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• The Supreme Court of India issued notices to the Union Government and five states Governments (Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand) over the failure to elect a Deputy Speaker.

Details

• A Supreme Court Bench led by the Chief Justice of India sought responses from the Union and 5 state Governments on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that claims 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 deputy speaker post has been lying vacant in the 5 state Assemblies as well.

Indian Constitution about the Deputy Speaker

• Article 93 of the Indian Constitution says that “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 of the Constitution contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.
• Constitutional experts highlighted that both Articles 93 and 178 use the word “shall”, indicating that the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker is mandatory under the Indian Constitution.

How soon the Deputy Speaker must be elected

• Articles 93 and 178 of the constitution say “As soon as may be”, but they do not lay down a specific time frame.
• In general, both Lok Sabha and the state Assemblies elect the Speaker during the first session of the new House.
  • The election of the Deputy Speaker usually takes place in the second session — and is generally not delayed.
• Rule 8 of The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha expresses 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.

Can the courts intervene in the election of the Deputy Speaker?

• Courts usually don’t intervene in the procedural conduct of the Parliament.
  • Article 122(1) of the Indian Constitution says: “The validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.”
• However, experts said that 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 mentioned an election “as soon as may be”.

Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha

• 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.
  • 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.
• The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, while assuming their offices, do not make and subscribe to any separate oath or affirmation.

• 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 cases, he assumes all the powers of the Speaker.
  • He also presides over the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, in case the Speaker is absent from such a sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker is not subordinate to the Speaker. He is directly responsible to the House.
• Whenever a deputy speaker 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.
  • When a resolution for the removal of the Deputy Speaker is under consideration by 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 to 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.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-law/the-missing-dy-speaker-the-post-and-what-the-constitution-says-8445357/