An issue has arisen regarding the expulsion of Somnath Chatterjee from the CPM from the membership of the party after he defied the party’s diktat to quit his office ahead of the trust vote which the Government just won.

What the Left parties have lost sight of is the fact that as per the Constitution, the Speaker, being chosen by the entire House of the People, is expected to act impartially and in a fair and unbiased manner. The Speaker ought not to become partisan so as to avoid an unconscious bias for or against a particular view and to inspire confidence in all sections of the House about his integrity. The Left also seem to have lost sight of the fact that once Somnath Chatterjee was elected as the Speaker, ipso facto he ceased to be an active member of the CPM and that his first allegiance was and is to the Constitution and to the House of the People.

That having being said, once elected, the Speaker can only be removed in three ways from office- (a) if he ceases to be a member of the House; (b) if he resigns or (c) if removed from office by a resolution passed by a majority of the members of the then House (Article 94). Though the provisions of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, in particular Rule 2(b), specifies that if a member “votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by the political party to which he belongs or by any person or authority authorised by it in this behalf, without obtaining, in either case, the prior permission of such political party, person or authority and such voting or abstention has not been condoned by such political party, person or authority within fifteen days from the date of such vote or abstention.”, a specific exception has been carved out in respect of the Speaker and the presiding officers of the legislatures (Rule 5, Tenth Schedule) whereby the provisions of the anti-defection law referred to above will not apply to the Speaker or the presiding officers of the Legislatures.

... contd.