Anti-defection law amendment panel to include legal experts: LS Speaker | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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Anti-defection law amendment panel to include legal experts: Lok Sabha Speaker

Jul 16, 2022 12:26 AM IST

The anti-defection law or the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution has frequently come under scrutiny, following defection of lawmakers that led to toppling of elected governments. The law provides for disqualification of legislators for anti-party activities.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Friday said legal experts will also be consulted during talks among legislative presiding officers to amend the anti-defection law.

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla arrives for a meeting with presiding officers of Legislative Bodies of India, in New Delhi, Friday, July 15, 2022. (PTI Photo/Kamal Singh)(PTI07_15_2022_000060B) (PTI)
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla arrives for a meeting with presiding officers of Legislative Bodies of India, in New Delhi, Friday, July 15, 2022. (PTI Photo/Kamal Singh)(PTI07_15_2022_000060B) (PTI)

“We have been holding discussions on how to strengthen the anti-defection law. We received many suggestions. All the presiding officers believe that the law must be strengthened. We had formed a panel to review the Tenth Schedule. The panel has proposed to further discuss it and get opinion from legal experts too,” Birla, who chaired a meeting of presiding officers, said.

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“All presiding officers want to work in an unbiased way. It is now felt that more discussions with legal experts are required,” he added.

The anti-defection law or the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution has frequently come under scrutiny, following defection of lawmakers that led to toppling of elected governments. The law provides for disqualification of legislators for anti-party activities.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led government went out of power in Maharashtra earlier this month after rebel Shiv Sena MLas, led by Eknath Shinde, formed an alternative government with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

There were two divergent views among the members of the committee formed to examine the anti-defection law, as a majority (two out of three) maintained that the Speaker should continue to decide such cases, according to a panel member who did not wish to be named.

A senior presiding officer said “a few of us suggested that anti-defection cases must be decided by political parties and the Election Commission”. “But many others maintained that the power can remain with the Speaker and the constitutional provisions can be tightened to bring more clarity in the law,” the officer said, seeking anonymity.

Asked for his personal view on the matter pertaining to the law, Birla said: “I don’t have any personal view. We will take a collective decision.”

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