All You Need To Know About Presiding Officers

Each House of Parliament is led by a presiding officer. The major institution through which the needs and wants of the people are expressed is the Parliament. Various leaders preside over the various chambers of the parliament. For the Lok Sabha, there is a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker, while for the Rajya Sabha, there is a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman. Additionally, a panel of vice chairs for the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha are chosen. 

 

•    Head of the Lok Sabha.

 

•    If the Speaker is not present, the Deputy Speaker takes the precedence of Lok Sabha.

 

•    Vice-President is the Rajya Sabha chairman.

 

•    If the chairman is not present, the deputy chairman takes precedence of the Rajya Sabha.

 

•    The first meeting of the new Lok Sabha will be presided over by the Speaker Pro Tem.

 

•    The Speaker serves as both the ceremonial and legal head of the Lok Sabha and serves as its chief spokesperson.

 

•    The Speaker was formerly known as the President when the institutions of the Speaker were established in India in 1921 in accordance with the terms of the Government of India Act of 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms).

 

•    The Speaker of the Central Legislative Assembly replaced the President of the Central Legislative Assembly under the 1935 Government of India Act. However, the 1935 Act's federal component was never enacted, therefore the old terminology persisted until 1947.

 

•    The Speaker and Deputy Speaker are both elected under Article 93 of the Indian Constitution.

 

•    The honor of becoming the first Speaker belonged to G.V. Mavalankar.

 

•    The Speaker serves as the Lok Sabha's head, its representative, and the protector of the members' rights and privileges as well as those of the entire body and its committees.

 

•    As the main representative of the House, he or she has the final say on all matters pertaining to the Parliament.

 

•    The Constitution of India, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Lok Sabha, and Parliamentary Conventions (residual powers not explicitly stated in the Rules) are the three sources from which the Speaker of the Lok Sabha gets his or her authority. 

 

•    After the speaker, the chamber elects the Deputy Speaker on a day set by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

 

•    The Deputy Speaker has the same terms of office, reasons for removal, removal procedure, and provision for salary, and allowances as the Speaker.

 

•    Through a letter to the speaker, he or she resigns.

 

•    When the Speaker is not present, the deputy speaker serves as the house's presiding officer and has all of the speaker's authority. When the speaker is present, the deputy speaker takes the place of a regular house member.

 

•    He or she is directly accountable to the house rather than the speaker. However, if he or she is a member of a parliamentary committee, he or she immediately takes over as chairman.

 

•    While taking office, neither the Speaker nor the Deputy Speaker take an additional oath or affirmation.

 

•    Ananthasayanam Ayyangar held the distinction of serving as the Lok Sabha's first Deputy Speaker.

 

•    Speaker in Protem

 

•    Just before the first meeting of the new Lok Sabha, the speaker of the old one resigns.

 

•    As a result, the President names a member typically the senior member to serve as Pro Tem Speaker for the first session.

 

•    The President administers the Speaker Pro Tem oath.

 

•    The Speaker Pro Tem administers oaths to the members of the house and facilitates the election of a new Speaker.

 

•    According to Lok Sabha rules, the Speaker appoints a panel of no more than 10 chairpersons from among the members.

 

•    Any of them has the same authority as the Speaker when presiding over the House in the absence of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker. He or she serves in that capacity until a new panel of chairpersons is proposed.

 

•    Any other person chosen by the House serves as Speaker when a chairperson from the panel is also absent.

 

•    However, when the position of Speaker or Deputy Speaker is open, a member of the panel of chairpersons cannot preside over the House.

 

•    The President may designate some members of the House to fill the Speaker's position during that period.

 

•    The Chairman is the title of the Rajya Sabha's presiding official.

 

•    There must be a Vice-President of India, according to Article 63 of the Indian Constitution. According to Articles 64 and 89 (1), the Vice-President of India must abstain from holding any other lucrative positions while serving as the Council of States' (Rajya Sabha) ex-officio Chairman.

 

•    When the vice president assumes the role of president or performs presidential duties, he is not responsible for carrying out the responsibilities of the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

 

•    Only if he is also removed from the Vice-President's position is it possible to remove the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from his position.

