Democratic Deficit: Deputy Speaker’s Role and the Alarming Delay in Appointment (2025)

Written by Suyash Shukla

Introduction

Deputy Speaker, a position, despite finding its mandate under Article 93 of the Indian Constitution, has not been a part of mainstream discussion, becoming a position that has been forgotten and has been given no heed, despite it being vacant since 2019.

Article 93 of the Constitution 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, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.”. Still, since 2019, we have found no successor to M. Thambidurai, who last served in this position.

In this blog, we discuss the position of Deputy Speaker in the context of the Indian Constitution and his duties and functions, while also looking at the current issue of non-appointment and the implications of the same, while also suggesting changes to the existing constitutional provisions such that the significance of the office of the deputy speaker is not overlooked.

Why Deputy Speaker Matters?

The powers of the Deputy Speaker are enshrined under Article 95 of the Indian Constitution, where the duties of the Speaker are assumed by the Deputy Speaker when the office of the Speaker is vacant or when the Speaker is absent. The Deputy Speaker has the power to preside over the joint session of the Houses of Parliament when the Speaker is absent, as given under Article 118(4) of the Indian Constitution. In the absence of both speaker and the deputy speaker, the Panel of Chairpersons nominated by speaker under Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure And Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

Article 100(2) gives the power to the Deputy Speaker to vote in case of a tie in votes in the Lok Sabha, when the Speaker is absent and he is presiding. The Deputy Speaker, when appointed as a member of any committee, is automatically deemed to be the chairman of that committee, as given under Rule 258 of the Rules of Procedure And Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

Article 94 provides that the Deputy Speaker continues to hold office till the dissolution of Lok Sabha unless they resign, cease to be a member, or are removed by a resolution. The Deputy Speaker is elected as per the procedures provided under the Rules of Procedure And Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, where Rule 8 provides for the election on the date fixed by the speaker.

The presence of the deputy speaker ensures that the usual business of the Lok Sabha goes on smoothly even during the absence of the speaker, and the provision under Article 93 of electing members as speaker and deputy speaker “as soon as may be” shows the importance of this post being mandated by the Indian Constitution itself.

Historical Background

1919–1935: President & Deputy President

The concept of deputy speaker found its origins in the Government of India Act, 1919, where it was stated that the governor’s legislative council would have a president, and it provided for the deputy-president to preside at the meetings of the council in the absence of the president. they both could resign by writing their resignation addressed to the governor. Frederick Whyte was the first person to be appointed as the President of the Governor’s Legislative Council, while Sachchidananda Sinha was the first Deputy President.

1935–1947: Transition to Speaker & Deputy Speaker

The Government of India Act, 1935 was introduced after the round table conferences of 1931-33, which led to an agreement that British India and Princely states would be integrated into a federal domain of India. This Act marked the end of diarchy in India and provided for provincial autonomy, with governor having limited reserve powers, where the provinces could elect their representatives, and this laid the foundation of the functioning of Parliamentary System of Modern India. The Government of India Act, 1935, acted as a significant landmark where the word “president” was substituted with “Speaker” and provided for them to be called as Speaker and Deputy Speaker at both federal (Section 22) and provincial levels (Section 65).

1949–1950: Constituent Assembly Adoption

The provision of Speaker and Deputy Speaker was discussed on 19 May 1949 and was adopted by the Constituent Assembly in the framework of the Indian Constitution without significant debates. The provision which was debated was the one of resignation, where it was discussed to whom the speaker should submit his resignation.

The amendment moved by H.V. Kamath involved the substitution of the words “to the deputy speaker to “to the president” where the argument presented by Mr. Kamath involved that speaker should submit his resignation to the president, instead of deputy speaker, where he argued that speaker should not tender his resignation to a person subordinate to him.

The amendment was opposed by Shibban Lal Saxena, who argued that the President of the nation is the executive head and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker should remain independent from the executive, and the Speaker sending his resignation to the President meant involving the executive, and the independence of the House and Speaker must be maintained.

The argument of Mr. Saxena was supported by Dr Ambedkar, who rejected the argument of Mr. Kamath and affirmed the importance of the house as the appointing authority of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and to resign, they must address their resignation to their appointing authority. The provision of addressing resignation to the speaker or deputy speaker is made because they represent the house. This led to the formation of the provisions of resignation of the speaker and deputy speaker given in Article 94 of the Indian Constitution.

Post 1950

After the 1^st elections in Independent India, the first to be elected as speaker of India was G.V. Mavlankar and the first Deputy Speaker to be elected was M.A. Ayyangar, who also assumed the responsibilities of Speaker after the death of Mavlankar.

