Anti-Defection Law has been in news lately as the High Court of Kolkata asked the West Bengal Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee to pass an order of defection case involving Mukul Roy (an MLA in the state). Know all about this law here and how it works for the benefit of the Indian Constitution and Democracy in the article below.
Mukul Roy had contested elections on behalf of BJP ticket and then had joined Trinamool Congress. The first question that comes to mind of a regular citizen of India is that- Is this allowed?
The answer is no, the Indian Constitution has a law defined against it- Anti Defection Law which is included in the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Check all details below.
What is Anti Defection Law?
It all began with a phrase- "Aya Ram Gaya Ram", which gained popularity in the Indian polity after MLA from Haryana, Gaya Lal changed his party thrice within the same day.
It happened in 1967. The case became a base for the Parliament to insert the 10th Schedule in the Indian Constitution. This law lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the House.
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What Does The Anti Defection Law Entail?
The legislation states that the legislator has committed defection in case he voluntarily gives up the membership of his party or in other cases disobeys the directives of the party leadership on a vote in the house of the Parliament. The inference through this action is taken as the legislator is defying the party whip.
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Provisions of the 10th Schedule: Grounds for Defection-
The grounds for disqualification of any member entail the following listed in the table below:
| If an elected member gives up his membership of a political party voluntarily |
| In case the member of the party votes or abstains from voting in the House, contrary to any direction issued by his political party. |
| In case any independently elected member joins any other party |
| In case any nominated member joins any political party after the end of 6 months |
| The decision on disqualification questions on the ground of defection is referred to the Speaker or the Chairman of the House, and his/her decision is final. |
| Proceedings related to disqualification under the 10th Schedule are considered to be proceedings in Parliament or the Legislature of a state depending on the case |
Exceptions: Anti-Defection Law
The law however does not bind the legislators to their political parties forever. The legislators can change their parties without any risk of disqualification in various specified circumstances. This law allows the party to merge with another in case 2/3 members agree to this merger. None of the members faces defection charges in such a case. In other cases, if a person was elected as chairman or speaker and had to resign from his party because of that- he/she can rejoin the party if they leave that post.
Initially, the law had stated that the Presiding officer is not subject to any judicial review. This was however struck down by the Supreme Court in 1992. It was also stated that there would be no intervention until the Presiding officer gave his order.
There have been a lot of defection cases going on in India. Many MLAs and MPs have been shifting parties. In Jharkhand, ex-CM Babulal Marandi is also facing proceedings under the Tenth Schedule after merging his party, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), with the BJP. We hope the explanation above would clarify a lot to the readers about the law.
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