Speaker of the Lok Sabha

Also called: Speaker, Article 93 · Topic: Parliamentary Procedure, Committees and Privileges · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 6 "The Parliamentary System: Legislature and Executive"; Class 11, Ch 1 "Constitution: Why and How?"; Class 11, Ch 5 "Legislature"

Meaning

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the presiding officer (the person in the chair who runs the sittings) of the Lok Sabha. The House elects the Speaker from among its own members (Art. 93).

• The Speaker is the final authority inside the House on its rules and on order.
• No question can be asked, no matter raised and no business taken up without the Speaker's permission [3].
• The Speaker also makes some decisions that matter beyond the House: which bills are money bills, and which members lose their seats for defection.

Explanation

Election, resignation and vacancy (Arts. 93–95)

• Election (Art. 93): the Lok Sabha elects a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members.

• A contest is rare. The Speaker is usually elected unopposed.

• Leaving office (Art. 94):

• Stops being an MP: leaves office automatically (Art. 94(a)).
• Resigns: writes to the Deputy Speaker, not the President (Art. 94(b)).
• Is removed: by a resolution of the House (Art. 94(c)). The steps are set out below.

• Lok Sabha is dissolved: the Speaker stays in office until just before the new House first meets (proviso to Art. 94). This keeps the office from ever being empty between two Houses.

• Who acts when the Speaker is not there (Art. 95):

• Office vacant: the Deputy Speaker acts (Art. 95(1)).
• Both offices vacant: the President appoints a member to do the Speaker's duties. This member is the Speaker pro tem (Art. 95(1)) [3].
• Speaker absent from a sitting: the Deputy Speaker presides (Art. 95(2)).

• Speaker and Deputy Speaker both absent: a member of the panel of chairpersons presides. The Speaker nominates up to ten members to this panel.

• Pro tem Speaker ("for the time being"): a member the President appoints at the start of a new Lok Sabha, usually the senior-most member. The pro tem Speaker swears in new members and conducts the election of the Speaker.

Removal of the Speaker: steps (Arts. 94(c) and 96)

1. Notice: members give written notice of the resolution. At least 14 days' notice is needed.

2. Debate: the House takes up the resolution. - The Speaker cannot preside while it is pending (Art. 96). - The Speaker may speak and take part in the proceedings. - The Speaker may vote in the first instance, like any other member. - The Speaker gets no casting vote on this resolution.

3. Vote: the resolution needs a majority of all the then members of the House. - This is an effective majority: a majority of the House's actual strength, not counting vacant seats. - A simple majority of members present and voting is not enough.

Powers and functions

Area	Power	Legal anchor
Order	Keeps order and interprets the rules. The Speaker's ruling is final inside the House	Lok Sabha Rules
Point of order	Rules at once on a member's objection that the proceedings break the rules. There is no debate	Rule 376
Quorum	Adjourns or suspends the sitting if the quorum is not met. Quorum is the minimum attendance needed: one-tenth of the House	Art. 100(3)
Voting	Has a casting vote only (a vote used just to break a tie). Does not vote in the first instance [3]	Art. 100(1)
Parties	Recognises parties and the Leader of the Opposition (leader of the largest opposition party)	Rules and Directions
Money bills	Certifies whether a bill is a money bill (a bill only about taxes, government borrowing or spending, which the Rajya Sabha can delay for only 14 days). The decision is final [3]	Art. 110(3)
Joint sitting	Presides over a joint sitting of both Houses, held to end a deadlock on an ordinary bill	Art. 118(4)
Defection	Decides whether a member is disqualified for defection (leaving or voting against their party)	Tenth Schedule, para 6
Discipline	Orders a member out for the day (Rule 373). Names a member so the House can suspend them (Rule 374). Naming leads to automatic suspension for serious disorder (Rule 374A, 2001)	Lok Sabha Rules
Committees	Chairs the Business Advisory, Rules and General Purposes Committees. Appoints the chairs of committees	Lok Sabha Rules
Secretariat	Heads the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the House's own staff	Art. 98

• Independence: the Speaker's salary is charged on the Consolidated Fund of India (Art. 97). Parliament does not vote on it each year, so it cannot be used to put pressure on the Speaker.

