Presiding officers and the conduct of business

Detail

1. Why presiding officers matter

• Parliament runs itself through its own rules. Courts usually do not interfere in how it conducts business.
• The presiding officer (the person in the chair who runs a sitting) is the final authority inside the House on the rules and on order.
• No question can be asked, no matter raised and no business taken up without the Speaker's permission [3].
• NCERT's Class 11 chapter treats this under "How does the Parliament regulate itself?". Its cartoon shows members saying "We are not walking out, we have been ordered out". The point is that the chair can order members out of the House.

2. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Arts. 93–98)

• Speaker of the Lok Sabha: the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha. The House elects the Speaker from among its own members (Art. 93).
• G.V. Mavalankar was the first Speaker.
• Om Birla was re-elected in June 2024 by voice vote. He was opposed by K. Suresh. A contest for Speaker is rare, because the Speaker is usually elected unopposed.

How the Speaker leaves office (Art. 94)

Way	Rule
Stops being an MP	Leaves office automatically (Art. 94(a))
Resigns	Writes to the Deputy Speaker (Art. 94(b))
Is removed	A resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the House, after 14 days' notice (Art. 94(c))
Lok Sabha is dissolved	Stays in office until just before the new House first meets (proviso to Art. 94)

3. Removing the Speaker: the procedure

• Removal of the Speaker (Art. 94(c)) works in these steps: 1. Members give written notice of the resolution. At least 14 days' notice is needed. 2. The House debates the resolution. While it is pending, the Speaker cannot preside (Art. 96). 3. During this time the Speaker may speak and take part in the proceedings. The Speaker may also vote in the first instance, like any other member. 4. The Speaker gets no casting vote on this resolution (Art. 96). 5. To pass, the resolution needs a majority of all the then members. This is called an effective majority: a majority of the House's actual strength, leaving out vacant seats.

• Recent case (2026):

• On 10 February 2026, opposition members gave notice of a motion to remove Speaker 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].
• In the same period, similar notices against the Rajya Sabha Chairman (Jagdeep Dhankhar) and Deputy Chairman (Harivansh) were rejected before any discussion [5].
• Usually the Deputy Speaker would preside over such a debate. With that post empty since 2019, commentators called it a constitutional gap [5].

4. Casting vote and salary

• Casting vote (Art. 100(1)): the presiding officer's vote, used only to break a tie.
• The Speaker does not vote in the first instance in a division (a counted vote). The Speaker votes only when the votes are equal [3].

• The Art. 96 removal case is the only exception. There the Speaker votes like an ordinary member but has no casting vote.

• The Speaker's salary is charged on the Consolidated Fund of India (Art. 97). This means Parliament does not vote on it each year, which protects the Speaker's independence.

5. Powers of the Speaker

Area	Power	Legal anchor
Order	Keeps order and interprets the rules. The Speaker's ruling is final inside the House	Lok Sabha Rules
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)
Parties	Recognises parties and the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), the 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 Speaker's decision is final [3]	Art. 110(3)
Joint sitting	Presides over a joint sitting of both Houses, held to settle a deadlock on an ordinary bill	Art. 118(4)
Defection	Decides whether a member is disqualified for defection, i.e. leaving or voting against their party	Tenth Schedule, para 6
Committees	Chairs the Business Advisory Committee, Rules Committee and General Purposes Committee. Appoints the chairs of committees	Lok Sabha Rules
Secretariat	Heads the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the House's own staff	Art. 98

6. The Speaker and defection cases

• Tenth Schedule: the "anti-defection law", added by the 52nd Amendment, 1985. Under para 6, the Speaker or Chairman decides whether a member is disqualified.
• Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992): the Speaker acts as a tribunal in these cases. So the Speaker's 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 also asked Parliament to consider an independent tribunal in place of the Speaker.
• Subhash Desai v. Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra (2023) followed this line. It sent the Shiv Sena disqualification petitions back to the Speaker to be decided within a reasonable time. (See the political-parties note.)

