Previous Year Question

A major characteristic of the parliamentary system of government is that the Executive is accountable to the Legislature. In India, the real executive is the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister, and its continuation in office depends upon the confidence of Parliament, particularly the Lok Sabha.

Article 75(3) of the Constitution expressly provides that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People, i.e. the Lok Sabha. This means that the Council of Ministers is collectively accountable to the Lok Sabha for its policies and actions.

If the Council of Ministers loses the confidence of the Lok Sabha, particularly through the passage of a no-confidence motion, it cannot ormally continue in office. Parliament also holds the Executive accountable through questions, motions, debates and other parliamentary mechanisms. Official parliamentary material similarly identifies executive accountability to Parliament as a central feature of parliamentary government.

Important fact: As a general principle, it is correct to say that the Executive is accountable to the Legislature. At the Union level in India, the more precise constitutional position is that the Union Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, rather than collectively responsible to the Rajya Sabha.