Abstract
Beyond the formal steps prescribed by the Constitution and Parliamentary manuals, little is known about the law-making process in India. Without a baseline consensus on what legislating in India involves, future analyses and proposed reforms of Indian legislative processes may be rendered speculative. Opaqueness surrounding the legislative process also hinders the ability of citizens to meaningfully influence the laws that govern them. This article aims to provide an account of how legislation is conceived, drafted, and enacted in India using the case studies of the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 and the Kerala Clinical Establishments Act, 2018. Beginning with these two laws, this article extrapolates outwards to provide a broad schematic of how legislation goes from idea to enactment. This article takes a holistic view the legislative process, analysing the stages of policy prioritisation, legislative drafting, and house proceedings. It uncovers the often overlooked role played by civil servants in coordinating legislative activities, discusses how the drafting process crystalises negotiating positions, and highlights the significant time constraints Indian legislators operate under. While much remains unanswered, this article is a first step towards providing a holistic account of how law is made in India. It is hoped that future accounts and analyses build on its foundation to further explore legislative processes in the world’s largest democracy.
Recommended Citation
Devadasan, Vasudev; Nandraj, Sunil; Chawdhry, Vineet; and Ram Mohan, Kamala
(2024)
"From Idea to Act: The Indian Legislative Process,"
National Law School of India Review: Vol. 35:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
DOI: 10.55496/XFIZ7448
Available at:
https://repository.nls.ac.in/nlsir/vol35/iss1/10
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.55496/XFIZ7448
