Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament. The Rajya Sabha adopted the Motion of Thanks after negating all amendments moved by opposition members. 

What is a motion?

It is a formal proposal made to the House by a member that the House do something, order something to be done or express an opinion with regard to some matter, and is so phrased as to be capable of expressing a decision of the House.

Motions are, in fact, the basis of all Parliamentary proceedings. Any matter of importance/public interest can be the subject-matter of a motion.

It is phrased in such a way that, if adopted, it will purport to express the judgement or will of the House. 

The mover of a motion frames it in a form in which he/she wishes it ultimately to be passed by the House and on which a vote of the House can conveniently be taken.

All motions moved in the House are classified into three broad categories:

1) Substantive Motion — It is a self-contained independent proposal submitted for the approval of the House and drafted in such a way as to be capable of expressing a decision of the House. For example, all Resolutions are substantive motions. The conduct of persons in high authority can only be discussed on a substantive motion drawn in proper terms. Motions for the election of the Deputy Chairman in Rajya Sabha, Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address are examples of substantive motions.

2) Substitute Motion — Motions moved in substitution of the original motion for taking into consideration a policy or situation or statement or any other matter. Amendments to substitute motions are not permissible.

3) Subsidiary Motion — It is a motion which depends upon or relates to another motion or follows upon some proceedings in the House. By itself it has no meaning and is not capable of stating the decision of the House without reference to the original motion or proceedings of the House.

Subsidiary Motions are further divided into three:

a) Ancillary Motion: A motion which is recognised by the practice of the House as the regular way of proceeding with various kinds of business. The following are examples of ancillary motions:

i) That the Bill be taken into consideration.

ii) That the Bill be passed.

b) Superseding Motion: A motion which, though independent in form, is moved in the course of debate on another question and seeks to supersede that question. In that class fall all the dilatory motions. The following motions are superseding motions in relation to the motion for taking into consideration a Bill:

i) That the Bill be recommitted to a Select Committee.

ii) That the Bill be recommitted to a Joint Committee of the Houses.

iii) That the Bill be re-circulated for eliciting further opinion thereon.

iv) That the consideration of the Bill or the debate on the Bill be adjourned sine die or to some future date.

c) Amendment: A subsidiary motion which interposes a new process of question and decision between the main question and its decision. Amendments may be to the clause of a Bill, to a Resolution or to a Motion. The objective of an amendment is either to modify a question before the House with a view to increasing its acceptability, or to present to the House a different proposition as an alternative to the original question.

Motions such as No Confidence Motion, Adjournment Motion and Censure Motion are admissible only in Lok Sabha.

A brief look at important motions

What is the Motion of Thanks?

A formal motion moved in the House expressing its gratitude for the Address delivered by the President under Article 87(1) of the Constitution to both Houses of Parliament assembled together. It provides an opportunity for the discussion of the matters referred to in the Address. Members can move amendments to the Motion of Thanks. The discussion on the Motion of Thanks is concluded by the reply of the Prime Minister or any other Minister.

What is Adjournment Motion?

Adjournment Motion is the procedure for adjournment of the business of the House for the purpose of discussing a definite matter of urgent public importance, which can be moved with the consent of the Speaker.  The Adjournment Motion, if admitted, leads to setting aside of the normal business of the House for discussing the matter mentioned in the motion.  To be in order, an adjournment motion must raise a matter of sufficient public importance to warrant interruption of normal business of the House and the question of public importance is decided on merit in each individual case.  The purpose of an Adjournment Motion is to take the government to task for a recent act of omission or commission having serious consequences. Its adoption is regarded as a sort of censure of the government.

What is a No-Day-Yet-Named Motion?

If the Speaker admits notice of a motion and no date is fixed for its discussion, it is called a ‘No-Day-yet-Named Motion’ and a copy of the admitted motion is forwarded to the minister concerned with the subject matter of the motion. Admitted notices of such motions may be placed before the Business Advisory Committee for selecting the motions for discussion in the House according to the urgency and importance of the subject-matter thereof, and allotting time for the same.

What is Calling Attention Motion?

A member may, with the prior permission of the Speaker, call the attention of a minister to any matter of urgent public importance and the minister may make a brief statement or ask for time to make a statement at a later hour or date.

What is Dilatory Motion?

A motion for the adjournment of the debate or a motion to retard or delay the progress of the business under consideration of the House. The debate on a dilatory motion must be restricted to the matter of such motion. If the Chairman is of opinion that such a motion is an abuse of the Rules of the House, he may either forthwith put the question thereon from the Chair or decline to propose the question.

What is a Privilege Motion?

A privilege motion is a notice by any member of either the state legislature or Parliament against anyone who is accused of breach of privilege. Parliamentary privileges are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by MPs, MLAs and MLCs, individually and collectively, so that they can effectively discharge their duties. When any of these rights and immunities is disregarded, the offence is called a breach of privilege and is punishable under law of Parliament or the state legislature. Each House also claims the right to punish as contempt actions which, while not breach of any specific privilege, are offences against its authority and dignity.

What is No-Confidence Motion?

The Union Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. For governance, it must at all times enjoy the confidence of the House. Whenever required, it must be able to demonstrate the majority support, either by winning a Confidence Vote or by defeating a No-Confidence Motion.

What is Closure Motion?

In order to bring a debate to a close, a member may rise and move “That the question be now put”. The acceptance of a closure motion lies within the discretion of the Speaker. Before he accepts it, he considers whether the question before the House has received adequate debate or not, whether or not the views of the Opposition have been adequately expressed before the House. The Speaker also intervenes by restricting the closure to occasions when a motion is made not in abuse of the rules of the House or infringement of the rights of the minority. 

Such a motion is generally made at the conclusion of a speech and also at times whilst a member is addressing the House and the Speaker may accept it immediately or within a few minutes after a proposal to this effect is made to the House. The convention is to leave to the Speaker much discretion as to the time and circumstances in which closures should with propriety be granted.

The discretion that the Speaker exercises in the matter of accepting a proposal for closure or in refusing it is entirely absolute and is not open to debate. No debate is allowed on a closure motion. When a closure has been moved and carried, it is not considered to be in order to reflect upon the moving of the closure. Neither time nor motive of closure can be discussed. The effect of a closure is that the original question is put forthwith and decided without further amendment or debate save as otherwise provided in the rules.

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