What is Adjournment Motion?

Posted on : 31 December, 2021 15:39

Adjournment motion is the extraordinary device or tool in parliament through which any member of the Lok sabha can raise a matter of urgent public importance. Recently congress party leader gave an adjournment notice on giving unhindered access to pasture lands in Ladakh naming as -Statehood and Inclusion of Ladakh in schedule VI of the constitution of India in the house. The matter raised under this motion interrupts the normal business of the house.

To understand the Adjournment motion procedure in brief, let us discuss what motions and resolutions are in the parliamentary business.

What is a motion in parliamentary proceedings?

Motions and Resolutions are the procedural devices to raise a discussion in the house on a matter of general public importance. Every matter is determined in the house by means of a question put from the chair on a motion made by a member and resolved either in the affirmative or negative. It can be moved by the private members as well as by ministers. The motion moved by a member falls into three categories:

Substantive Motions—A substantive motion 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, e.g. all resolutions are substantive motions.
Substitute Motions—Motions moved in substitution of the original motion for taking into consideration a policy or situation or statement or any other matter are called substitute motions. If it is adopted by the house it supersedes the original motion.

Subsidiary Motions - The motion which cannot state the decision of the house without reference to the original motion is categorised under subsidiary motion.

There are various types of motions, which are being used in Indian parliamentary proceedings:

Privilege Motion
Censure Motion
Call-Attention Motion
Adjournment Motion
No-Day-Yet-Named Motion
Cut Motions
No-Confidence Motion
Confidence Motion

Adjournment Motion

Adjournment Motion Meaning - It is a type of motion, which is introduced in the parliament to draw the attention of the house to a definite matter of public importance. It needs the support of 50 members to be admitted into the house.

Key points -

It is regarded as an extraordinary device as it interrupts the normal business of the house.
It involves the element of censure against the government, due to this Rajya sabha is not permitted to make use of this motion.
The discussion time for the adjournment motion is being limited to not less than two hours and thirty minutes.
At the time of discussion on an adjournment motion, the power to adjourn the house vest within the house, not with the speaker only.
The adjournment motion notice is required to be given on the prescribed form and should be addressed to the secretary-general endorsed by the speaker.
A member can give only one notice for anyone sitting.
A ballot is held to determine the relative priority of all notices received on the same subject for the sitting for which they are valid.

Admissibility criterion for the notices

The right to move a motion for an adjournment is subject to some restrictions. Therefore the speaker of the house is guided by the following principle while giving consent to adjournment motion:

The matter should be definite, factual, urgent and of public importance. A matter is deemed to be urgent only if it arose suddenly or in case of a national emergency. The matter should be a question of general public concern rather than merely on individual or local grievances.
It should be restricted to a specific matter of recent occurrence rather than in general terms.
A question of privilege can not be raised under this motion.
It should not revive the discussion on a matter that has been discussed in the same session.
It should not raise any question which has previously been appointed for consideration.
It also does not deal with any matter which is under adjudication by the court.

How are motions differentiated with resolutions?

The members can move resolutions to draw the attention of the house or the government to the matter of general public interest. A member who has moved a resolution or amendment to a resolution cannot withdraw the same except by the leave of the house.

It is to be said that every resolution is a particular type of motion.
A motion is a proposal from a member of the meeting whereas a resolution reflects the general opinion of the board.
Generally speaking, not all motions can be resolutions but all resolutions come from motions
Generally speaking, a motion can be put forward verbally whereas a resolution is written down and recorded.
All the motions are not necessarily put to vote of the house whereas all the resolutions are required to be voted upon.