Presiding officer's exemption

Polity & Governance glossary

Also called: Paragraph 5 of the Tenth Schedule · Topic: Political Parties, Party Systems and Anti-defection · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Paragraph 5 of the Tenth Schedule protects presiding officers, the people who run the House. These are the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha or a state assembly, and the Chairman or Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha or a legislative council. Such a member may give up party membership for their term of office. Once the term ends, they can rejoin the party without being disqualified. This lets the presiding officer act neutrally, above party politics.

Example

Suppose a member of the ruling party is elected Speaker and leaves the party to show neutrality. When the term ends, that member can rejoin the old party. They are not disqualified for defection.

Don't confuse with

  • Paragraph 6 of the Tenth Schedule: it makes the Speaker or Chairman the authority who decides disqualification cases. In Kihoto Hollohan (1992), the Supreme Court held that the Speaker acts as a tribunal, and courts can review these decisions on limited grounds.

Related concepts

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