Arjun Ram Meghwal The Constitutional Record
Section 09Folio 09 / 17

Legislative
Work

Legislation is a process with stages, and each stage leaves a record. This section explains the process, sets out the part of it that belongs to the Ministry of Law and Justice, and lists the interventions that the official record attributes to the Minister by name and date.

ProcessHow a Bill becomes an Act

Eight stages

A general description of parliamentary procedure. Individual Bills vary; a Money Bill, a Constitution Amendment Bill and an ordinary Bill each follow a different path in important respects.

  1. Drafting

    The text is prepared by the Legislative Department of the Ministry of Law and Justice, on instructions from the administrative Ministry concerned.

  2. Cabinet approval

    The Bill is approved by the Union Cabinet before it can be introduced.

  3. Introduction — First Reading

    A Minister moves for leave to introduce the Bill. If leave is opposed, the House may divide on the question.

  4. Committee stage

    The House may refer the Bill to a Standing Committee, a Select Committee or a Joint Committee of both Houses for detailed examination and report.

  5. Consideration — Second Reading

    The principle of the Bill is debated, then its clauses are considered and amendments voted upon.

  6. Passing — Third Reading

    The House votes on the motion that the Bill be passed. A Constitution Amendment Bill requires a special majority.

  7. The other House

    The Bill is transmitted to the other House, where the stages are repeated.

  8. Assent

    Once passed by both Houses, the Bill is presented to the President. On assent it becomes an Act, and is published in the Gazette.

ScopeThe drafting function

Where the text comes from

The Legislative Department is the Government’s drafting office. An administrative Ministry decides what it wants the law to do; the Legislative Department decides how the law must be written to do it, and drafts the clauses, schedules and amendments accordingly.

The same department handles subordinate legislation — the rules, regulations and orders made under an Act — and the official Hindi versions of Union legislation. It also administers election law.

This is an institutional function of a department, performed by a professional drafting service. It is not the personal work of a Minister, and is not presented here as such.

Where the record does attribute a legislative act to Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal by name, it is set out below.

Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal in an official consultation seated beside the national flag
Plate 01An official consultation.
DossierDocumented legislative interventions

Attributed by name in the record

Only measures the record attributes to him personally are listed. The status field records the position as last established, not a prediction of the outcome.

Bill 01

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024

Pending before a Joint Committee

Introduced

17 December 2024, in the Lok Sabha, by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal as Minister of Law and Justice.

Subject

Commonly described as “One Nation, One Election”. The Bill proposes a constitutional framework for holding elections to the Lok Sabha and to all State Legislative Assemblies simultaneously.

Companion Bill

The Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced the same day, would extend the framework to the legislative assemblies of Union Territories.

Division on introduction

Leave to introduce was opposed and the House divided. The motion carried by 269 votes to 198.

Referred

Referred on 19 December 2024 to a Joint Committee of both Houses, chaired by Shri P. P. Chaudhary.

Status as last recorded

The Bill remains before the Joint Committee. The Lok Sabha has extended the Committee’s tenure to the Winter Session of 2026. It has not been passed.

Measure 02

DISHA 2.0 — Central Sector Scheme, 2026–2031

Approved

Act of approval

Approved by Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal as Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice, recorded on 22 June 2026.

Instrument

A Central Sector Scheme, not primary legislation. It gives administrative effect to the obligation in Article 39A of the Constitution.

Period and outlay

1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031, co-terminous with the Sixteenth Finance Commission cycle. Outlay ₹255 crore.

Source

Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Law and Justice, 22 June 2026 (Release ID 2276525).

A note on what is not listed

Many Acts have been passed by Parliament during the periods in which he has held office. An Act passed by Parliament is the work of Parliament; a Bill drafted in the Legislative Department is the work of that department; a reform announced by the Government is the work of the Government. None of these is listed here as a personal legislative achievement, because the record does not support that attribution. Only acts attributed to him by name — introducing a Bill, approving a scheme, giving a reply — appear in this dossier.

RegisterReplies given to Parliament

Answering for the Ministry

A selection of replies recorded as having been given by him. The full filterable register is in Section 12.

Selected replies given to Parliament by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice
DateSubjectHouseSource
8 Aug 2025Cultivation of duty-centred valuesImplementation of the Fundamental Duties under Article 51A of the ConstitutionLok SabhaPIB 2154079
25 Jul 2025Efficiency and effectiveness of the judicial systemJudicial infrastructure, eCourts phases, appointments and sanctioned strengthParliamentPIB 2148360
6 Dec 2024Free legal aid and access to justiceDISHA, Tele-Law, Nyaya Bandhu, eCourts and NALSALok SabhaPIB 2081476

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Open the full parliamentary record

Sources

  1. 1PRS Legislative Research — Bill track, The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024. prsindia.org
  2. 2Lok Sabha proceedings of 17 and 19 December 2024, as reported in the contemporaneous record of the House.
  3. 3Akashvani News / News on AIR — report of the extension of the tenure of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the One Nation, One Election Bills to the Winter Session 2026.
  4. 4Press Information Bureau releases 2276525, 2154079, 2148360 and 2081476.