In a shock to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), national vice-president Mukul Roy left the saffron camp to rejoin Mamata Banerjee in Trinamool Congress. Leader of the Opposition in Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, submitted a petition to Speaker Biman Banerjee, seeking disqualification of Roy's membership in the House under the anti-defection law as he won the seat on a BJP ticket.
What is the anti-defection law?
The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, better known as the anti-defection law, seeks to prevent political defections which may be prompted by reward of office or other similar considerations. It was put into the Constitution in 1985. It consists of the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature. This will be taken forward when a member of the House moves a petition against a certain defecting member.
The law ensures that a member does not violate mandate of the party, and if he does, he may lose his membership of the House.
This is applicable to both the Parliament and the state assemblies.
What qualifies as 'defection'?
A member is said to have 'defected' when he or she either has abandoned a position or association, often to join an opposing group.
When can an MLA or MP be disqualified?
> If an elected member gives up his membership of the party voluntarily
> If the MLA or MP abstains from voting in the house, going against the party's direction
> If any independently-elected member joins any political party
> If a nominated member joins any political party after six months
The decision to disqualify a legislator is referred to the Speaker or the Chairman of the House and their decision is considered final.
Exceptions
In case two-third legislators of a political party decide to merge with another party, neither the members who decide to join nor the ones who stay with the original party, will face disqualification.
How long can the Presiding Officer take to decide upon the disqualification?
The law does not mention a specific time limit for the decision. The courts cannot intervene before the decision is made, so the only option is to wait. All the judicial institutions can do is express concern over unnecessary delays, if any.
There have been cases where the defecting members continued to be members of the House due to a delay in the officer's decision.
How does the anti-defection law impact the legislators' decision-making ability?
While the main aim of the law is to maintain a stable House, it also impedes the lawmakers' ability to vote as per their conscience and judgment.
Under the law, the members are obliged to vote according to decisions taken by the party leadership and not what their constituents may require.