{"id":54413,"date":"2020-02-06T17:17:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T11:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=54413"},"modified":"2020-02-26T17:19:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T11:49:04","slug":"7-pm-course-correction-for-the-speakers-office6th-february-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-course-correction-for-the-speakers-office6th-february-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM |Course correction for the Speaker\u2019s office|6th February 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>SC\nruling on the office of Speaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More\nin news:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Recently, the Supreme Court of India\nwhile adjudicating upon the matter relating to the disqualification of MLAs in\nthe Manipur Legislative Assembly under the Tenth Schedule in&nbsp;Keisham\nMeghachandra Singh vs. the Hon\u2019ble Speaker Manipur Legislative Assembly &amp;\nOrs.&nbsp;made a significant suggestion.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"323\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/22222.jpg?resize=323%2C624&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Text Box: Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly:\nThe Office of the Speaker of Legislative Assembly is a constitutional one. Under Article 178 of the Indian Constitution every Legislative Assembly of a State shall, choose one of its Members as Speaker.\nThe Speaker has the following powers and duties:\n\u2022\tHe maintains order and decorum in the assembly for conducting its business and regulating its proceedings. This is his primary responsibility and he has final power in this regard.\n\u2022\tHe is the final interpreter of the provisions of:\n(a) the Constitution of India, \n(b) the rules of procedure and conduct of business of assembly, and \n(c) the legislative precedents, within the assembly.\n\u2022\tHe adjourns the assembly or suspends the meeting in the absence of a quorum.\n\u2022\tHe does not vote in the first instance. But, he can exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.\n\u2022\tHe can allow a \u2018secret\u2019 sitting of the House at the request of the leader of the House.\n\u2022\tHe decides whether a bill is a Money Bill or not and his decision on this question is final.\n\u2022\tHe decides the questions of disqualification of a member of the assembly, arising on the ground of defection under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule.\n\u2022\tHe appoints the chairmen of all the committees of the assembly and supervises their functioning. He himself is the chairman of the Business Advisory Committee, the Rules Committee and the General Purpose Committee.\n\" class=\"wp-image-54415\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The\nIssue:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The role of the Speaker in Manipur came\nunder scrutiny recently. The Speaker reserved the ruling regarding applications\nseeking disqualification of Manipur Forest and Environment Minister Thounaojam\nShyamkumar Singh. The Speaker reserved his ruling on the petitions without\ngiving any specific date for pronouncing the judgment and directed both the\npetitioners and the respondent to submit additional arguments in any in written\non or before February 12.<\/li><li>Shyamkumar who was elected on Congress\nticket in the elections to the state Assembly held in 2017 switched side to BJP\nsoon after the election results were declared and before taking oath as member\nof the state Assembly. Shyamkumar\u2019s defection to BJP was during the run up to\nthe formation of a new government after the elections with no party secured\nsimple majority to form the next government. His coming to the BJP fold paved\nthe way for formation of BJP-led coalition government in the state with N Biren\nSingh as chief minister.<\/li><li>Many Congress MLAs filed their petitions\nseeking disqualification of Shyamkumar to the tribunal of the Speaker under the\n10th Schedule (Anti-Defection Law) of the Constitution of India. When the\nSpeaker allegedly failed to initiate any step to the petition (the petitions\nwere pending since the early part of 2018), two Congress MLAs knocked at the\ndoor of the High Court of Manipur.&nbsp;After a long hearing, the high court\ndisposed off the petitions filed by two Congress MLAs by refusing to pass any\norder citing shortfalls of its jurisdiction under the Tenth Schedule.&nbsp;<\/li><li>To further note, since the Speaker did\nnot take any action against the erring Congress MLA, allowing the BJP-led\ncoalition government to stand despite violating constitutional norms under the anti-defection\nlaw, seven other Congress MLAs in the state publicly joined the BJP without resigning\nfrom their MLA posts. The Congress MLAs also filed petitions in the Speaker\u2019s\ntribunal against these MLAs in November 2018 which were still pending.<\/li><li>The Congress MLAs then knocked at the\ndoor of the Supreme Court seeking disqualification of the Forest and\nEnvironment minister. The Apex Court directed the Speaker of Manipur\nLegislative Assembly to decide within four weeks regarding the plea of Congress\nMLAs seeking disqualification of the Forest minister.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The\nSupereme Court ruling:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The SC in&nbsp;Keisham Meghachandra\nSingh vs. the Hon\u2019ble Speaker Manipur Legislative Assembly &amp; Ors. ruled\nthat no decision was taken by the Speaker on several applications filed between\nApril and July 2017 under the Tenth Schedule for disqualification of Th\nShyamkumar.<\/li><li>The Court directed the Speaker to decide\nthe disqualification petition pending before him within four weeks. It further\nstated that if no decision was forthcoming within that time limit, it would be\nopen to any party to apply to the Supreme Court for further directions\/relief\nin the matter.<\/li><li>The Court intervened after two writ\npetitions in the matter filed before the High Court of Manipur at Imphal could\nnot be decided as the issue of whether a High Court can direct a Speaker to\ndecide a disqualification petition within a certain time-frame was pending\nbefore a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court.<\/li><li>The Court observed that it was time\nParliament did a rethink on whether disqualification petitions ought to be\nentrusted to a Speaker as a quasi-judicial authority when he continues to\nbelong to a particular political party either de jure or de facto. <\/li><li>The Court felt that a permanent tribunal\nheaded by a retired Supreme Court judge, a retired chief justice of a High\nCourt or some other outside independent mechanism should ensure that such\ndisputes are decided both swiftly and impartially.