Sessions, Prorogation and Dissolution of Parliament

Sessions and dissolution of Parliament are governed by Article 85, which vests the President with the power to summon, prorogue and dissolve the Houses. Though these are formally presidential powers, they are ordinarily exercised on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, making the working of Parliament's calendar closely tied to the political executive rather than to any fixed constitutional timetable.

Summoning of Parliament

The President summons each House of Parliament to meet at such time and place as the President thinks fit. The Constitution does not fix a mandatory number of sessions or a minimum number of sitting days in a year. In practice, Parliament conventionally meets in three sessions each year — but this is a convention, not a constitutional requirement. What Article 85 does require is that the gap between two sessions cannot be too long: no more than six months may elapse between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next. This six-month ceiling is also the reason an ordinance issued by the President can, at most, remain valid for roughly six months and six weeks — it must be laid before Parliament when it reassembles, within that outer limit.

Prorogation

Prorogation is the formal termination of a session of a House without dissolving it altogether — the House simply stops sitting until it is summoned again. The President prorogues a House on the advice of the Council of Ministers. Prorogation typically follows an adjournment sine die (an adjournment without a date fixed for resuming), but there is no constitutional bar on the President proroguing a House even while it is technically still in session.

Dissolution

Dissolution applies only to the Lok Sabha, since the Rajya Sabha, as a continuing chamber, is never dissolved. The President dissolves the Lok Sabha, and — save in exceptional circumstances — does so on the advice of the Council of Ministers, usually communicated through the Prime Minister. Dissolution brings the life of that Lok Sabha to an end and necessitates fresh general elections.

Who Really Decides — Advice and Situational Discretion

Summoning, proroguing and dissolving are nominally presidential acts, but the President ordinarily acts on ministerial advice: the Prime Minister advises the President on summoning and proroguing sessions, and can recommend dissolution of the Lok Sabha at any time. The President is not entirely without independent judgment, however. Constitutional practice recognises certain situations of "situational discretion" where the President may act without being bound by ministerial advice — for instance, when deciding whether to dissolve the Lok Sabha if the Council of Ministers has lost its majority and it is unclear whether an alternative government can be formed, or when appointing a Prime Minister after an inconclusive election.

Effect of Dissolution on Pending Business

Dissolution has significant consequences for legislative business. A Bill that is pending in the Lok Sabha when it is dissolved lapses along with the House — it cannot simply be picked up again by the next Lok Sabha and must be reintroduced afresh if still needed. This is one reason the timing of dissolution, whether at the end of a full term or earlier, matters for the fate of pending legislation.

Related Presidential Powers over Parliament

Article 85 sits alongside a cluster of related presidential powers over Parliament: the President addresses Parliament at the commencement of the first session after each general election and the first session of every year (a power dealt with separately under Article 87), can send messages to either House (Article 86), and nominates twelve members to the Rajya Sabha. These powers, together with summoning, prorogation and dissolution, make the President a formal part of the institutional working of Parliament even though actual legislative and executive authority rests with the Council of Ministers.

Why This Framework Matters

By leaving the number and length of sessions to convention while capping the maximum gap between sessions at six months, the Constitution ensures Parliament cannot be kept away from meeting for long stretches, while still allowing flexibility in scheduling. At the same time, tying prorogation and dissolution to ministerial advice (with narrow discretionary exceptions) keeps day-to-day control of the parliamentary calendar answerable to the political executive commanding the confidence of the House, consistent with India's parliamentary system of government.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

Article 85 empowers the President to summon, prorogue Parliament and dissolve the Lok Sabha.
No more than six months can elapse between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next.
A Bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses when the House is dissolved.

Mains

Discuss the extent to which the President's powers of summoning, prorogation and dissolution under Article 85 are, in practice, exercised on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
Examine the situations in which the President may exercise discretion in relation to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

FAQ

Q1. What does Article 85 of the Constitution deal with? Article 85 deals with the President's power to summon and prorogue Parliament and to dissolve the Lok Sabha.

Q2. Is there a minimum number of sessions Parliament must hold in a year? No. The Constitution does not fix a minimum number of sessions, though by convention Parliament meets roughly three times a year; what is fixed is that no more than six months can elapse between two sessions.

Q3. What is the difference between prorogation and dissolution? Prorogation ends a session of a House without ending its life — it can be summoned again; dissolution ends the life of the Lok Sabha itself, requiring fresh elections. Only the Lok Sabha is dissolved, never the Rajya Sabha.

Q4. On whose advice does the President dissolve the Lok Sabha? Ordinarily on the advice of the Council of Ministers, communicated through the Prime Minister, though the President has some situational discretion in exceptional circumstances such as a Council of Ministers that has lost its majority.

Q5. What happens to a Bill pending in the Lok Sabha when it is dissolved? Such a Bill lapses with the dissolution of the House and must be reintroduced in the new Lok Sabha if it is to be pursued further.

Quick Revision

Article 85: President summons, prorogues Parliament and dissolves the Lok Sabha.
Gap between two sessions cannot exceed six months.
No constitutionally fixed minimum number of sessions; three sessions a year is convention.
Prorogation and dissolution are ordinarily on the advice of the Council of Ministers; dissolution carries situational presidential discretion in exceptional cases.
A Bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses on its dissolution.

Sources

The Constitution of India, Article 85 — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india
Lok Sabha Secretariat, Rules of Procedure — https://loksabha.nic.in

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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