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SLIPPING THROUGH THE CRACKS
What the article is about?
- Talks about the loopholes in the 10th schedule.
Syllabus: GS-II Indian Constitution, Amendments
Anti-Defection Law:
- The anti-defection law punishes individual MPs/MLAs for leaving one party for another.
- It allows a group of MP/MLAs to join (i.e. merge with) another political party without inviting the penalty for defection.
- And it does not penalise political parties for encouraging or accepting defecting legislators.
- Parliament added it to the Constitution as the Tenth Schedule in 1985 — 52nd Amendment Act, 1985.
- Its purpose was to bring stability to governments by discouraging legislators from changing parties.
- It was a response to the toppling of multiple state governments by party-hopping MLAs after the general elections of 1967.
Loopholes:
- As per the 1985 Act, a 'defection' by one-third of the elected members of a political party was considered a ‘merger'.
- But the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, changed this to at least 2/3 of the members of a party have to be in favour of a “merger” for it to have validity in the eyes of the law.
- However, the amendment does not recognise a ‘split’ in a legislature party and instead recognises a ‘merger’.
- A merger is only recognised with 2/3 of members agreed to merge – leads to clandestine corruption, where members are bought.
- Controversial Role of Speaker:
- In many instances, the Speaker (usually from the ruling party) has delayed deciding on the disqualification and took biased decisions.
- Seen this happen in Manipur, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and other jurisdictions.
- Undermining Representative & Parliamentary Democracy:
- Due to the Anti-Defection law, the chain of accountability has been broken by making legislators accountable primarily to the political party.
- Promote Horse-Trading:
- Defection also promotes horse-trading of legislators which clearly go against the mandate of a democratic setup.
Way Ahead:
- To supplant the Tenth Schedule, speakers, when elected must resign from the party to which they belong.
- All those disqualified under the 10th Schedule should neither be entitled to contest elections nor hold public office for five years from the date of their disqualification.
- And Article 164(1B) should be omitted by moving a constitutional amendment.
- If our polity wants to get rid of open corruption, it needs to take urgent steps to plug existing loopholes that have made the Tenth Schedule unworkable.