7. The neutrality debate

• Britain: the Speaker leaves their party. They usually stand for re-election unopposed and do not return to party politics.
• India: Speakers remain party figures. They are elected on a party ticket and may return to party or ministerial roles.
• So, in defection cases, the Speaker can end up judging their own party's political rivals. This is why the Court suggested a tribunal.

8. Pro tem Speaker

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

• Officially, when both the Speaker's and the Deputy Speaker's offices are vacant, the President appoints a member to do the Speaker's duties. This member is the Speaker pro tem (Art. 95(1)) [3].

• 2024: Bhartruhari Mahtab was appointed. The opposition disputed this, saying K. Suresh had the stronger claim by seniority (more terms as an MP).

9. Deputy Speaker

• Deputy Speaker (Art. 93): elected by the Lok Sabha from its members.
• Acts as Speaker when the Speaker's office is vacant (Art. 95(1)) or the Speaker is absent (Art. 95(2)).
• Resigns by writing to the Speaker (Art. 94(b)).

• Can be removed in the same way as the Speaker (Art. 94(c)).

• Convention: since the 1990s, the post has often gone to the opposition.

• Vacancy:
• The 17th Lok Sabha (June 2019 – February 2024) was the first Lok Sabha never to elect a Deputy Speaker for its whole term [2].
• The post was still vacant in the 18th Lok Sabha in February 2026 [5]. (NCERT: unfilled in the 18th; verify the current position.)
• Art. 93 says the House shall choose a Deputy Speaker "as soon as may be". The vacancy goes against this wording, but no deadline is set.

10. Panel of chairpersons

• Panel of chairpersons: up to ten Lok Sabha members nominated by the Speaker.
• One of them presides when both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are absent.

• They cannot preside when both offices are vacant. Then a member appointed by the President acts (Art. 95(1)).

• Exam trap: absent means the panel presides. Vacant means a member appointed by the President presides.

11. Rajya Sabha presiding officers

Feature	Chairman	Deputy Chairman
Who	The Vice-President, ex officio (by virtue of that office) (Art. 89(1))	Elected by the Rajya Sabha from its members (Art. 89(2))
Member of the House?	No	Yes
Vote	Casting vote only (Art. 100(1))	Casting vote only when presiding. Otherwise votes as a member
Removal	Removed as Vice-President: a Rajya Sabha resolution passed by a majority of all then members, agreed to by the Lok Sabha, after 14 days' notice (Art. 67(b)) [6]	A resolution passed by a majority of all the then members (Art. 90(c))
While a removal motion is pending	Cannot preside (Art. 92)	Cannot preside (Art. 92)

• Chairman of the Rajya Sabha: since the Chairman is not a member, he never votes in the first instance. He only breaks ties.
• Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha: acts when the Chairman's office is vacant or the Chairman is absent (Art. 91).
• Panel of vice-chairpersons: Rajya Sabha members nominated by the Chairman. One of them presides when both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are absent.
• NCERT's Class 8 chapter describes the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman as the officers who run each House.

12. Voting: voice vote and division

• Majority rule (Art. 100(1)): questions are decided by a majority of the members present and voting, not counting the presiding officer.
• Voice vote: the presiding officer judges whether the "Ayes" (yes) or the "Noes" (no) are louder.
• Division: a counted and recorded vote, now usually electronic. It takes place if any member challenges the voice vote.

• Steps: 1. The question is put to the House. 2. A voice vote is taken. The chair announces "the Ayes have it" or "the Noes have it". 3. If any member challenges this, a division is held. 4. Each member's vote is recorded.

• Farm bills, 20 September 2020: the farm bills passed the Rajya Sabha by voice vote even though members demanded a division. Eight MPs were suspended afterwards.

• Data:
• In the 17th Lok Sabha, only 9% of bills had even one recorded vote. Constitutional amendment bills, which must have a recorded vote, are left out of this count. It is the lowest of any Lok Sabha [2].
• The 17th Lok Sabha held 274 sittings, the fewest of any Lok Sabha that served a full term [2].

