Regarding the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker, consider the following statements: 1. He/She holds the office during the pleasure of the President. 2. He/She need not be a member of the House at the time of his/her election but has to become a member of the House within six months from the date of his/her election. 3. If he/she intends to resign, the letter of his/her resignation has to be addressed to the Deputy Speaker. Which of the statements given above is /are correct?

QUESTION

Medium

Indian Polity

Prelims 2012

Regarding the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker, consider the following statements:

He/She holds the office during the pleasure of the President.
He/She need not be a member of the House at the time of his/her election but has to become a member of the House within six months from the date of his/her election.
If he/she intends to resign, the letter of his/her resignation has to be addressed to the Deputy Speaker.

Which of the statements given above is /are correct?

Select an option to attempt

Explanation

Statement 1 is incorrect: The Speaker is elected by the Lok Sabha from among its members. He/she does not hold office at the "pleasure of the President" (unlike a Minister or Governor). He/she can be removed only by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the Lok Sabha. Furthermore, even when the Lok Sabha is dissolved, the Speaker continues in office until immediately before the first meeting of the new Lok Sabha.

Statement 2 is incorrect: According to Article 93, the Lok Sabha must choose two of its members to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. Therefore, a person must be a member of the Lok Sabha at the time of their election. The "six-month" rule applies to Ministers (Article 75), not to the Speaker.

Statement 3 is correct: Under Article 94(b), the Speaker may resign from his/her office by writing under his/her hand addressed to the Deputy Speaker. Conversely, the Deputy Speaker resigns by writing to the Speaker.

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