Missing in Parliament

Why in News?

• The Supreme Court recently issued notices to the Centre and five states namely Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand over the failure to elect a Deputy Speaker.
• A Bench led by CJI also sought responses on a PIL contending that not electing a Deputy Speaker to the 17th (present) Lok Sabha, is “against the letter and spirit of the Constitution”.

 

Mandated Term of Lok Sabha

• Under Article 83(2) of the Indian Constitution, the term of the Lok Sabha begins from the day of its first meeting and ends on the day it completes five years from that date unless it is dissolved earlier.
• The present Lok Sabha first met after the election on June 17, 2019. So, the term of the present Lok Sabha will end on June 16, 2024.
• It has completed three years and seven months of its term and in June 2024, the 18th Lok Sabha is expected to be elected.

 

Election of Presiding Officers of Lok Sabha

• There are two presiding officers for the Lok Sabha, namely the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, who are elected by the members of the House.
• Under Article 93 of the Constitution, the House shall elect the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker one after the other, as soon as it meets.
  • Article 178 contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.
• The government proposes the name of the Speaker and choose a member from the Opposition as a consensus candidate for the post of Deputy Speaker.
  • But if a government does not favour an Opposition member for political reasons, it is free to choose a member from its own party.
• The practice followed so far has been to elect the Speaker after the oath-taking. Thereafter, within a few days, the Deputy Speaker is also elected except in genuine and unavoidable constraints.
  • Once elected, the Deputy Speaker usually continues in office for the entire duration of the House.
  • S/he vacates office earlier only if s/he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha or resigns by writing to the Speaker.
  • S/he can also be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the Lok Sabha after giving 14 days’ advance notice.
• However, in the present Lok Sabha, the House has not elected a Deputy Speaker even after more than three years of its term are over.

 

Office of Deputy Speaker in Parliament

• The history of the office goes back to the Government of India Act of 1919 when he was referred as Deputy President and the Speaker was known as the President of the Central Legislative Assembly.
• The main functions of a Deputy Speaker were to preside over the sittings of the assembly in the absence of the Speaker and chair the select committees, etc.
  • But this position was considered necessary to share the responsibility of running the House with the Speaker and guide the nascent committees.
• This tradition was continued after independence, when a Deputy Speaker was elected to chair, besides the Speaker, the meetings of the Constituent Assembly (Legislative).
• The first Speaker was G V Mavalankar and the first Deputy Speaker was M Ananthasayanam Ayyangar who was elected by the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) on September 3, 1948. 
  • Later under the new Constitution, he was elected as the first Deputy Speaker of the House of the people on May 28, 1952.
• Thereafter, every Lok Sabha had a Deputy Speaker who would be elected after a few days of the election of the Speaker.

 

What are the powers of the Deputy Speaker?

• Under Article 95(1) of the Constitution, the Deputy Speaker gets all the powers of the Speaker when the office of the Speaker is vacant.
  • Thus, the Deputy Speaker can also determine the petitions relating to disqualification under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.
  • The 10th Schedule specifies the circumstances under which changing of political parties by legislators invites action under the law.
• Also, no appeal lies to the Speaker against a ruling given by the Deputy Speaker. So, the Speaker is powerless in the matter of revising or overruling a decision of the Deputy Speaker.
  • Hence, although the Deputy Speaker gets to exercise these powers only in the absence of the Speaker his decisions are final and binding when he gives a ruling.

 

Can Government Intervene in the Election of Deputy Speaker?

• Constitutionally, the government has not been assigned any role in the election of the Deputy Speaker.
• As per Rule 8 of the Rules and Procedure of Lok Sabha, it is the Speaker who has to fix the date of the election of the Deputy Speaker.
  • Once the date is fixed, any member can propose the name of any other member through a motion for the consideration of the House.
  • The House can then proceed to elect its Deputy Speaker.
• But in reality, it is the government which initiates the political process of the consultation with other parties and works out a consensus.
• If this does not work, the government can propose the name of its own member for the position of Deputy Speaker.
• There is other way, which is unconventional and has never been tried.
  • Since the Speaker sets the process to elect Deputy Speaker in motion by fixing the date, any member of the House can move a resolution requesting the Speaker to fix the date.
  • The treasury benches cannot oppose such a resolution as it is aimed at implementing the constitutional mandate.
• The Speaker also has no constitutional requirement to wait for the advice of the Union cabinet in fixing the date of election of the Deputy Speaker.
  • This is unlike his own date of election that is decided by the President who abides by the advice of the Union cabinet which chooses the date.

 

Why there is no Deputy Speaker yet in the 17th Lok Sabha?

• There is an impression that the Deputy Speaker is not an indispensable office and the House can be run even without one.
• The Treasury benches have also maintained that there is no “immediate requirement” for a Deputy Speaker as “bills are being passed and discussions are being held” as normal in the House.
  • A Minister also argued that the panel of senior, experienced members, selected from different parties can act as chairpersons to assist the Speaker to run the House.
• In the eventuality of the Speaker remaining absent for a longer time due to illness or otherwise the government may fear the unpredictability of an adverse ruling by the Deputy Speaker who comes from the Opposition ranks.
  • Thus, by not electing Deputy Speaker the government may have exercised caution.

 

Can the Courts Intervene in Case of a Delay in Electing the Deputy Speaker?

• In Pawan Reley v. Speaker, Lok Sabha & Ors 2021, the petition in Delhi HC argued that delay in the election of the Deputy Speaker violated Article 93.
  • However, there is no precedent of a court forcing the legislature to elect the Deputy Speaker.
• Courts usually don’t intervene in the procedural conduct of Parliament as the Article 122(1) says that the validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.
• However, as per experts, the courts do have jurisdiction to at least inquire into why there has been no election to the post of Deputy Speaker since the Constitution does envisage an election “as soon as may be”.

 

Conclusion

• The Deputy Speaker being an officer of Parliament is significant in the parliamentary system as s/he maintains continuity of the House and represents it in absence of Speaker.
• Hence, the post must not be left vacant as it is not ceremonious but a constitutionally mandated one.

 

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Q1) Which constitutional amendment introduced the 10th schedule?

The 10th schedule famously known as 'Anti-Defection Law' was added by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985.

 

Q2) Which pre-independence legislation introduced bi-cameral legislature in India?

Government of India Act 1919 made the Indian legislature more representative and bi-cameral for the first time. It was to have an Upper House (Council of States) and a Lower House (Legislative Assembly).

 

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Source: The Indian Express