Tenth Schedule
[Schedule X] Tenth Schedule (Articles 102 (2) and 191 (2)) Provisions as to
disqualification on ground of defection
Paragraph
1 Interpretation
In this Schedule, unless the context
otherwise requires, -
(a) "House" means either House
of Parliament or the Legislative Assembly or, as the case may be,
either House of the Legislature of a State;
(b) "legislature
party" in relation to a member of a House
belonging to any
political party in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 or
paragraph 3 or, as the case may be, paragraph 4, means the group
consisting of all the members of that House for the time being
belonging to that political party in accordance with the said
provisions;
(c) "original political party", in
relation to a member of a House, means the political party to which
he belongs for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2;
(d)
"paragraph" means a paragraph of this Schedule.
Paragraph
2 Disqualification on ground of defection
(1) Subject
to the provisions of paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, a member of a House
belonging to any political party shall be disqualified for being a
member of the House -
(a) if he has voluntarily given up his
membership of such political party; or
(b) if he 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 voting or abstention.
Explanation: For the purposes
of this sub-paragraph, -
(a) an elected member of a House shall
be deemed to belong to the political party, if any, by which he was
set up as a candidate for election as such member;
(b) a
nominated member of a House shall, -
(i) where he is a member of
any political party on the date of his nomination as such member, be
deemed to belong to such political party;
(ii) in any other
case, be deemed to belong to the political party of which he becomes,
or, as the case may be, first becomes, a member before the expiry of
six months from the date on which he takes his seat after complying
with the requirements of article 99 or, as the case may be, article
188.
(2) An elected member of a House who has been elected as
such otherwise than a candidate set up by any political party shall
be disqualified for being a member of the House if he joins any
political party after such election.
(3) A nominated member of a
House shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if he
joins any political party after the expiry of six months from the
date on which he takes his seat after complying with the requirements
of article 99 or, as the case may be, article 188.
(4)
Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of
this paragraph, a person who, on the commencement of the Constitution
(Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985, is a member of a House (whether
elected or nominated as such) shall, -
(i) where he was a member
of a political party immediately before such commencement, be deemed,
for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, to have been
elected as a member of such House as a candidate set up by such
political party;
(ii) in any other case, be deemed to be an
elected member of the House who has been elected as such otherwise
than as a candidate set up by any political party for the purposes of
sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph or, as the case may be, be deemed
to be a nominated member of the House for the purposes of
sub-paragraph (3) of this paragraph.
Paragraph
3 Disqualification on ground of defection not to apply in case of
split
Where a member of a House makes a claim that he and
any other member of his legislature party constitute the group
representing a faction which has arisen as a result of the split in
his original political party and such group consists of not less than
one-third of the members of such legislature party, -
(a) he
shall not be disqualified under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 on
the ground -
(i) that he has voluntarily given up his membership
of his original political party; or
(ii) that he has voted or
abstained from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued
by such party or by any person or authority authorised by it in that
behalf without obtaining the prior permission of such party, person
or authority and such voting or the date of such voting or abstention
has not been condoned by such party, person or authority within
fifteen days from the date of such voting or abstention; and
(b)
from the time of such split, such faction shall be deemed to be the
political party to which he belongs for the purposes of sub-paragraph
(1) of paragraph 2 and to be his original political party for the
purposes of this paragraph.
Paragraph
4 Disqualification on ground of defection not to apply in case of
merger
(1) A member of a House shall not be
disqualified under sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 where his
original political party merges with another political party and he
claims that he and any other members of his original political party
-
(a) have become members of such political party or, as the
case may be, of a new political party formed by such merger; or
(b)
have not accepted the merger and opted to function as a separate
group, and from the time of such merger, such other political party
or new political party or group, as the case may be, shall be deemed
to be the political party to which he belongs for the purposes of
sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 and to be his original political
party for the purposes of this sub-paragraph.
(2) For the
purposes of sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph, the merger of the
original political party of a member of a House shall be deemed to
have taken place if, and only if, not less than two-thirds of the
members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such
merger.
Paragraph
5 Exemption
Notwithstanding anything contained in this
Schedule, a person who has been elected to the office of the Speaker
or the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People or the Deputy
Chairman of the Council of States or the Chairman or the Deputy
Chairman of the Legislative Council of a State or the Speaker or the
Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a State, shall not be
disqualified under this Schedule, -
(a) if he, by reason of his
election to such office, voluntarily gives up the membership of the
political party to which he belonged immediately before such election
and does not, so long as he continues to hold such office thereafter,
rejoin that political party or become a member of another political
party; or
(b) if he, having given up by reason of his election
to such office his membership of the political party to which he
belonged immediately before such election, rejoins such political
party after he ceases to hold such office.
Paragraph
6 Decision on questions as to disqualification on ground of
defection
(1) If any question arises as to whether a
member of a House has become subject to disqualification under the
Schedule, the question shall be referred for the decision of the
Chairman or, as the case may be, the Speaker of such House and his
decision shall be final:
Provided that where the question which
has arisen is as to whether the Chairman or the Speaker of a House
has become subject to such disqualification, the question shall be
referred for the decision of such member of the House as the House
may elect in this behalf and his decision shall be final.
(2)
All proceedings under sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph in relation
to any question as to disqualification of a member of a House under
this Schedule shall be deemed to be proceedings in Parliament within
the meaning of article 122 or, as the case may be, proceedings in the
Legislature of a State within the meaning of article 212.
Paragraph
7 Bar of jurisdiction of courts
Notwithstanding anything in
this Constitution, no court shall have any jurisdiction in respect of
any matter connected with the disqualification of a member of a House
under this Schedule.
Paragraph
8 Rules
(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-paragraph
(2) of this paragraph, the Chairman or the Speaker of a House may
make rules for giving effect to the provisions of this Schedule, and
in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the
foregoing, such rules may provide for -
(a) the maintenance of
registers or other records as to the political parties, if any, to
which different members of the House belong:
(b) the report
which the leader of a legislature party in relation to a member of a
House shall furnish with regard to any condonation of the nature
referred to in clause (b) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 in
respect of such member, the time within which and the authority to
whom such report shall be furnished;
(c) the reports which a
political party shall furnish with regard to admission to such
political party of any members of the House and the officer of the
House to whom such reports shall be furnished; and
(d) the
procedure for deciding any question referred to in sub-paragraph (1)
of paragraph 6 including the procedure for any inquiry which may be
made for the purpose of deciding such question.
(2) The rules
made by the Chairman or the Speaker of a House under sub-paragraph
(1) of this paragraph shall be laid as soon as may be after they made
before the House for a total period of thirty days which may be
comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and
shall take effect upon the expiry of the said period of thirty days
unless they are sooner approved with or without modifications or
disapproved by the House and where they are so approved, they shall
take effect on such approval in the form in which they were laid or
in such modified form, as the case may be, and where they are so
disapproved, they shall be of no effect.
(3) The Chairman or the
Speaker of a House may, without prejudice to the provisions of
article 105 or, as the case may be, article 194, and to any other
power which he may have under this Constitution direct that any
wilful contravention by any person of the rules made under this
paragraph may be dealt within the same manner as a branch of
privilege of the House.
|