Shouldn’t Speakers be Neutral?

  •   Tue, Mar 07 2023
  •   By John B Monteiro

March 7, 2023

Houses of Parliament and State legislatures – and even municipal corporations - are in turmoil as reflected in the two views projected recently in the public domain - which seem like pot calling the kettle black.

How can court deal with partisan acts by assembly speakers, asks SC bench

Faced with frequent petitions accusing Speakers of partisan activities, the Supreme Court on March 1, 2023) wondered as to how the courts would deal with situations arising from actions and inactions of Speakers in deciding or keeping pending petitions for disqualification of MLAs to allow political events to overtake the outcome of adjudication, leading to toppling of elected governments.

Hearing arguments for the fourth day on the issues linked to the upheaval in Sena resulting in toppling of the MVA government and swearing-in of the Shinde-led government in Maharashtra, a bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud, M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha flagged the court's concerns, expressed repeatedly in earlier judgments, about the Speaker's alleged unconstitutional actions in deciding petitions for disqualification of MLAs under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

"How should the SC deal with such situations which arise from time to time? The disqualification petitions are kept pending on one pretext or the other. The Speakers do not decide. Ultimately, the events overtake the decision on the disqualification petitions and governments get toppled," it said.

In the 2019 Srimant B Patil judgment, the Justice NV Ramana-led three-judge bench had expressed grave concern about the partisan role played by Speakers. It had said, "There is a growing trend of Speakers acting against the constitutional duty of being neutral. Additionally, parties are indulging in horse-trading and corrupt practices, due to which citizens are denied stable governments. In these circumstances, Parliament is required to re-consider strengthening certain aspects of the Tenth Schedule, so that such undemocratic practices are discouraged."

Dhankhar expresses disappointment over disruptions in Parliament

In the second outburst on the subject, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on March 1, 2023 expressed disappointment over fights, disruptions and protests during Parliament sessions. He was speaking at an event to mark the birth centenary of educationist M S Ramaiah, founder of Gokula Education Foundation.

“Lakhs and crores of rupees are spent for every minute of the session in Rajya Sabha. With disruptions, you cannot control the government system,” Dhankhar, also the chairperson of the Upper House (Rajya Sabha), said. He said Parliament was a platform to hold the government and the executive accountable. “We don’t want our boys and girls to follow the disruption in Parliament. We don’t want them to appreciate shouting of slogans and showing of placards,” he said. He appealed to students to influence public opinion in this regard and to use every medium available to persuade Parliamentarians that “in the temple of democracy, our conduct must make us proud. Our conduct must be for the development of the country.”

The subject is open to many views. What are yours? Your response is welcome in the format given below (Pl. scroll down a bit). Once again welcome to reason.

 

 

Also read:
 

 

 
By John B Monteiro
To submit your article / poem / short story to Daijiworld, please email it to news@daijiworld.com mentioning 'Article/poem submission for daijiworld' in the subject line. Please note the following:

  • The article / poem / short story should be original and previously unpublished in other websites except in the personal blog of the author. We will cross-check the originality of the article, and if found to be copied from another source in whole or in parts without appropriate acknowledgment, the submission will be rejected.
  • The author of the poem / article / short story should include a brief self-introduction limited to 500 characters and his/her recent picture (optional). Pictures relevant to the article may also be sent (optional), provided they are not bound by copyright. Travelogues should be sent along with relevant pictures not sourced from the Internet. Travelogues without relevant pictures will be rejected.
  • In case of a short story / article, the write-up should be at least one-and-a-half pages in word document in Times New Roman font 12 (or, about 700-800 words). Contributors are requested to keep their write-ups limited to a maximum of four pages. Longer write-ups may be sent in parts to publish in installments. Each installment should be sent within a week of the previous installment. A single poem sent for publication should be at least 3/4th of a page in length. Multiple short poems may be submitted for single publication.
  • All submissions should be in Microsoft Word format or text file. Pictures should not be larger than 1000 pixels in width, and of good resolution. Pictures should be attached separately in the mail and may be numbered if the author wants them to be placed in order.
  • Submission of the article / poem / short story does not automatically entail that it would be published. Daijiworld editors will examine each submission and decide on its acceptance/rejection purely based on merit.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to edit the submission if necessary for grammar and spelling, without compromising on the author's tone and message.
  • Daijiworld reserves the right to reject submissions without prior notice. Mails/calls on the status of the submission will not be entertained. Contributors are requested to be patient.
  • The article / poem / short story should not be targeted directly or indirectly at any individual/group/community. Daijiworld will not assume responsibility for factual errors in the submission.
  • Once accepted, the article / poem / short story will be published as and when we have space. Publication may take up to four weeks from the date of submission of the write-up, depending on the number of submissions we receive. No author will be published twice in succession or twice within a fortnight.
  • Time-bound articles (example, on Mother's Day) should be sent at least a week in advance. Please specify the occasion as well as the date on which you would like it published while sending the write-up.

Leave a Comment

Title: Shouldn’t Speakers be Neutral?



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.