Context:

Figure 3: No Copyright Infringement Intended

Context:

• A question by Rajya Sabha MP Venugopal, listed for a reply, has been removed.

About Question Hour

The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is slotted for this. During this time, the members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers. The questions are of three kinds, namely, starred, unstarred and short notice.

• A starred question (distinguished by an asterisk) requires an oral answer and hence supplementary questions can follow.
• An unstarred question, on the other hand, requires a written answer and hence, supplementary questions cannot follow.
• A short notice question is one that is asked by giving a notice of fewer than ten days. It is answered orally.
• The list of starred, unstarred, short notice questions and questions to private members are printed in green, white, light pink and yellow colour, respectively, to distinguish them from one another.

In addition to the ministers, the questions can also be asked to the private members. Thus, a question may be addressed to a private member if the subject matter of the question relates to some Bill, resolution or other matter connected with the business of the House for which that member is responsible.

Restriction imposed:

Restriction in Rajya Sabha:

• question “shall be pointed, specific and confined to one issue only;
• it shall not bring in any name or statement not strictly necessary to make the question intelligible;
• if it contains a statement the member shall make himself responsible for the accuracy of the statement;
• it shall not contain arguments, inferences, ironical expressions, imputations, epithets or defamatory statements

Restrictions in Lok Sabha:

• repetitive or have been answered previously;
• matters that are pending for judgment before any court of law or under consideration before a Parliamentary Committee.

Who decides on the admissibility: Chairman (RS) and Speaker (LS)