Political
Diary
New Delhi, 21 July 2020
Political &
Partisan
SPEAKER CAUGHT IN
DESERT STORM
By Poonam I Kaushish
A charade of duplicity or
theatre of bias? For nearly a week now, the fast spinning political wheel of
the ongoing Rajasthan roulette has left everyone guessing. The grubby tale has
its genesis in Rajasthan Dy Chief Minister and Congress Chief Sachin Pilot and
his 18 MLAs brood being sacked earlier this week after they rebelled against Chief
Minister Gehlot.
Topped, by Assembly Speaker CP
Joshi issuing notice to explain why they should not be disqualified for defying
a whip by their no-show at two Legislature Party meetings under paragraph 2 (1)
(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. A provision which disqualifies
MLAs if they “voluntarily” give up the membership of the party which they
represent in the House.
Threatened Pilot and Co move Rajasthan High
Court against the Speaker’s disqualification notice which asks Joshi not to
take any decision till 5 PM today. Contends his lawyer ex-Solicitor General
Harish Salve that “acts outside the House are not violation of Anti-Defection Law
as a Party whip applies only when the Assembly is in
session, hence one cannot disqualify MLAs for not attending a meeting.” Adding,
“raising disagreements regarding 'dictatorial functioning' of a Chief
Minister is an internal matter and doesn't amount to defection,” as it is an issue
of freedom of speech of legislators.
The issue is not whether Pilot will remain
in the Congress, switch to the BJP like many other Congressmen before him or
risk announcing his own political outfit. More important it puts the spotlight once
again on the
Speaker’s role with their penchant for
using, mis-using or abusing their powers specially the Anti-Defection Law.
Over the
years, there have been instances aplenty where the Speaker has
precipitated a crisis by seemingly political decisions by being
deeply involved and playing partisan politics. An example, the Anti-Defection
Law which bestows the power of deciding whether a representative has become
subject to disqualification, post their defection, is made by the Speaker offering
ample scope to him to exercise discretion and play political favourites,
ignoring the letter and spirit of the anti-Defection Law
Undeniable since it
came to power in 2014 the BJP has been busy preparing for a saffron waltz in
various Opposition-ruled States with its proven prowess at toppling Governments.
Recall, a few months ago, 22 Congress rebel MLAs led by
Jyotiraditya Scindia, including six Ministers, sent in their resignation to Madhya
Pradesh Speaker Prajapati. While the MLAs were kept in a resort in Bengaluru,
Prajapati accepted their resignations only a day before the Supreme Court
ordered a floor test which culminated in the fall of Kamal Nath’s Government. It’s
another matter the defectors are Ministers in the BJP Sarkar.
In July
2019 Karnataka Assembly Speaker Ramesh Kumar disqualified 11 Congress and three
from JD(S) MLAs whose resignations were pending with him leading to the collapse
of Kumaraswamy’s Government. The MLAs were disqualified for the remaining term
of the Assembly and not allowed to contest polls till the term ended. However,
they won a reprieve from the Supreme Court which while endorsing the Speaker’s
disqualification allowed the defectors to contest the by-polls, which they did
as BJP candidates. And many who won were made Ministers in the BJP Government.
In 2015-16
the BJP which had only 11 MLAs and support of 2 Independents in Arunachal
Pradesh engineered defections by winning over 21 of 47 Congress MLAs in the 60-Member
Assembly. The Speaker disqualified 14 of the rebel MLAs who were opposed to the
Chief Minister Tuki. Simultaneously the BJP held an extraordinary session in a
community hall wherein rebel Congress-BJP MLAs removed the Speaker. While the
Gauwhati High Court upheld the disqualification, the Supreme Court refused to
give a verdict on the disqualification but restored the Tuki government in July
2016.
Ditto in Uttarakhand
where the Speaker disqualified nine Congress rebel MLAs ostensibly for voting against
the Appropriations Bill despite the MLAs not
leaving the Congress or voting against it in the Assembly. The MLAs joined
the BJP and upstaged the Harish Rawat-led Congress Government in 2016. This was
preceded by 25 BJP and the nine Congress rebel MLAs moving an impeachment
motion against the Speaker. The Uttarakhand High
Court upheld the disqualification but the Supreme Court ordered a trust vote
which led to restoration of Rawat’s Government
in May 2016.
In the 1990’s Meghalaya Speaker suspended the
voting rights and later even disqualified five MLAs just prior to a
no-confidence motion. In 1988 Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker Pandian disqualified six
senior AIADMK Ministers for giving up their Party membership, along with 27
other MLAs (disqualified for not attending a confidence motion), identified
with the pro-Jayalalithaa faction.
Alas, its par for the course when
MLAs-Speaker roles are inter-changed at a drop of a hat. Whereby, ruling Party
Ministers, MPs and MLAs accept Speakership only to exploit the office for
richer political dividends. Whereby, it is increasingly difficult to keep track
of Minister’s becoming Speaker’s and vice versa.
Think. In Indira Gandhi’s era Dhillion
shuffled between being Speaker for two terms and then made Union Minister for
Shipping in 1975. In UPA I Meira Kumar was a Congress MP and Minister and
became Lok Sabha Speaker in UPA II. As her erstwhile predecessors, Shivraj
Patil, Sangma, Balram Jhakar et al. More scandalous is the situation in the
States. In Goa former Chief Minister Pratap Rane was Speaker and in
J&K Lone, a confidant of then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah presided over
the Assembly in 2011.
Undoubtedly, the Speaker’s position
is paradoxical. He contests the election for Parliament or State Assembly and
then for the post on a Party ticket, and yet is expected to conduct himself or
herself in a non-partisan manner, all the while being beholden to the Party for
a ticket for the next election.
Confided a former Lok
Sabha Speaker: “We are elected on Party tickets with Party funds. How can we
claim independence? Moreover, even if we resign on becoming the Speaker, we
would still have to go back to the same Party for sponsorship for the next
election.”
The entirety of a
Speaker’s decisions can also be an inducement for abuse. Instances of
suspension of almost all DMK MLAs who were evicted en masse from the Tamil Nadu Assembly in 2016 while protesting or
the violence in the J&K Assembly resulting in senior PDP leaders hurling
abuses and a pedestal fan at the Speaker raise crucial questions about the
health of our democracy.
Such suspensions are
increasingly becoming common across State Assemblies, with a partisan Speaker
in the vanguard of eroding India’s democratic character. Bringing things to
such a pass that the Speaker seems to have acquired a “larger than life image
and role”, so like a school teacher whereby he has become the primus entre peri.
A kind of a demi-God
who can do no wrong, and whose actions are unquestionable. Forgotten in the
quintessential position, is the fact that the Speaker who is essentially the
servant of the House has fast become its master, thanks to the rules of
procedure. Highlighting, falling standards in conducting legislative business in
Assemblies and bringing into sharp focus the Speaker’s role and powers. And,
the need to clearly define these.
True, the rules of
procedure give the Speaker absolute discretion to decide on all issues but his approach to important issues ignores much that
is expected of him in accordance with time-honoured conventions. Pertinently, his extraordinary power was
given to guide proceedings of the House effectively in the formative period and
to help build healthy conventions and a strong Opposition in the best national
interest without whom, according to Erskine May, “the House has no
Constitutional existence.”
Where does one go
from here? Time to look afresh at the Speaker’s powers establish the supremacy
of the House. Remember, the Speaker is
the servant of the House not its master! Time we condition ourselves to
expecting and promoting neutrality in the Speaker and contain the raging desert
storm. ---- INFA
(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)
New Delhi, 21 July
2020
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