13. Point of order

• Point of order (Rule 376, Lok Sabha): a member's objection that the proceedings break the rules or the Constitution.
• It must be about the business before the House at that moment.
• The presiding officer rules on it at once. There is no debate, and the ruling is final.

14. Suspension of members

Rule	How it works	Length
Lok Sabha Rules 373–374	Rule 373: the Speaker orders a member to leave for the day. Rule 374: the Speaker names the member, then the House passes a motion to suspend	Up to the rest of the session
Lok Sabha Rule 374A (added 2001)	The member is suspended automatically once named, for serious disorder such as entering the well of the House. No motion is needed	Five sittings or the rest of the session, whichever is shorter
Rajya Sabha Rules 255–256	Rule 255: withdrawal for the day. Rule 256: naming, then a suspension motion	Up to the rest of the session

• The House can revoke (cancel) a suspension by passing a motion.
• Examples:
• Winter session 2021: 12 Rajya Sabha MPs were suspended for the whole session.
• December 2023 (Winter session): 146 MPs were suspended, 100 in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha [2].

• Across the whole 17th Lok Sabha period there were 206 instances of suspension in the two Houses [2].

• Ashish Shelar v. Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (2022):

• The Maharashtra Assembly had suspended 12 BJP MLAs for one year.
• The Supreme Court struck this down because it went beyond the session.
• The Court said such a suspension was unconstitutional, irrational and amounted to more than expulsion. It also left the voters of those seats with no representative.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 94(b): the Speaker resigns to the Deputy Speaker, and the Deputy Speaker resigns to the Speaker. They do not resign to the President.
• Art. 94(c): removal of the Speaker needs a majority of all the then members (effective majority) and 14 days' notice. A simple majority of those present is not enough.
• 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 certificate that a bill is a money bill is final. Art. 118(4): the Speaker presides over a joint sitting.
• Panel of chairpersons: presides when the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are absent, not when both offices are vacant (then a member appointed by the President acts, Art. 95(1)).
• Rajya Sabha Chairman = Vice-President ex officio. Not a member of the Rajya Sabha. Casting vote only (Art. 100(1)).
• 17th Lok Sabha (2019–24): the first to have no Deputy Speaker for its whole term. Only 9% of bills had a recorded vote, the lowest ever [2].
• Kihoto Hollohan (1992): the Speaker's defection decisions can be checked by courts. Keisham Meghachandra (2020): decide within 3 months.
• Rule 374A (2001): automatic suspension for five sittings or the rest of the session. Rule 376: point of order.
• Ashish Shelar (2022): a one-year suspension of MLAs was struck down because it went beyond the session.

Mains Points

• The Speaker as a fair umpire. In India the Speaker remains a party figure, unlike in Britain. This weakens trust in their rulings on defection, money bill certification and suspensions. Possible reforms:
• an independent tribunal for Tenth Schedule cases, as suggested in Keisham Meghachandra (2020)
• a fixed time limit for deciding defection petitions

• the British convention of an unopposed Speaker who stays out of party politics

• Deputy Speaker vacancy. The post was empty for the whole 17th Lok Sabha and still empty in the 18th as of February 2026 [2][5]. This goes against Art. 93's "as soon as may be". It ends the convention of giving the post to the opposition. It also left no Deputy Speaker to preside over the 2026 motion to remove the Speaker [4][5]. Possible reforms are a time limit set in the rules, or a convention backed by law.

• Voice votes and deliberation. Only 9% of bills in the 17th Lok Sabha had a recorded vote [2]. The farm bills (2020) passed by voice vote despite demands for a division. This weakens accountability. A reform could make a division compulsory whenever a set number of members demand it.
• Suspensions and representation. 146 MPs were suspended in December 2023 [2]. Mass suspensions remove the opposition from debate, while disorder harms the House's working time. Ashish Shelar (2022) limits suspensions to the session. A balanced fix would be graded penalties and fixed limits on suspensions.