This article has been written by Ms. Sejal Birani, a student studying B.COM LLB (Hons.) from Institute of Law, Nirma University, Ahmedabad. The author is a second year law student.
INTRODUCTION –
This article primarily discusses the secret meetings of the Parliament and Legislature and their relevance. This article not only includes the procedures and provisions of the secret sitting in India but also highlights the way the secret sitting is being carried out in the British Parliament. The article emphasises the complete journey of secret sitting, i.e., from the time of its inception till date.
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND –
A secret sitting is a sitting where no strangers (other than House members and officials) are allowed in the chamber, lobby, or galleries of the House. The exception of the presence of House members or any other person is allowed only when it is duly authorised by the Speaker of the House.
The practise of holding secret sessions of parliament and legislature is a concept adopted by India from the UK. The British Parliament introduced the secret sitting of the House of Commons in the year 1916, specifically on the 15th and 16th of April. The secret sitting of the house was considered an innovation in the functioning of the British parliament. From a theoretical standpoint, the house sittings were always supposed to take place in private. Strangers were not allowed in the House’s body, galleries, or approaches unless special permission was granted by the sergeant at arm, the executive officer of the House. Over time, the customs of confidentiality have greatly aided in making the administrative arrangements required for a secret meeting.
Until 1875, a single member of the House of Commons could insist on the withdrawal of all strangers, including reporters. Currently, according to Standing Order No. 163, at any sitting of the Commons House, any Member may move “that the House sit in private,” and that question shall be put forthwith and may be considered after the moment of interruption.
Generally, secret sessions of the parliament or state assemblies are held during times of war. The Secret Sitting took place for the first time in India in 1942. The secret sitting took place in the then-Central Assembly. Mr. Aney moved the motion for a secret sitting session of the Assembly in 1942. Furthermore, on July 26, 2007, the Chhattisgarh Assembly held the nation’s first-ever secret sitting session (the first session in the parliamentary history of India) to debate the Naxal issue, which has grown to be the biggest internal security challenge in India. Since then, no secret sitting has taken place in India.
PROVISIONS RELATED TO SECRET SITTING IN INDIA –
The provisions relating to the secret sitting of Parliament are given in Rules 248–252 of Chapter XXV of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha. Let us discuss in more detail what these rules mention.
According to Rule 248(1), a secret sitting can be called by the speaker of the Lok Sabha upon the request of the leader of the house. On request, the Speaker can set aside a day or portion of a day for the House to meet in private. According to Rule 248(2), no strangers are allowed in the chamber, lobby, or galleries when the House meets or sits in secret, although Council members may be permitted to be present in their gallery. Furthermore, individuals who have been authorised by the Speaker may be permitted in the galleries, lobby, or chamber.
Rule 249 addresses the reporting of house proceedings by anyone. According to this rule, no other person present can keep a note or record of any proceedings or decisions of a secret sitting, whether in part or in full, or issue any report of, or purport to describe, such proceedings. However, the proceedings of a secret sitting can be issued in such a manner as the Speaker thinks fit. The 44th Amendment Act of 1978, which allowed the media to publish true reports of parliamentary proceedings except those related to a secret sitting of the house, can be cited here.
According to Rule 250, the instructions on the procedure to conduct a secret meeting are provided by the Speaker of the House. These instructions relating to procedure have to be mandatorily followed.
Rule 251 talks about lifting the ban on publication of the house proceedings. According to Rule 251 (1) the Leader of the House or any member so authorised may move a motion that the proceedings in the House during a secret sitting be no longer treated as secret when it is believed that the need to maintain secrecy with regard to the proceedings of a secret sitting has ceased to exist. This motion can be passed by the Leader of the House or any member so authorized, subject to the Speaker’s consent. According to Rule 251 (2), the Secretary-General is called upon by the Speaker of the House to produce a report of the proceedings of the secret sitting. The report has to be produced by the Secretary General as soon as it is feasible for him. He is also required to publish the report in such a form and manner as the Speaker may specify. This follows the adoption of the motion by the House under Rule 251 (1).
Finally, Rule 252 talks about Disclosure of proceedings or decisions by any individual. It states that disclosure of the proceedings or judgements of a secret sitting by any individual in any way will be considered a grave violation of the House’s privilege, subject to the requirements of Rule 251.
SECRET SITTING OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT- AN OVERVIEW
If the House chooses to convene in private, all galleries—including those for Hansard reporters—are empty. This prevents broadcasting and prevents a record of the debates. A brief suspension may be authorised by the Chair to allow for the implementation of these arrangements.
It is highly rare for the House to meet in private during a time of peace; the previous two times this happened were on November 18, 1958, and December 4, 2001.
The concept of secret sitting was frequently used at the time of the Second World War. Following the precedents set in the years 1916–18, motions were made for the relevant House to convene in secret session whenever it appeared that matters valuable to the enemy might be discussed in debate in either House. The process comprised two steps, with the House first agreeing to meet in private and then approving a particular motion to have a secret session. The importance of the second step was that disclosing information from a secret session might trigger the requirements of wartime security legislation. The secret session may be held for the duration of the sitting without any stated purpose, to debate a certain listed issue, or both. It was also common practise to dedicate a portion of a sitting solely to private topics before returning to the public sitting. The Speaker had the option of permitting the inclusion of a brief account of proceedings in Hansard. Basically, it was arranged that the prime minister should supply Mr. Speaker with a brief summary of the proceedings, to be approved by the speaker, and to be forwarded by him to the press bureau for publication.
IMPORTANCE AND ADVANTAGES OF SECRET SITTING –
1) The Secret Sittings’ procedures are conducted in a more formal and respectful manner.
2) The speeches are effective and occasionally even more pithy and interesting as a result of the speakers’ utilisation of a freedom of speech and comment that they would not have had if reporters had been there.
3) Members might not feel, and generally not speak better for feeling, that their statements are directed to a much broader and wider audience (in normal proceedings) than just the occupants, sometimes very few, of the benches around them in the case of secret sitting.
4) The public is interested in the descriptive drawings provided by the reporters’ observations or imagination, with the exception of the small percentage who read or skim the accounts of the discussions. But usually the journalists produce stories of discussions with a large number of additions, omissions, embellishments, and perversions that could appeal to their diverse readers’ tastes. This leads to manipulation of the actual goal of the debates and ends up providing manipulative quality content to the public. This problem does not arise in case of secret sittings.
5) The public discussion of issues is the fundamental foundation of parliamentary administration as it is today understood and practised in a free nation, but at the same time there are some issues that, if not dealt with in secrecy, can lead to not achieving the desired results. The secrecy maintained in the secret sittings is thereby relevant to deal with such issues.
CONCLUSION –
When the parliament or state assemblies need to discuss security-related issues that require an optimal level of secrecy, the practise of a secret sitting of the Parliament is critical. India, as a democratic country, understands that the government is accountable for its every action and must be completely transparent to the citizens; however, the government, as a representative of the citizens, has been entrusted with the major task of maintaining peace and security in the country. This security often requires secret decisions to be taken. According to the facts stated in the article, the Indian parliament has only called a secret session twice since independence. In my opinion, the quantum of this practise can be increased for the greater achievement of security-related decisions.
REFERENCE –
https://www.jstor.org/stable/2141795
https://loksabha.nic.in/rules/rules.pdf
https://optimizeias.com/secret-sitting-in-parliament/
https://erskinemay.parliament.uk/section/4636/proceedings-in-private-and-secret-sessions/
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