The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business is a foundational concept and a set of rules that govern the functioning of the Indian Parliament, specifically the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. This rulebook is not an Act of Parliament but a procedural institution derived from the Constitution. Article 118(1) of the Constitution empowers each House of Parliament to make rules for regulating its procedure and the conduct of its business. The rules for the Lok Sabha were initially modified and adopted by the Speaker in April 1952, based on the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) Rules of Procedure. The Rajya Sabha adopted its rules on June 2, 1964, which came into force on July 1, 1964.
The rules solve the problem of maintaining order, ensuring fairness, and structuring the legislative process in a large, diverse deliberative body. They detail the mechanism for nearly all parliamentary activities, including the time allotted for sittings, the order of business, and the conduct of members. Key provisions include the scheduling of the Question Hour and Zero Hour, the procedure for introducing and passing Bills, and the functioning of Parliamentary Committees. For instance, Rule 373 of the Lok Sabha Rules grants the Speaker the power to direct a grossly disorderly member to withdraw from the House for the remainder of the day's sitting.
The rules connect directly to the constitutional framework, particularly the powers of the Presiding Officers, such as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, who is empowered to enforce their decisions under Rule 378. They also connect to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, as the Members of Lok Sabha (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1985, are incorporated as an Appendix. Recent changes include amendments to the Rajya Sabha rules in November 2014, which changed the Question Hour timing from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and reduced the limit of questions for oral answers to 15 from the existing 20. The creation of a full-fledged system of Departmentally Related Standing Committees during the Tenth Lok Sabha also necessitated amendments to the rules.