 

•    Similar to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha serves as the chamber's presiding officer.

 

•    However, the Speaker has two unique abilities that the Chairman does not have:

1.    A bill's status as a money bill is determined by the Speaker, and his determination is definitive.

 

2.    Overseeing a combined session of the two Houses of Parliament is the Speaker. The Chairman is not a member of the House, in contrast to the Speaker.

 

3.    But like the Speaker, the Chairman is also not allowed to vote in the initial round and can only vote if there is a tie in the number of votes.

 

4.    When a resolution to remove him is being debated, the Vice President cannot serve as the Chairman of a Rajya Sabha meeting. While the Speaker is allowed to vote in the first instance when the Lok Sabha is debating a resolution to remove him or her, he or she is nevertheless permitted to be present, speak in the House, and participate in its procedures at any time.

 

5.    The Chairman's pay is set by the Parliament, just like the Speaker's, and is deducted from the Consolidated Fund of India, therefore it is not up for annual approval by the House of Representatives.

 

6.    The Vice-President is not entitled to any salary or allowance payable to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha during any period when he or she performs the duties of the President instead, they are paid the salary and allowance of the President during such a period.

 

•    The Rajya Sabha chooses the Deputy Chairman from among its own members.

 

•    It is a position established by the Constitution in accordance with Article 89.

 

•    The Rajya Sabha chooses a new member to fill the position of Deputy Chairman whenever one becomes vacant.

 

•    Any one of the following three scenarios results in the Deputy Chairman leaving his position:

 

•    If he no longer serves in the Rajya Sabha.

 

•    If he gives the Chairman a written resignation.

 

•    If a proposal to remove him is approved by a majority of the Rajya Sabha's members at the time. This kind of resolution can only be moved with 14 days' notice.

 

•    When the Chairman's position is vacant or when the Vice-President assumes the President's duties, the Deputy Chairman fulfils those responsibilities.

 

•    In both situations, he or she has all the authority of the Chairman and serves in the Chairman's absence from the House meeting.

 

•    The Rajya Sabha is the Deputy Chairman's sole source of accountability, the Deputy Chairman does not report to the Chairman.

 

•    The Deputy Chairman, like the Chairman, cannot use a first-round vote instead, in the event of a tie, he or she may utilize a casting vote.

 

•    Additionally, the Deputy Chairman is not permitted to preside over a meeting of the House even if a resolution to remove him or her is being discussed by the House at the time.

 

•    The Deputy Chairman acts just like any other regular House member when the Chairman is in charge. He or she has the right to address the House, take part in its deliberations, and cast a vote on any issue brought before it.

 

•    The Consolidated Fund of India is used to pay the Deputy Chairman's regular salary and stipend, which are set by Parliament.

 

•    According to the Rajya Sabha Rules, the Chairman appoints a panel of vice-chairpersons from among the members and serves in that capacity till a new panel of vice-chairpersons is proposed.

 

•    In the absence of the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman, any one of them may preside over the House.

 

•    When acting as the Chairman, he or she has the same authority.

 

•    Any other person chosen by the House serves as the Chairman when a vice-chairperson from the panel is also absent.

 

•    When the position of Chairman or Deputy Chairman is open, a member of the panel of vice-chairpersons cannot preside over the House.

 

•    Members of the House that the president may designate for the purpose are to carry out the Chairman's responsibilities at that time.

 

•    The presiding officer's arbitrary certification of the contentious Aadhaar Act as a money bill and their failure to recognize the leader of the opposition party as the statutorily designated Leader of the Opposition are two crucial instances in the Lok Sabha.

 

•    On the other side, the Rajya Sabha's presiding officer proclaimed the aforementioned agriculture measures passed following a voice vote that several members of the Opposition had objected to. 

 

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha presiding officers are crucial to the functioning of Parliament. They guarantee each House's efficient operation and aid in upholding the parliamentary decorum. As a result, in Indian democracy, the positions of Chairman and Vice-Chairman as well as Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha are very important.