With reference to anti-defection law in India, consider the following statements:
1. The law specifies that an independent legislator cannot join any political party within six months of being appointed to the House.
2. The presiding officer decides over disqualification of legislator Under Anti-Defection Law within three months.
3. A legislator is disqualified if their political party terminates their membership.

Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

Question

With reference to anti-defection law in India, consider the following statements:
1. The law specifies that an independent legislator cannot join any political party within six months of being appointed to the House.
2. The presiding officer decides over disqualification of legislator Under Anti-Defection Law within three months.
3. A legislator is disqualified if their political party terminates their membership.

Which of the statements given above is/are not correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3

ONLiNE UPSC · Accepted Answer

Recently, the Supreme Court has ordered the Speaker of the Telangana Assembly to decide within three months on petitions seeking the disqualification of MLAs who had switched to other parties following the 2023 elections.

Statement 1 is not correct: The anti-defection law states that an independent legislator cannot join any political party after being elected. If an independent MLA or MP does so, they face disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law. The six-month relaxation applies only to nominated members, who are allowed to join a political party within six months of their nomination. However, this provision does not extend to independents, who are barred from joining any party at any stage after the election.

Statement 2 is not correct: The law does not set any fixed time limit for the Speaker or Chairman to decide on disqualification petitions. However, the Supreme Court has suggested that these decisions should ideally be made within three months. This, however, is only a guideline and not a binding rule.

Statement 3 is not correct: A legislator can be disqualified if they voluntarily give up their party membership or go against the party whip. While termination of party membership can be taken as evidence of voluntary resignation, it does not by itself result in disqualification. The final authority rests with the presiding officer, who must decide whether the legislator has actually defected.

Anti-Defection Law

Provisions and Disqualification Criteria

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M Question 1	⏱ 0
With reference to anti-defection law in India, consider the following statements: 1. The law specifies that an independent legislator cannot join any political party within six months of being appointed to the House. 2. The presiding officer decides over disqualification of legislator Under Anti-Defection Law within three months. 3. A legislator is disqualified if their political party terminates their membership. Which of the statements given above is/are not correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3