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Supreme\nCourt ruling in Keisham Meghachandra Singh (supra) highlights two related concerns\nof delay in decision-making and bias, consequent to the present dispensation\nunder the Tenth Schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The problem of\nSpeakers dithering over cases of disqualification, however, is not of recent\norigin. It has been addressed in the past in various judgments of the Supreme\nCourt. As far as delays in decision-making by the Speaker are concerned, the\nCourt has made several pertinent observations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In <strong>Kihoto\nHollohan<\/strong>, clarifying the role of the Speaker as a tribunal under the Tenth\nSchedule, the Court observed that all tribunals are not courts, though all\ncourts are tribunals. Court means a court of civil judicature and a tribunal is\na body which is supposed to decide controversies arising under certain special\nlaws. A tribunal, per se, does not have all the trappings of a court and hence\nis not expected to observe a strict legal regimen.<\/li><li>Similarly, in <strong>Jagjit Singh vs State of Haryana &amp; Ors<\/strong>, the Supreme Court held\nthat the proceedings under the Tenth Schedule are not comparable to either a\ntrial in a court of law or departmental proceedings for disciplinary action\nagainst an employee. The standard of \u201creasonable opportunity\u201d is, therefore,\nnot that rigorous. Further, if the view taken by the tribunal is a reasonable\none, the Court would decline to strike down an order on the ground that another\nview is more reasonable. Thus, a proceeding in a case of disqualification under\nthe Tenth Schedule is more in the nature of a summary inquiry and needs to be\ndisposed of expeditiously.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"\"><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><td>\n \n \n \n \n <strong>Is\n there a time limit within which the Presiding Officer has to decide?<\/strong>\n The law does\n not specify a time-period for the Presiding Officer to decide on a\n disqualification plea. Given that courts can intervene only after the\n Presiding Officer has decided on the matter, the petitioner seeking\n disqualification has no option but to wait for this decision to be made.\n <strong>Decision\n of the Presiding Officer is subject to judicial review:<\/strong>\n The law\n initially stated that the decision of the Presiding Officer is not subject\n to judicial review. This condition was struck down by the Supreme Court in\n 1992, thereby allowing appeals against the Presiding Officer\u2019s decision in\n the High Court and Supreme Court.&nbsp;However, it held that there may not\n be any judicial intervention until the Presiding Officer gives his order.\n &nbsp;\n \n \n \n \n &nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How\nthe recent ruling will help?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The setting up a separate body will help\nto decide the cases impartially and expeditiously. <\/li><li>This may ensure elimination of bias to\nsome extent.<\/li><li>It will give teeth to the provisions\ncontained in the Tenth Schedule that are vital in the proper functioning of\nIndia\u2019s democracy.<\/li><li><strong>Other\nOptions available:<\/strong><\/li><li>The rules framed by Parliament to give effect to the\nprovisions of the Tenth Schedule (by virtue of Paragraph 8) provide an option\nto the Speaker to refer the petition to the Committee of Privileges for\npreliminary inquiry. The rule could be modified to make such a reference\nmandatory.<\/li><li>The Speaker may be required to consult the Election\nCommission before taking a decision, by amending the Tenth Schedule itself.\nThis may take care of individual bias.<\/li><li>The Tenth Schedule can be amended, to prescribe a time limit\nfor the presiding officer to take a decision, failing which the application for\ndisqualification would be deemed to have been allowed.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Global\ncomparison:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In <strong>Ireland<\/strong>,\nparliamentary systems close to ours, the position of Speaker is given to\nsomeone who has built up credibility by relinquishing his or her political\nambitions.<\/li><li>In the <strong>United Kingdom<\/strong>, the main characteristic of the Speaker of the House\nof Commons is neutrality. In practice, once elected, the Speaker gives up all\npartisan affiliation, as in other Parliaments of British tradition, but remains\nin office until retirement, even though the majority may change. He does not\nexpress any political views during the debates (see below) and is an election\ncandidate without any ticket.<\/li><li>Only the <strong>U.S. <\/strong>with its rigorous separation of powers between the judiciary,\nexecutive and legislature, allows the Speaker to openly engage in active\npolitics. Offering future rewards for performance as a Speaker has made the\nposition a stepping stone for political ambition Speaker rulings.<\/li><li>Indian speakers are not made members of\nthe Rajya Sabha after they demit office; the British Parliament automatically\nelevates the Speaker to the House of Lords.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parliament\nshould pay heed to the reasoning of the Supreme Court and take steps to\nstrengthen the institution of the Speaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/course-correction-for-the-speakers-office\/article30745309.ece\">https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/course-correction-for-the-speakers-office\/article30745309.ece<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: SC ruling on the office of Speaker. More in news: Recently, the Supreme Court of India while adjudicating upon the matter relating to the disqualification of MLAs in the Manipur Legislative Assembly under the Tenth Schedule in&nbsp;Keisham Meghachandra Singh vs. the Hon\u2019ble Speaker Manipur Legislative Assembly &amp; Ors.&nbsp;made a significant suggestion. The Issue: The&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-course-correction-for-the-speakers-office6th-february-2020\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM |Course correction for the Speaker\u2019s office|6th February 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,955],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-7-pm-brief-infograph","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":265,"cached_at":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54413\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}