is pending before Council States and has not been passed by the House of People and the House of people has been dissolved. It is because the Bill has not yet reached the House of People before its dissolution. However, if the Bill has been passed by the House of People and is pending before Council of States or is pending before House of People, it lapses. 

If a deadlock is created between the two Houses of the Parliament, then Joint sitting can be called by the President under Article 108 for resolving the differences. And if in the joint sitting, where members of both Houses are present, the Bill is passed by the majority of the total number of members present and voting, the Bill is deemed to be passed by the Parliament. Ultimately, once the Bill receives the assent of the President, it becomes an Act (law) (Article 111). 

Stages in the Passing of an Ordinary bill

The rules relating to the passing of an ordinary Bill has been provided under the Rules of both the Houses (Rules of procedure and conduct of business in Lok Sabha and Rules of procedure and conduct of Business in Rajya Sabha)

An ordinary Bill goes through three stages in both the Houses. These stages are also called ‘readings’ of the Bill.

Stage 1: First reading (Introduction of the bill)

An ordinary bill can be introduced in either House of the Parliament and it may be a public bill (introduced by a Minister) or a private bill (introduced by a member of the House other than the Minister). 

The member who desires to introduce the bill before the House asks for the leave of the House for such introduction. If leave is granted, the bill is introduced by the member by reading its title and the object in the House. Then, the bill is required to be published in the Gazette of India. At this stage, no detailed discussion takes place on the Bill. 

Stage 2: Second Reading (general discussion and clause by clause discussion)

After introduction of the bill in the House, second reading of the bill takes place. It consists of two  phases, first is general reading and second is clause by clause discussion.

General reading- The general principles of the Bill is discussed at this phase and either of the following actions may be taken by the House:

• Bill be taken into consideration or
• it be referred to the Select committee of the House or
• it be referred to Joint Committee of the House or
• be circulated for eliciting opinion.

Clause by clause discussion– If the House has decided to take the bill into consideration, then clause by clause discussion takes place and if the bill has been referred to the Select or Joint Committee, then clause by clause discussion takes place after the submission of the report of such committee. 

After the discussion, each clause is voted upon separately. Amendment can also be moved at this stage and if accepted, becomes part of the Bill.

Some of the Bills which have been referred to a Committee of Lok Sabha includes The Securities Market Code Bill, 2025, The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025  and Jan Biswas (Amendment of the Provisions) Bill, 2025 and The Income Tax Bill, 2025. 

Stage 3: Third Reading (acceptance or rejection of the bill by the House)

A simple majority is required to pass an ordinary bill which means the majority of the members present and voting (simple majority). If it is passed from one House,  it is sent to the other House where almost similar procedure is followed.

If the Bill is passed by both the Houses, with or without amendments, it is sent to the President for his assent. Once the President assents the bill, it becomes an Act.

Judicial Interpretation regarding effect of dissolution on Bills

Dissolution of a house means the end of the life of the House. It only applies to Lok Sabha as Rajya Sabha is a permanent house and its one-third members retire every year and new members are elected in their place. Normally, Lok Sabha comes to an end after the end of 5 years tenure. However, it can dissolve prior to its tenure, the Constitution does not lay down the principles or guiding words for dissolution. It just gives power to the President under Article 85 (2) (b) to dissolve the House of the People.

However, the President functions on aid and advice of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. We have seen in the abovementioned section that when the bill lapses on dissolution of the House. Now, we will look at Judicial Interpretation on the effect of dissolution of the House. 

The Supreme Court in case of Purushottam Nambudri v. State of Kerala held that a Bill passed by both Houses but pending assent of the President does not lapse with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

Conclusion

The passing of ordinary bills is one of the important duties of Parliament. The Constitution prescribes detailed guidelines for making laws through such bills, as evidenced by the provisions of Articles 107, 108, 109, and 117 when read in tandem. Together, these provide a complete framework for how an ordinary bill is passed. In this article, we provided a complete procedure of passing an ordinary bill.

This article is authored by Astha Priya and Jeet Sinha.

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