Q1) What is the utility of committees in the conduct of parliamentary business? Discuss, in this context, the role of the Ethics Committee.

(150 Words/10 Marks)

ANS:

Parliamentary committees are deliberative bodies. They have members drawn from Parliament to help Parliament discharge its duties. The members are elected by the House or appointed by the Speaker. Parliamentary Committees work as the brain of the parliament.

Utility of Parliamentary Committees:

1. Financial Accountability: examining the budget and allocation trends, policy priorities, and spending at the ministerial level.
2. Executive Accountability: examining policy issues and making suggestions to the government. The government has to report back on the action taken.
3. Technical Expertise: Committees consult scientists, scholars, and domain experts who offer their technical expertise.
4. Institutionalization of Parliament: They meet throughout the year, even when Parliament is not in session, leading to detailed scrutiny of the government schemes and policies.
5. Bi-partisan Analysis: Since they have closed-door meetings, it allows them to freely question the executive, rising above party lines.

Role of Ethics Committee:

1. Supervisory role: (a) Oversees the moral and ethical conduct of the members (b) Help MPs understand and abide by the Code of Conduct.
2. Recommendatory role: (a) Examines complaints related to unethical conduct of members and makes appropriate recommendations. (b) Prepares a Code of Conduct for members, which is amended from time to time
3. Take Suo moto cognizance of matters relating to ethics and unethical conduct by members.
4. Help the members of parliament abide by the principle of transparency, clarity, and consistency.
5. By enforcing ethical standards and addressing misconduct, the Ethics Committee helps build public trust in Parliament and its members.

However, there are certain limitations:

1. Undefined: The term ‘unethical conduct’ has not been defined anywhere. This leads to the discretion of the committee to decide whether an act is ethical or unethical.
2. Ethics evolve: Ethical standards evolve over time and cannot be seen through a rigid lens because it limits the ability of the MPs to adapt to changing norms and expectations
3. Arbitrary nature of committees: There is an overlap between the ethics committee and privileges committee and cases are arbitrarily assigned. For example, Bansal committee was appointed to investigate the 2005 ‘cash for query’ case. However, Mahua Moitra case was referred to the Ethics Committee. This might lead to partisanship in investigation.