New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday decided to consider a PIL questioning non-fulfillment of the post of deputy speaker in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
“Non-election of Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies is against healthy democratic functioning. Though there is no statutory requirement, however, a healthy convention has developed over time that the ruling party elects the Speaker while the post of Deputy Speaker is given to the opposition,” the PIL said.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala sought the assistance of Attorney General R Venkataramani after hearing brief arguments by senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, appearing for Delhi-based advocate Shariq Ahmed, who filed the PIL.
The petition states that the present 17th Lok Sabha was constituted in May 2019 and Om Birla was elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, who assumed office on June 19, 2019, but no deputy speaker has been elected since then. Is.
Despite the passage of more than three and a half years since the constitution of the present Lok Sabha, the post of Deputy Speaker is lying vacant in violation of Articles 93 to 96 of the Constitution.
“Similarly, the posts of Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assemblies of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are also lying vacant, although the Legislative Assemblies in those States have been constituted much earlier,” the petition said.
