Split (anti-defection)
Also called: Split exception · Topic: Political Parties, Party Systems and Anti-defection · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A split was an exception in Paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule, the anti-defection law of 1985. If at least one-third of a legislature party (the party's members in a House) broke away, those members were not disqualified for defection. In practice, this turned single defections into group defections, because legislators simply moved in groups. The 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003 deleted this exception, so a split no longer protects anyone.
Example
Suppose a party had 30 MLAs before 2003. If 10 of them (one-third) broke away to form a new group, they kept their seats. After the 2003 amendment, the same 10 MLAs could be disqualified. In Rajendra Singh Rana (2007), the Supreme Court rejected a group's claim that it had made a valid split.
Don't confuse with
- Merger exception (Paragraph 4): this exception still exists. It needs two-thirds of the legislature party to agree to merge with another party. A split needed only one-third and has been deleted.
Related concepts
- 91st Constitutional Amendment Act 2003
- Merger exception
- Kihoto Hollohan case
- Keisham Meghachandra Singh case
- Subhash Desai case