ABSTRACT
Over time, exclusive parliamentary control has given way to shared sovereignty amongst Parliament and Judiciary, but Parliament remains the repository of the will of the people. Parliament performs the crucial function of exercising control over the Executive. The task of parliamentary control of government and administration in India is complex; parliamentary control is more immediate and direct in case of ministries and departments than the public sector undertakings and in regulating the corporate business sector. While the executive is directly accountable to the Parliament, the autonomous regulatory agencies’ accountability is indirect – through the executive. The autonomy of the Parliament has increased since the onset of the multi-party system but it has coincided with some other developments that have contributed to the decline of the Parliament as an institution. In order to effectively function as supreme representative institution, Parliament needs to embrace the spirit of participatory democracy which necessities involving civil society in policy making.