In the Constitution and practice

• Constitutional base: Arts. 93–98 (office, removal, deputy, salary, secretariat). Art. 100 (casting vote, quorum). Art. 110(3) (money bills). Art. 118(4) (joint sitting). Tenth Schedule, para 6, added by the 52nd Amendment, 1985 (defection).
• First Speaker: G.V. Mavalankar.
• Election in 2024:
• Bhartruhari Mahtab was appointed pro tem Speaker. The opposition disputed this. They said K. Suresh had the stronger claim, as he had more terms as an MP.

• Om Birla was re-elected Speaker in June 2024 by voice vote, against K. Suresh. Such a contest is rare.

• Motion to remove the Speaker (2026):

• On 10 February 2026, opposition members gave notice of a motion to remove Om Birla [4].
• Om Birla stepped away from the chair once the motion came before the House [4].
• The Lok Sabha rejected the motion by voice vote [4].

• Normally the Deputy Speaker would preside over such a debate. That post had been empty since 2019, so commentators called it a constitutional gap [5].

• Defection cases in court:

• Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992): the Speaker acts as a tribunal when deciding defection cases. So the decision is open to judicial review (a court can check whether it is legal).
• Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Speaker, Manipur (2020): the Speaker should decide a disqualification petition within three months. The Court asked Parliament to consider an independent tribunal in place of the Speaker.

• Subhash Desai (2023): the Shiv Sena disqualification petitions were sent back to the Speaker, to be decided within a reasonable time.

• Deputy Speaker vacancy: the 17th Lok Sabha (2019–24) was the first never to elect a Deputy Speaker [2]. The post was still empty in the 18th Lok Sabha in February 2026 [5].

• Suspensions under the chair: in December 2023, 146 MPs were suspended, 100 in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha [2].

Don't confuse with

• Chairman of the Rajya Sabha: this is the Vice-President, ex officio (by virtue of that office) (Art. 89(1)). The Chairman is not a member of the Rajya Sabha. The Speaker is an elected member of the Lok Sabha.
• Pro tem Speaker: a member the President appoints for a short time, to swear in members and conduct the Speaker's election. The House does not elect the pro tem Speaker.
• Panel of chairpersons: presides when the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are absent. When both offices are vacant, a member appointed by the President acts instead (Art. 95(1)).
• British Speaker: leaves their party and does not return to party politics. An Indian Speaker stays a party figure, is elected on a party ticket, and may go back to party or ministerial roles.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 94(b): the Speaker resigns to the Deputy Speaker. The Deputy Speaker resigns to the Speaker. Neither resigns to the President.
• Art. 94(c): removal needs 14 days' notice and a majority of all the then members (effective majority).
• Art. 96: while a removal resolution is pending, the Speaker can speak and vote in the first instance, but cannot preside and has no casting vote.
• Art. 110(3): the Speaker's money bill certificate is final [3]. Art. 118(4): the Speaker presides over a joint sitting.
• Art. 97: the Speaker's salary is charged on the Consolidated Fund of India. Parliament does not vote on it.
• Kihoto Hollohan (1992): courts can review the Speaker's defection decisions. Keisham Meghachandra (2020): these cases should be decided within 3 months.

Mains Points

• Can the Speaker be a fair umpire?
• In India the Speaker stays a party figure. This weakens trust in rulings on defection, money bill certificates and suspensions.
• In defection cases, the Speaker may end up judging their own party's political rivals.

• Possible reforms: an independent tribunal for Tenth Schedule cases (Keisham Meghachandra, 2020), a fixed time limit for defection petitions, and the British practice of an unopposed Speaker who stays out of party politics.

• The empty Deputy Speaker's chair.

• The post was empty for the whole 17th Lok Sabha and still empty in February 2026 [2][5]. This goes against Art. 93's words "as soon as may be", though no deadline is set.
• It ended the convention of giving the post to the opposition. It also left no Deputy Speaker to preside over the 2026 removal motion [4][5].

• Possible reform: a time limit set in the rules, or a convention backed by law.

• The chair's control over debate.

• In the 17th Lok Sabha, only 9% of bills had a recorded vote, the lowest of any Lok Sabha [2]. Mass suspensions, like 146 MPs in December 2023 [2], took the opposition out of debate.
• Both show how much the chair's choices shape accountability.
• Possible reforms: make a division (a counted vote) compulsory when a set number of members ask for one, and use graded penalties with fixed limits on suspensions.

Related concepts

• Removal of the Speaker
• Casting vote
• Pro tem Speaker
• Deputy Speaker
• Panel of chairpersons
• Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
• Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
• Panel of vice-chairpersons
• Voice vote
• Division

Read more

• Presiding officers and the conduct of business