Deputy Speaker Election

• 29 Oct 2021

Why in News

Recently, an MLA from UP was elected Deputy Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.

• Article 93 of the Constitution provides for the election of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• Article 178 contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.

Key Points

• Deputy Speaker:
  
  • Elected By:
    
    • The Deputy Speaker is elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members right after the election of the Speaker has taken place.
    • The date of election of the Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker (date of election of the Speaker is fixed by the President).
    • The institutions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker originated in India in 1921 under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms).
      
      • At that time, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were called the President and Deputy President respectively and the same nomenclature continued till 1947.
  • Time Frame & Rules of Election:
    
    • The practice in both Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies has been to elect the Speaker during the (mostly short) first session of the new House usually on the third day after oath-taking and affirmations take place over the first two days.
    • The election of the Deputy Speaker usually takes place in the second session, even though there is no bar on having this election too in the first session of the new Lok Sabha/Assembly.
    • But the election of Deputy Speaker is generally not delayed beyond the second session without genuine and unavoidable constraints.
    • In Lok Sabha, the election of Deputy Speaker is governed by Rule 8 of The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
      
      • Once elected, the Deputy Speaker usually continues in office until the dissolution of the House.
  • Term of Office and Removal:
    
    • Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office usually during the life of the Lok Sabha (5 years).
    • The Deputy Speaker may vacate his/her 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.
      • If he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the Lok Sabha.
        
        • Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice.
    • In the case of the State Assembly, the removal process is the same as that of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
  • Responsibilities and Powers (Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha):
    
    • Under Article 95 of the constitution, the Deputy Speaker performs the duties of the Speaker’s office when it is vacant.
      
      • He/She also acts as the Speaker when the latter is absent from the sitting of the House.
      • He/She also presides over the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, in case the Speaker is absent from such a sitting.
    • The Deputy Speaker has one special privilege, that is, whenever he/she is appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, he/she automatically becomes its chairman.
• Deputy Speaker and Tenth Schedule (Exception):
  
  • Para 5 of the Tenth Schedule (commonly known as the anti-defection law) says that a person who has been elected Speaker/ Deputy Speaker shall not be disqualified:
    
    • If he, by reason of his election to that office, voluntarily gives up the membership of the political party to which he belonged immediately before such election,
    • And does not, so long as he continues to hold such office thereafter, rejoin that political party or become a member of another political party.
  • This exemption applies to the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman, Chairman/ Deputy Chairman of a state Legislative Council, and Speaker/ Deputy Speaker of a state Legislative Assembly as well.

Source: IE