Q. With reference to the anti-defection law, consider the following statements:
1.Disobedience of the party’s whip during important votes can lead to disqualification.
2.To avoid disqualification, at least two-thirds of the party members must agree to a merger.
3.The Speaker or Chairperson is expected to decide on defection cases within six months of defection.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Explanation –
Statements 1 and 2 are correct. A member becomes disqualified if they vote or abstain from voting contrary to the direction (whip) issued by their political party. The law enables a party to merge with another party if at least two-thirds of the legislators of the party are in favor of such a merger. Neither the members who decide to merge nor the ones who stay in the original party will face any disqualification.
Statement 3 is incorrect. There is no specific constitutional or legal requirement mandating that the Speaker or Chairperson must decide defection cases within six months. However, the Supreme Court of India has suggested that a reasonable time frame should be established for deciding defection cases. In some discussions, a three-month period has been considered sufficient for the Speaker to make a decision, with possible extensions in exceptional circumstances.
Source: The Hindu
