Presiding Officers of Parliament

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• Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, do not make any separate oath or affirmation.
• Institutions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha originated in India in 1921 under Government of India Act of 1919.
• Those posts were called the President and Deputy President.
• Government of India Act of 1935 changed the name but it continues till 1947
• Frederick Whyte and Sachidanand Sinha were appointed as 1st Speaker and the 1st Deputy Speaker of the central legislative assembly.
• In 1925, Vithalbhai J. Patel became the 1st Indian and the 1st elected Speaker of the central legislative assembly.
• G V Mavalankar was the 1st Speaker of Lok Sabha.
• He was also the Speaker of Constituent Assembly (Legislative) as well as the provisional Parliament.
• 1st Vice-President & Chairman of Rajya Sabha was Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan.
• 1st Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha was S. V. Krishnamoorthy Rao.

 

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Speaker of Lok Sabha

Election & Tenure

• The Speaker of Lok Sabha is elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members.
• Elected as soon as may be, after its first sitting.
• The office of the Speaker falls vacant, the Lok Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy.
• The date of election of the Speaker of Lok Sabha is fixed by the President.
• Office will be vacated earlier in three cases:
  1. If he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha;
  2. If he resigns by writing to the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha.
  3. If he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the Lok Sabha. Resolution need 14 days’ advance notice.
• When a resolution for the removal of the Speaker is under consideration, he cannot preside at the sitting of the House but can take part and vote.
• Whenever the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker does not vacate his office and continues till the newly-elected lok Sabha meets.

 

Role, Powers & Functions

• Speaker is the head of the Lok Sabha, and its representative.
• He is the guardian of powers and privileges of the members, the House as a whole and its committees.
• Speaker is the principal spokesman of the House.
• His decision in all Parliamentary matters is final.
• The Speaker derives his powers and duties from three sources
  • Constitution of India
  • Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Lok Sabha
  • Parliamentary Conventions
• He maintains order and decorum in the House as his primary responsibility, and he has final power in this.
• Speaker is the final interpreter of the provisions of
  • Constitution of India
  • Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Lok Sabha
  • Parliamentary precedents, within the House
• He adjourns the House or suspends the meeting in absence of a quorum.
• Speaker does not vote in the first instance (Article 100).
• But he can exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie.
• He presides over a joint setting of the two Houses of Parliament.
• Speaker can allow a ‘secret’ sitting of the House at the request of the Leader of the House.
• In secret sitting no stranger can be present in the chamber, lobby or galleries except with the permission of the Speaker.
• Speaker of Lok Sabha decides whether a bill is a money bill or not and his decision on this question is final.
• He decides the questions of disqualification of a member of the Lok Sabha, on the ground of defection and its subject to judicial reviews as per Supreme Court order in 1992.
• He acts as the ex-officio chairman of the Indian Parliamentary Group which acts as a link between the Parliament of India and the various parliaments of the world.
• Speaker of Lok Sabha also acts as the ex-officio chairman of the conference of presiding officers of legislative bodies in the country.
• He appoints the chairman of all the parliamentary committees of the Lok Sabha and supervises their functioning.
• Speaker himself is the chairman of
  • Business Advisory Committee
  • Rules Committee
  • General Purpose Committee.

 

Independence & Impartiality

• Speaker of Lok Sabha is provided with a security of tenure.
• He can be removed only by a resolution passed by the Lok Sabha by an effective majority.
• Motion of removal need support of at least 50 members.
• His salaries and allowances are fixed by Parliament and charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.
• His work and conduct cannot be discussed and criticized in the Lok Sabha except on a substantive motion.
• Speaker of Lok Sabha is placed at 7th rank, along with the Chief Justice of India.
• In Britain, the Speaker is strictly a non-party man.
• There is a convention that the Speaker has to resign from his party

 

 

Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha

• Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha is also elected by the Lok Sabha itself from amongst its members.
• He is elected after the election of the Speaker of Lok Sabha has taken place.
• The date of election of the Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker.
• He resigns by writing to the Speaker
• The Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha performs the duties of the Speaker’s office when it is vacant or absent
• Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha is not subordinate to the Speaker.
• He is directly responsible to the House.
• If he is appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, he automatically becomes its chairman.
• When the Speaker presides over the House, the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha is like any other ordinary member of the House.
• Since the 11th Lok Sabha, post of Deputy Speaker goes to the main opposition party.

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Panel of Chairpersons of Lok Sabha

• Under the Rules of Lok Sabha, the Speaker of Lok Sabha nominates a panel of not more than ten chairpersons, from members
• Any of them can preside over the House in the absence of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker.
• He holds office until a new panel of chairpersons is nominated.
• Member of the panel of chairpersons cannot preside over the House, when the office of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker is vacant.
• During such time, President may appoint any member
• The elections are held, as soon as possible, to fill the vacant posts.

 

 

Pro Tem Speaker

• As provided by the Constitution, the Speaker of the last Lok Sabha vacates his office immediately before the 1st meeting of the newly elected Lok Sabha.
• President appoints a member of the Lok Sabha as the Pro Tem Speaker.
• Usually, the senior most member is selected for Pro Tem Speaker.
• Pro Tem Speaker presides over the first sitting of the newly-elected Lok Sabha.
• His main duty is to administer oath to the new members.
• Pro Tem Speaker also enables the House to elect the new Speaker.
• When the new Speaker is elected by the House, the office of the Pro Tem Speaker ceases.

 

 

Chairman of Rajya Sabha

• The vice–president of India is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
• During any period when the Vice-President acts as President he does not perform the duties of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
• The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha can be removed from his office only if he is removed from the office of the Vice-President.
• As a presiding officer, the powers and functions of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha are similar to those of the Speaker in the Lok Sabha.
• Chairman of Rajya Sabha is not a member of the House.
• Chairman of Rajya Sabha also cannot vote in the first instance.
• He can use casting vote.
• The Vice-President cannot preside over a sitting of the Rajya Sabha  when a resolution for his removal is under consideration.
• He can be present and speak in the House without voting.
• Salaries and allowances of the Chairman of Rajya Sabha are also fixed by the Parliament.
• They are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India

 

 

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

• The Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha is elected by the Rajya Sabha itself from amongst its members.
• The Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha vacates his office in any of the following three cases:
  1. If he ceases to be a member of the Rajya Sabha
  2. If he resigns by writing to the Chairman
  3. If he is removed by a resolution passed by a effective majority of the Rajya Sabha. Such a resolution need 14 days’ advance notice.
• The Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha perform as Chairman when
  • Post of Chairman of Rajya Sabha is vacant or absent
  • When the Vice-President acts as President
• Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha is not subordinate to the Chairman.
• He is directly responsible to the Rajya Sabha.
• When the Chairman of Rajya Sabha presides over the House, the Deputy Chairman is like any other ordinary member of the House.
• Salary and allowance of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha are fixed by Parliament and are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India

 

 

Panel of Vice-Chairpersons of Rajya Sabha

• Under the Rules of Rajya Sabha, the Chairman nominates from amongst the members a panel of vice-chairpersons.
• Any one of them can preside over the House in the absence of the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman.
• Cannot preside over the House, when the office of the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman is vacant.
• During such time,  President appoints someone from members

 

 

Secretariat of Parliament

• Each House of Parliament has separate secretarial staff of its own, though there can be some posts common to both the Houses.
• Their recruitment and service conditions are regulated by Parliament.
• The secretariat of each House is headed by a secretary-general.
• He is a permanent officer and is appointed by the presiding officer of the House.

 

 

Video Explanation

• Speaker & Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha in Hindi

• Speaker & Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha in English

• Chairman & Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha in English

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