The rule of election of Deputy Speaker continued, where after every general election, the speaker and deputy speaker were elected, until there was a sudden pause in 2019, where we have found no successor to the post of deputy speaker last held by M. Thambidurai. This presents a scenario where, despite being a necessity to elect a deputy speaker as provided under Article 93, which uses the words, “as soon as may be”, has been overlooked.

The Vacancy Since 2019: A Concerning Discontinuity

The non-appointment of the deputy speaker poses a significant situation where we observe that for nearly 6 years, a post mandated by provisions of the Constitution of India has been left vacant or “forgotten”, where the last time the effort to elect a deputy speaker took place nearly 10 years ago in 2014, when M. Thambidurai was elected as one, and after 2019 elections and recent 2024 elections, deputy speaker seems to have become an office of desuetude, having no holders for that long period.

The non-appointment also violates the constitutional mandate under Article 93, where the words “shall” and “as soon as” have been used by the makers of the constitution, which mandates the election of deputy speaker, and its violation sets up a bad precedent, directly maligning the supremacy of the Indian constitution.

Rule 8 of the Rules of Procedure And Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha provides the power to the speaker of Lok Sabha to fix the date of election of deputy speaker, which acts as a significant barrier, since the election of deputy as a whole depends on the event of speaker fixing the date, and here we observe that the date is yet to be fixed by the speaker since the post was last held by M. Thambidurai.

The case of Shariq Ahmed v. Union of India & Ors. W.P. (C) No. 126 of 2023 observed the position of Deputy Speaker being a mandate under Article 93/178 of the Indian Constitution. The court also observed that the non-appointment of the Deputy Speaker leads to the violation of the constitutional mandate, since the word “shall” is given in the Indian Constitution. Article 122 of the Indian Constitution was observed, where the proceedings of parliament could not be questioned in the court.

However, the Hon’ble SC held that the duty to elect a deputy speaker as per the provisions of the Indian Constitution can be questioned. The matter is pending before the court and it might act as an important precedent for the position of the Deputy Speaker.

However, we observe that the position of Deputy Speaker remains vacant, and in particular, no action seems to be taken to address this issue.

Consequences of non-appointment

The consequences of not appointing a deputy speaker could be seen in the form of having no presiding officer in Lok Sabha in the event of absence of speaker, leading to inefficiencies in the process of the house. This has been seen twice since 2019, when the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, was absent from Lok Sabha in 2020 budget session and 2023 monsoon session, and others had to fill in for him.

The absence in 2020 budget session came with more implications, where 7 Congress MPs were suspended, when the proceedings were handled by MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rama Devi, Rajendra Agarwal and Meenakshi Lekhi, the Panel of Chairpersons, in the absence of Om Birla. This could be seen as an act against the spirit of democracy, where the absence of deputy speaker led to the MPs of the ruling Government and one ally of the ruling government took forward the proceedings, who took decisions against the leaders of opposition, making the whole process of suspension undemocratic.

The non-appointment of a deputy speaker appears in the form of inefficiencies in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha when the absence of Om Birla led to the suspension of members of the opposition party, due to the fact that there was no authority in the absence of speaker to ensure smooth and neutral functioning of the house.

Conclusion and Recommendation

The vacancy of the office of deputy speaker has raised a significant issue where a post mandated by the constitution, and was given due importance by the makers of the Constitution, has remained vacant for more than 2000 days, and steps need to be taken to ensure that the post receives its respect which has been long overdue.

The foremost change which needs to be made is to mandate a time period to elect both the speaker and the deputy speaker. The provisions in Indian Constitution and the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha provide no specific time period for the election of the speaker and deputy speaker, thereby creating a situation where a position mandated by the constitution has been left empty without any concern. The speaker seems to have overlooked his function of fixing the date of the election of deputy speaker since 2019, which has led to the office becoming one of desuetude, having no holders since then.

Another significant change, which needs to be done, is to change the provisions of Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, where the members of Panel of Chairpersons must be nominated by both the speaker and the deputy speaker, which would provide more weight to the power and position of the deputy speaker, mandating the election, while also ensuring neutrality in the panel of chairpersons.

Creating awareness about the position of the deputy speaker and its importance is an important step to ensure that the people are aware about the significance of the deputy speaker, which leads the Members of Lok Sabha to take step in the positive direction and the case of Shariq Ahmed poses a significant situation where the precedent set by the Hon’ble Supreme Court would decide the things to come.

The vacancy of the office of deputy speaker since 2019 has created an interesting scenario where no heed is being given to the pertaining issue, which has been persisting for about 2000 days, despite being a constitutional mandate, and steps need to be taken in a positive direction to ensure that the position of the deputy speaker is given its due importance after being neglected for a long period.

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Reviewed by Jeet Sinha.