when does a bill become a law in india
Lawmaking procedure in India When a bill has been passed, it is sent to the President for his approval per Article 111. The President can assent or withhold his assent to a bill or he can return a bill, other than a money bill which is recommended by president himself to the houses. However Article 255 says that prior recommendation of president or governor of a state wherever stipulated is not compulsory for an Act of parliament or of the legislature of a State but the final consent of president or governor of a state is mandatory. President may be of view that a particular bill passed under the legislative powers of parliament is violating the constitution, he can send back the bill with his recommendation to pass the bill under the constituent powers of parliament following the Article 368 procedure. President shall not withhold constitutional amendment bill duly passed by parliament per Article 368. If the President gives his assent, the bill is published in The Gazette of India[12] and becomes an Act from the date of his assent. If he withholds his assent, the bill is dropped, which is known as absolute veto. The President can exercise absolute veto on aid and advice of council of ministers per Article 111 and Article 74.[13] The president may also effectively withhold his assent as per his own discretion, which is known as pocket veto. The pocket veto has only been exercised once by President Zail Singh in 1986, over the postal act where the government wanted to open postal letters without warrant by amending the Indian Post Office Act, 1898. If the president returns it for reconsideration, the Parliament must do so, but if it is passed again and returned to him, he must give his assent to it. If parliament is not happy with the president for not assenting a bill passed by it under its legislative powers, the bill can be modified as a constitutional amendment bill and passed under its constituent powers for compelling the president to give assent. In case a constitutional amendment act is violating the basic structure of the constitution, constitutional bench of Supreme Court would quash the act. When parliament is of the view that the actions of the president are violating the constitution, impeachment proceedings against president could be taken up to remove him under Article 61 where at least two - thirds of total membership of each house of parliament should vote in favour of the impeachment when charges against the president are found valid in an investigation.