Revision Notes: The State Legislature- 2 | Famous Books for UPSC Exam (Summary & Tests) PDF Download

Legislative procedure
 Salient Features 

• The state legislature must meet twice a year and the gap should not be of more than six months.
•  The Governor addresses the newly constituted assembly as well as the session at the beginning of the year.
•  All bills except money bills can originate in any House.
• There is no provision of a joint sitting of the state legislature. Thus, while the Vidhan Sabha may override the will of the Vidhan Parishad, the reverse is impossible.
•  The Governor, except in case of a money bill, may give his assent or send in it for reconsideration or reserve the bill for the President's assent.

Procedure The Legislative procedure of the State legislature having two chambers (as outlined in Art. 196 to 199) is similar to that of Parliament except in some aspects.

Money Bill The position is the same as regards the money bill. The bill can be introduced only in the Assembly.
The Legislative Council shall have no power except
to make recommendation to the Assembly for amendments or to withhold the Bill for a period of 14 days from the date of receipt of the Bill. In any case, the will of the Assembly shall prevail, and the Assembly is not bound to accept any such recommendations. It follows that there cannot be any deadlock between the two Houses at all as regards Money Bills.

Bills other than Money Bills 
If a Bill is passed by the  Legislative Assembly and sent to the Council, the latter may (i) reject the Bill, or (ii) pass it with such amendments not agreeable to the Assembly, or (iii) not pass the Bill within 3 months from the time when it is laid before the Council. The Legislative Assembly many again pass the Bill with or without further amendments, and transmit the Bill to the Council again. Thus, only power of the Council is to interpose some delay in the passage of the Bill for a period of 3 months which is, of course, larger than in the case of Money Bills. Ultimately the view of the Assembly prevails and if the Bill comes to the Council for a second time, the Council shall have no power to withhold the Bill for more than a month (Art. 197).

Resolving Deadlock 
The only difference between the procedure in a State Legislature and the Parliament relates to provisions for resolving deadlock between two House.
While disagreement between the two House of the Parliament is to be resolved by a joint sitting, there is no such provision for solving difference between the two Houses of the State legislature,— in this latter case, the will of the lower House, viz., the Assembly, shall ultimately prevail and the Council shall have no more power than to interpose some delay in the passage of the Bill to which it disagrees.
Thus if on the second occasion, the council—
(i) again rejects the Bill, or
(ii) proposes amendments, or
(iii) does not pass it within one month of the date on which it is laid before the Council, the Bill shall be deemed to have been passed by the both Houses, and then presented to the governor for his assent (Art. 197).
The foregoing provision of the Constitution is applicable only as regards Bills originating in the Assembly. There is no corresponding provision for Bills originating on the Council. If, therefore, a Bill passed by the Council is transmitted to the Assembly and rejected by the latter, there is an end to the Bill.

Governor's Assent

When a Bill is presented before the Governor after its passage by the Houses of the legislature, it will be open to the Governor to take any of the following steps: (i) He may declare his assent to the Bill, in which case, it would become law at once; or, (ii) He may declare that he withholds his assent to the Bill, in which case the Bill fails to become a law; or, (iii) He may in the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill, return the Bill with a massage; (iv) The Governor may reserve a Bill for the consideration of the President. 

In one case reservation is compulsory viz., where the law in question would derogate from the powers of the High Court under the Constitution.

President's Assent

In the case of a Money Bill, reserved for the President's consideration, he may either declare his assent or withhold his assent. But in the case of a Bill other than a Money Bill, the President may, instead of declaring his assent or refusing it, direct the Governor to return the Bill to the Legislature for reconsideration. In the latter case, the Legislature must reconsider the Bill within six months and if it is passed again, the Bill shall be presented to the President again. But it shall not be obligatory upon the President to give his assent in this case too [Art.201] .

A  Bill which is reserved for the consideration of the President shall  have no legal effect until the President declares his assent to it. But no time limit is imposed by the Constitution upon the President either to declare that he assents or that he withholds his assent. As a result, it would be open to the President to keep a Bill of the State legislature pending at his hands for an indefinite period of time, without expressing his mind.

There is a third alternative for the President – when a reserved Bill is presented to the President, he may, for the purpose of deciding whether he should assent to, or return the Bill, refer to the Supreme Court, under Art. 143, for its advisory opinion where any doubts as to the constitutionality of the Bill arise in the President's mind.