What happened

Congress leader(s) criticised the timing of a delayed prorogation of Parliament and called the delay “abnormal.” The criticism links prorogation timing to constitutional procedure and to Parliament practice about when prorogation can happen in relation to House proceedings.

Background and earlier position

Under Article 85(2), the President terminates a session of Parliament by order. The constitutional rule of action is that the President acts on the Prime Minister’s advice. The Congress-linked discussion also raised a practice point that the Prime Minister may consult the Cabinet before submitting advice to the President (consultation before advice is a practice-based claim, not a standalone constitutional text quoted here).

Parliament practice on timing is described in two ways in the reported discussion: Prorogation may be done at any time, including while the House is sitting, even though the usual practice is to prorogue after adjournment sine die (adjournment sine die means the House is adjourned without fixing a future sitting date).Adjournment and prorogation can occur on the same day in some instances.

What changed now