Guardian of the House

Context: To restore the prestige of Parliament, steps should be taken to ensure the independence and impartiality of the Speaker.

Significance of the Post of Speaker in Indian Parliamentary System

• Adopted from the Westminster Model: In the Lok Sabha, as in the United Kingdom, the Speaker is the supreme authority; he has vast powers, and it is his primary duty to ensure the orderly conduct of the business of the House.
• Two essential qualities of a Speaker: Every textbook of constitutional law points out the two essential qualities of a Speaker: Independence and Impartiality.
  • GV Mavalankar, the first Speaker, observed: “Once a person is elected Speaker, he is expected to be above parties, above politics. 
  • Pandit Nehru referred to the Speaker as “the symbol of the nation’s freedom and liberty” and emphasised that Speakers should be men of “outstanding ability and impartiality”.
  • MN Kaul and SL Shakdher, in their book Practice and Procedure of Parliament, refer to him as the conscience and guardian of the House.
• Vast powers and responsibilities:
  • It is the Speaker’s duty to decide what issues will be taken up for discussion. 
  • He has the sole discretion to permit an adjournment motion to be tabled or to admit a calling attention notice if the issue is of urgent public importance. 
    • Since Councils of MMinistersare collectively responsible to the Parliament under Article 75(3), the House must pay attention to it immediately to emergencies.

Issues with the post of Speaker: 

• Partisan conduct: Due to lack of independence and impartiality.
  • Several judgments on the anti-defection law have been rendered by the Supreme Court. A common factor that shows up in these rulings is the blatant, partisan conduct of speakers in state assemblies.
  • The present practice of the Speaker continuing to be an active member of the ruling party has the inevitable result of his refusing to allow any discussion that may be essential in the national interest but may embarrass the ruling party. This inevitably leads to the constant disruption of Parliament by the Opposition.
• Impacts the functioning of Parliament: 
  • The persistent disruption of Parliament causes extensive damage not only to the prestige of the House but also frustrates the primary function of any legislature: The responsibility to make laws for the good governance of the country.
  • In the recent Monsoon session, not a single bill was referred to any select committee.
• The executives begin to command by default: The most dangerous consequence is the vastly increased powers that the executive — the bureaucracy — begins to command by default.
  • In 1951, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court (In Re Delhi Laws Act Case) held that essential legislative functions could not be delegated to the bureaucracy; law-making must remain the domain of the legislature.
  • The new rules on information technology and electronic commerce are clear instances of changes that should have come about by a parliamentary law.

Way Forward:

• Maintaining Separation of Powers: The separation of powers is part of the basic structure of our Constitution. It is, therefore, imperative that the Speaker of every legislature resigns from his party to honour his constitutional obligation of independence and impartiality. 
• For example, in 1967, late N Sanjiva Reddy resigned from his party when he became the Speaker.