Introduction

The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the second-highest ranking authority of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament of India. They act as the presiding authority in the event of the absence of Speaker of the Lok Sabha. The Deputy Speaker is not subordinate to the Speaker and is directly responsible to the House.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha

• Article 93 of the Constitution of India, 1950 (COI) deals with the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• It states that the House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.

Election and Term of Office of Deputy Speaker

• The election of Deputy Speaker is governed by Rule 8 of The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
• The Deputy Speaker is also elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members right after the election of the Speaker has taken place.
• The date of election of the Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker.
• The election of the Deputy Speaker usually takes place in the second session and is generally not delayed further in the absence of genuine and unavoidable constraints.
• The Deputy Speaker remains in office usually for the entire duration of the House (5 years).

Resignation & Removal from the Office of Deputy Speaker

• As per Article 94 of the COI a member holding office as Deputy Speaker of the House of the People—

(a) Shall vacate his office if he ceases to be a member of the House of the People.

(b) May at any time, by writing under his hand addressed, if such member is the Deputy Speaker, to the Speaker, resign his office.

(c) May be removed from his office by a resolution of the House of the People passed by a majority of all the then members of the House. Provided that no resolution for this purpose shall be moved unless at least fourteen days’ notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution.

• As per clause (1) of Article 96 of the COI at any sitting of the House of the People, while any resolution for the removal of the Deputy Speaker from his office is under consideration, the Deputy Speaker, shall not, though he is present, preside, and the provisions of clause (2) of article 95 shall apply in relation to every such sitting as they apply in relation to a sitting from which the Speaker, or, as the case may be, the Deputy Speaker, is absent.

Deputy Speaker to Act as Speaker

• As per clause (1) of Article 95 of the COI, while the office of Speaker is vacant, the duties of the office shall be performed by the Deputy Speaker or, if the office of Deputy Speaker is also vacant, by such member of the House of the People as the President may appoint for the purpose.
• As per clause (2) of Article 95 of the COI, during the absence of the Speaker from any sitting of the House of the People the Deputy Speaker or, if he is also absent, such person as may be determined by the rules of procedure of the House, or, if no such person is present, such other person as may be determined by the House, shall act as Speaker.

Salaries & Allowances of the Speaker

• As per Article 97 of the COI, Deputy Speaker of the House of the People, shall be paid such salaries and allowances as may be respectively fixed by Parliament by law and, until provision in that behalf is so made, such salaries and allowances as are specified in the Second Schedule.

Responsibilities and Powers of Deputy Speaker

• The Deputy Speaker performs the duties of the Speaker’s office when it is vacant.
  • He/She also acts as the Speaker when the latter is absent from the sitting of the House.
  • In both the cases, he/she assumes all the powers of the Speaker.
• He/She also presides over the joint sitting of both the Houses of Parliament, in case the Speaker is absent from such a sitting.
• The Deputy Speaker, like the Speaker, has the privilege of the Casting Vote in case of tie.
• The Deputy Speaker has one special privilege, that is, whenever he/she is appointed as a member of a parliamentary committee, he/she automatically becomes its chairman.