The missing Deputy Speakers

The missing Deputy Speakers

Subject: Polity

Section:

Context: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and five states — Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand — over the failure to elect a Deputy Speaker.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud sought responses on a PIL that contends that not electing a Deputy Speaker to the 17th (present) Lok Sabha, which was constituted on June 19, 2019, is “against the letter and spirit of the Constitution”.

The post has been lying vacant in the five state Assemblies as well, which were constituted between four years and almost one year ago, the plea states. (Shariq Ahmed v. Union of India And Ors)

Deputy Speaker:

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 93 says “The House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members…to be…Speaker and Deputy Speaker…and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member…”
• Article 178 contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.

Is it mandatory to have a Deputy Speaker?

• Constitutional experts point out that both Articles 93 and 178 use the word “shall”, indicating that the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker is mandatory under the Constitution.

How soon must the Deputy Speaker be elected?

• “As soon as may be”, say Articles 93 and 178. But they do not lay down a specific time frame.
• In general, the practice in both Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies has been to elect the Speaker during the (mostly short) first session of the new House — usually on the third day after the oath-taking and affirmations over the first two days.
• The election of the Deputy Speaker usually takes place in the second session — and is generally not delayed further in the absence of genuine and unavoidable constraints.
• Rule 8 of The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha says the election of Deputy Speaker “shall be held on such date as the Speaker may fix”. The Deputy Speaker is elected once a motion proposing his name is carried in the House.
• Once elected, the Deputy Speaker usually continues in office for the entire duration of the House. Under Article 94 (Article 179 for state legislatures), the Speaker or Deputy Speaker “shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the House…”. They may also resign to each other, or “may be removed from…office by a resolution of the House of the People passed by a majority of all the then members of the House”.

Do the powers of the Speaker extend to the Deputy Speaker as well?

• Article 95(1) says: “While the office of Speaker is vacant, the duties of the office shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker”.
• In general, the Deputy Speaker has the same powers as the Speaker when presiding over a sitting of the House. All references to the Speaker in the Rules are deemed to be references to the Deputy Speaker when he presides.
• It has been repeatedly held that no appeal lies to the Speaker against a ruling given by the Deputy Speaker or any person presiding over the House in the absence of the Speaker.

Other features

• Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker is also elected by the Lok Sabha itself from amongst its members.
• He is elected after the election of the Speaker has taken place. The date of election of the Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker.
• Whenever the office of the Deputy Speaker falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy.
• Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office usually during the life of the Lok Sabha.
• However, he may vacate his office earlier in any of the following three cases:
  • if he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha;
  • if he resigns by writing to the Speaker; and
  • if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the Lok Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice.
• The Deputy Speaker performs the duties of the Speaker’s office when it is vacant. He also acts as the Speaker when the latter is absent from the sitting of the House.
• In both the cases, he assumes all the powers of the Speaker.
• He also presides over the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, in case the Speaker is absent from such a sitting.
• It should be noted here that the Deputy Speaker is not subordinate to the Speaker. He is directly responsible to the House.
• The Deputy Speaker has one special privilege, that is, whenever he is appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, he automatically becomes its chairman.
• Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, while presiding over the House, cannot vote in the first instance; he can only exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.
• Further, when a resolution for the removal of the Deputy Speaker is under consideration of the House, he cannot preside at the sitting of the House, though he may be present.
• When the Speaker presides over the House, the Deputy Speaker is like any other ordinary member of the House. He can speak in the House, participate in its proceedings and vote on any question before the House.
• The Deputy Speaker is entitled to a regular salary and allowance fixed by Parliament, and charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
• Upto the 10th Lok Sabha, both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were usually from the ruling party. Since the 11th Lok Sabha, there has been a consensus that the Speaker comes from the ruling party (or ruling alliance) and the post of Deputy Speaker goes to the main opposition party.
• The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, while assuming their offices, do not make and subscribe any separate oath or affirmation.