Report No. 24
21. Section 3(1)-Whether resolution should be by both Houses of the Legislature.-
We have discussed1 elsewhere the question whether the power of the Government to appoint a Commission should be restricted to cases where a resolution in that behalf is passed by the appropriate legislative authority, and have come to the conclusion that it is neither necessary nor desirable to fetter the discretion of the Government in any way.
On the other hand, while the existing Act, in our opinion, correctly provides that Government should appoint a Commission if a resolution in that behalf is passed by the appropriate legislative authority, we see no justification for excluding the Council of States or the Legislative Council in States which have two chambers from the purview of the section. The only reason given for confining the power to pass resolutions to the House of the People and to the Legislative Assemblies is the fact that under the Constitution the Ministers are responsible to these Houses.
It was, however, conceded that if the Council of States or the Legislative Council were to pass a similar resolution, Government would be bound to give the greatest possible consideration to it and it was extremely unlikely that the resolution would not be given effect to. On the whole, we think there is no justification for making a distinction between the two Houses of the Legislature wherever two Houses exist. We therefore recommend that wherever the Legislature resolves that a Commission of Inquiry should be appointed, the resolution should be by both Houses of the Legislature.
1. See para. 11, supra.
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