When a bill is referred to in a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, is it to be passed by

The correct answer is A) a simple majority of members present and voting. Under Article 108, when a joint sitting is called (usually after a bill has been passed by one House and rejected or left unpassed by the other, or after a six-month deadlock), the bill is decided by a majority of members present and voting at that sitting. Article 100(1) governs voting in joint sittings, and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides. Only two joint sittings have been held so far: in 1961 for the Dowry Prohibition Bill and in 2002 for the Prevention of Terrorism Bill (POTA).

Why the others are wrong:

• B) Three-fourths of members present and voting is not a parliamentary voting threshold for ordinary legislation or joint sittings.
• C) A two-thirds majority of the House is required for specific cases, such as the constitutional amendments under Article 368 (two-thirds of members present and voting, plus a majority of total membership in each House). It does not apply to joint sittings.
• D) An absolute majority of the total membership applies to cases like removing the Speaker under Article 94, not to joint sittings.

The core concept is the difference between simple, absolute and special majorities. For Mains, this links to executive-legislature relations and how the government resolves deadlock between the two Houses, especially where the Lok Sabha's numerical strength usually decides the outcome.

Trap: Aspirants often pick the constitutional-amendment or removal-motion thresholds because those are better remembered. Joint sittings use only simple majority.