Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha Speaker is elected by the House itself to preside over its sittings, maintain order, and decide procedural questions such as whether a Bill is a Money Bill. Article 93 of the Constitution requires the House of the People to choose two of its own members as Speaker and Deputy Speaker as soon as possible after it is constituted, and to choose replacements whenever either office falls vacant.

Article 93: Election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker

Article 93 states that the House of the People "shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof" and that the House shall choose another member whenever either office becomes vacant. Both offices are therefore filled by election from within the sitting Lok Sabha — unlike the Rajya Sabha Chairman, who is the Vice-President serving ex officio, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha are always elected members of the House they preside over.

Historical Evolution of the Office

The office traces back to 1921, created under the Government of India Act, 1919 (the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms). Before that, the Governor-General of India personally presided over the Central Legislative Council. The first presiding officers appointed in 1921, Frederick Whyte and Sachidanand Sinha, were called President and Deputy President rather than Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Vithalbhai J. Patel became the first Indian, and the first elected, presiding officer of the central legislative assembly in 1925. The Government of India Act, 1935 formally renamed the offices Speaker and Deputy Speaker, though the older titles continued in practice until 1947 because the federal provisions of the 1935 Act were never implemented. After independence, G.V. Mavalankar became the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Ananthasayanam Ayyangar the first Deputy Speaker; Mavalankar had also presided as Speaker of the Constituent Assembly (Legislative) and the provisional Parliament, holding the office continuously from 1946 to 1956.

Role and Powers of the Speaker

The Speaker presides over sittings of the Lok Sabha and is responsible for maintaining order and decorum during proceedings. The Speaker's decision on whether a particular Bill is a Money Bill is final. Like other presiding officers, the Speaker does not vote in the first instance on questions before the House under Article 100, but exercises a casting vote in case of a tie. The Speaker also chairs several key House committees — the Business Advisory Committee, the Rules Committee, and the General Purposes Committee — though not the Estimates Committee. When both Houses of Parliament sit together in a joint sitting, it is the Speaker of the Lok Sabha who presides.

Removal of the Speaker

The Speaker (and Deputy Speaker) can be removed by a resolution of the Lok Sabha, for which fourteen days' advance notice is required. While such a resolution is under consideration, the Speaker cannot preside over the sitting, has no right to speak, and is not entitled even to a first-instance vote on the resolution — though the Speaker may still be present and participate to the extent the rules allow once someone else is presiding. Removal of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker requires what is termed an "effective majority" — a majority of the total membership of the House at the time, excluding vacant seats — the same standard used for removing the Vice-President in the Rajya Sabha and the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

The Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker is elected in the same manner as the Speaker, on a date the Speaker fixes, and by well-established parliamentary practice the motion for the Deputy Speaker's election is moved by the Speaker and seconded by the Prime Minister. A further convention holds that the Deputy Speaker is drawn from either the principal opposition party or the ruling party. Whenever the Deputy Speaker presides over a sitting of the House, they exercise the same powers as the Speaker, and no appeal lies against their rulings.

Panel of Chairpersons

Under the Rules of the Lok Sabha, the Speaker nominates a panel of up to ten members as chairpersons who may preside over the House whenever both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are absent. A member of this panel has the same powers as the Speaker while presiding and holds this standby role until a new panel is nominated. If even a member of the panel is unavailable, any other person the House determines can preside — though a panel member cannot preside while a resolution for the Speaker's own removal is under discussion.

Presiding Over a Joint Sitting

When the President summons a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, the order of presiding officers is fixed: the Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides first; in the Speaker's absence, the Deputy Speaker presides; if the Deputy Speaker is also absent, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha presides; and if that officer too is absent, any other person the members present decide upon presides. Notably, the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (the Vice-President) never presides over a joint sitting, since the Vice-President is not a member of either House of Parliament.

Situation	Who presides
Normal Lok Sabha sitting	Speaker
Speaker absent	Deputy Speaker
Both Speaker and Deputy Speaker absent	A member from the panel of chairpersons
Joint sitting, Speaker available	Speaker
Joint sitting, Speaker and Deputy Speaker both absent	Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

Article 93 requires the Lok Sabha to elect a Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its own members.
Removal of the Speaker/Deputy Speaker requires fourteen days' notice and an effective majority.
G.V. Mavalankar was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha; Vithalbhai J. Patel was the first elected Indian presiding officer of the central legislative assembly (1925).
The Speaker presides over a joint sitting of Parliament; the Rajya Sabha Chairman never does.

Mains (GS2)

Discuss the significance of the Speaker's neutrality for the effective functioning of the Lok Sabha.
Examine the constitutional safeguards that protect the Speaker from arbitrary removal.

FAQ

Q1. Who elects the Speaker of the Lok Sabha? The Lok Sabha itself elects the Speaker from among its own members, as required by Article 93, as soon as possible after the House is constituted.

Q2. Can the Speaker vote in the Lok Sabha? The Speaker does not vote in the first instance on any question but exercises a casting vote only when there is a tie, under Article 100.

Q3. How is the Speaker removed from office? The Lok Sabha can remove the Speaker by a resolution passed with an effective majority, after fourteen days' advance notice; the Speaker cannot preside while such a resolution is under consideration.

Q4. Who presides over a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament? The Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides; if absent, the Deputy Speaker presides; if both are absent, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha presides.

Q5. Who was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha? G.V. Mavalankar was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha after independence, with Ananthasayanam Ayyangar as the first Deputy Speaker.

Quick Revision

Article 93: Lok Sabha elects a Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its own members.
Speaker's decision on whether a Bill is a Money Bill is final.
Removal needs fourteen days' notice and an effective majority; Speaker cannot preside during the debate on their own removal.
Deputy Speaker convention: election motion moved by the Speaker, seconded by the Prime Minister.
Joint sitting presiding order: Speaker, then Deputy Speaker, then Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
G.V. Mavalankar — first Speaker of independent India's Lok Sabha (1946–1956, including Constituent Assembly and provisional Parliament).

Sources

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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