{"id":46614,"date":"2025-07-01T20:54:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T15:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=46614"},"modified":"2025-07-02T17:15:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T11:45:25","slug":"anti-defection-law-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/01-07-2025\/anti-defection-law-role","title":{"rendered":"Role of Anti-Defection Law in Protecting Democratic Integrity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus :GS2\/Governance&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Recently, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister highlighted the anti-defection law\u2019s key role in protecting democracy during a 2024 political crisis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>What is Defection?<\/strong><br>&#8211; It occurs when a member voluntarily leaves their party, votes against party instructions, or stays absent from the House despite party leadership&#8217;s direction to be present.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Anti-defection Law<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Th<strong>e Tenth Schedule of the Constitution<\/strong>, commonly known as the anti-defection law introduced in India in <strong>1985 <\/strong>through the <strong>52nd Constitutional Amendment.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It was aimed at <strong>curbing rampant party-switching by legislators <\/strong>that often destabilised elected governments and undermined democratic mandates.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The infamous<strong> \u201cAaya Ram, Gaya Ram\u201d phenomenon<\/strong> epitomised the <strong>unethical political culture<\/strong>, where legislators frequently switched allegiances for personal gain undermining voter trust and destabilising governments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Provisions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It provides for the Presiding Officer of the legislature to disqualify any defector on a petition by another member.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It contemplates <strong>two kinds of defection:<\/strong> (a) by a member voluntarily giving up membership of the party on whose symbol he got elected (b) by a member violating a direction (whip) issued by his party to vote in a particular way or to abstain from voting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Exceptions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Originally, the Tenth Schedule allowed two exceptions to disqualification: a split by one-third of a legislature party and a merger approved by two-thirds of the members.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Change by the 91st Amendment (2003):<\/strong> To strengthen the anti-defection law and prevent its misuse, the provision allowing for &#8220;splits&#8221; (the one-third exception) was removed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Role of Anti-Defection Law in Protecting Democracy<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Upholding Electoral Mandate:<\/strong> The law prevents legislators from betraying the party under which they were elected, thus honouring the choice of voters.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Example:<\/strong> Prevents a post-election \u201cdeal culture\u201d where MLAs shift loyalties for ministerial perks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ensuring Government Stability:<\/strong> By discouraging sudden party-switching, especially during no-confidence motions or budget votes, the law promotes continuity in governance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promoting Party Discipline:<\/strong> The law enforces discipline through the party whip mechanism, essential for coordinated functioning in a parliamentary democracy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Curbing Corruption and Opportunism:<\/strong> By deterring political defection for personal gains, the law attempts to reduce unethical practices like bribery and horse-trading.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Criticisms&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Speaker\u2019s Discretion and Delays: <\/strong>No time-bound requirement to decide on disqualification.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Political bias often clouds impartial decision-making.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Supreme Court in <strong>Keisham Meghachandra Singh v. Manipur Speaker (2020)<\/strong> held that Speakers must decide within a reasonable period of 3 months, but it\u2019s not enforceable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Opaque Use of Party Whips:<\/strong> Internal party mechanisms of issuing whips lack transparency.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ambiguity about whether legislators are properly informed of the whip.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Judicial Limitations:<\/strong> Courts are reluctant to intervene promptly due to the \u201cautonomy of the legislature\u201d.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This leads to status quoism, allowing defectors to enjoy power till the term ends.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fails to Discourage Wholesale Defections:<\/strong> Law still enables engineered mergers under the garb of \u201c2\/3rd\u201d support.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Recent examples:<\/strong> Goa (2019), Arunachal Pradesh (2016) show how the law can be outmaneuvered by larger parties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion and Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Time-bound Decisions: <\/strong>Amend the Tenth Schedule to require decisions is a defined time frame, failing which disqualification is automatic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transparent Whip Communication:<\/strong> Legal mandate for publication of whips (e.g., newspapers, online).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Independent Tribunal:<\/strong> Instead of the Speaker, a neutral body (perhaps under ECI) should handle disqualifications, as recommended by:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Law Commission Report 170 (1999)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2002)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: TH<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>In News<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Recently, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister highlighted the anti-defection law\u2019s key role in protecting democracy during a 2024 political crisis.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Anti-defection Law<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, commonly known as the anti-defection law\u00a0 introduced in India in 1985 through the 52nd Constitutional Amendment.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">It was aimed at curbing rampant party-switching by legislators that often destabilised elected governments and undermined democratic mandates.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The infamous \u201cAaya Ram, Gaya Ram\u201d phenomenon epitomised the unethical political culture, where legislators frequently switched allegiances for personal gain undermining voter trust and destabilising governments.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/01-07-2025\/anti-defection-law-role\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46614"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46679,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46614\/revisions\/46679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}