New Delhi, July 23 : Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday stressed that a legislation must be preceded by "scrutiny and adequate discussion".
Mukherjee, who is set to demit office on July 25, in his farewell speech to lawmakers, termed it "unfortunate" that parliament's time devoted to legislation has been declining.
"With heightened complexity of administration, legislation must be preceded by scrutiny and adequate discussion. Scrutiny in committees is no substitute to open discussion on the floor of the House," Mukherjee said while addressing parliamentarians in the Central Hall of Parliament.
He said that when Parliament fails to discharge its law making role, or enacts laws without discussion, it "breaches the trust reposed in it by the people".