Speaker of the Lok Sabha

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha (IAST: Lok Sabhā Adhyakṣa) is the presiding officer and the highest authority of the Lok Sabha (House of the People), the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general elections. Serving for a term of five years, the speaker chosen from sitting members of the Lok Sabha (House of the People), and is by convention a member of the ruling party or alliance.

Om Birla of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the current Speaker who presides over the 17th Lok Sabha.

Election of the Speaker

Newly elected Members of Parliament from the Lok Sabha elect the Speaker among themselves. The Speaker should be someone who understands Lok Sabha functions and it should be someone accepted among the ruling and opposition parties.

MPs propose a name to the Pro tem speaker. These names are notified to the President of India. The President through their aide Secretary-General notifies the election date. If only one name is proposed, the Speaker is elected without any formal vote. However, if more than one nomination is received, a division (vote) is called. MPs vote for their candidate on such date notified by President. The successful candidate is elected as Speaker of the Lok Sabha until the next general election.

Powers and functions of the Speaker

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha conducts the business in house, and decides whether a bill is a money bill or not. They maintain discipline and decorum in the house and can punish a member for unruly behaviour by suspending them. They also permit the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions such as a motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure and calling attention notice as per the rules. The Speaker decides on the agenda to be taken up for discussion during the meeting. The date of election of the Speaker is fixed by the President. Further, all comments and speeches made by members of the House are addressed to the Speaker. The Speaker also presides over the joint sitting of both houses of the Parliament of India. The counterpart of the Speaker in the Rajya Sabha (Council of the States) is its Chairperson; the Vice-President of India is the ex-officio chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. On the order of precedence, the Speaker of Lok Sabha ranks sixth, along with the Chief Justice of India. The Speaker is answerable to the House. Both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker may be removed by a resolution passed by the majority of the members. Lok Sabha Speaker can be elected by President on nomination basis. All bill passed requires his or her signature to go to the Rajya Sabha for its consideration. He/ She is the highest official of the Lok Sabha.

Removal of the speaker

Speaker can be removed by the Lok Sabha by a resolution passed by an effective majority (>50% of total strength excluding vacancies) of the house as per Articles 94 and 96.

The Speaker is also removed on being disqualified for being Lok Sabha member under sections 7 and 8 of Representation of the People Act, 1951. This would arise out of speaker’s wrong certification of a bill as money bill inconsistent with the definition given in Articles 110 of the constitution. When courts uphold the unconstitutional act of the speaker for wrong certification of a bill as money bill, it amounts to disrespecting the constitution deserving conviction under Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 which is applicable for disqualification of speaker’s Lok Sabha membership under section 8K of Representation of the People Act, 1951. However, the omissions in the procedure committed by the speaker in the Lok Sabha can not be challenged in court of law per Article 122.

Pro tem Speaker

After a general election and formation of a new government, a list of senior Lok Sabha members prepared by the Legislative Section is submitted to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, who selects a pro tem speaker. The appointment has to be approved by the President.

The first meeting after the election when the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are selected by members of the Parliament is held under the pro tem Speaker. In absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker acts as Speaker and in the absence of both a committee of six members selected by the Speaker will act as Speaker according to their seniority.

The eligibility criteria to become the Speaker of the Lok Sabha are:

• He or she must be a citizen of India;
• He or she must not be less than 25 years of age; and
• He or she should not hold any office of profit under the Government of India, or a state government.
• He should not be a Criminal Offender.

List of Speakers

No.	Name	Portrait	Term				Party
			From	To	Length	Lok Sabha
1	Ganesh Vasudev MavalankarAhmedabad		15 May 1952	27 February 1956	3 years, 288 days	1st	Indian National Congress
2	M. A. AyyangarChittoor		8 March 1956	10 May 1957	1 year, 63 days
			11 May 1957	16 April 1962	4 years, 340 days	2nd
3	Hukam SinghPatiala		17 April 1962	16 March 1967	4 years, 333 days	3rd
4	Neelam Sanjiva ReddyHindupur		17 March 1967	19 July 1969	2 years, 124 days	4th
5	Gurdial Singh DhillonTarn Taran	—	8 August 1969	19 March 1971	1 year, 221 days
			22 March 1971	1 December 1975	4 years, 254 days	5th
6	Bali Ram BhagatArrah		15 January 1976	25 March 1977	1 year, 69 days
(4)	Neelam Sanjiva ReddyNandyal		26 March 1977	13 July 1977	109 days	6th	Janata Party
7	K. S. HegdeBangalore South		21 July 1977	21 January 1980	2 years, 184 days
8	Balram JakharFerozepur		22 January 1980	27 October 1984	3 years, 358 days	7th	Indian National Congress
	Balram JakharSikar		16 January 1985	18 December 1989	4 years, 336 days	8th
9	Rabi RayKendrapara		19 December 1989	9 July 1991	1 year, 202 days	9th	Janata Dal
10	Shivraj PatilLatur		10 July 1991	22 May 1996	4 years, 317 days	10th	Indian National Congress
11	P. A. SangmaTura		23 May 1996	23 March 1998	1 year, 304 days	11th
12	G. M. C. BalayogiAmalapuram		24 March 1998	19 October 1999	1 year, 209 days	12th	Telugu Desam Party
			22 October 1999	3 March 2002	2 years, 132 days	13th
13	Manohar JoshiMumbai North Central		10 May 2002	2 June 2004	2 years, 23 days		Shiv Sena
14	Somnath ChatterjeeBolpur		4 June 2004	31 May 2009	4 years, 361 days	14th	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
15	Meira KumarSasaram		4 June 2009	4 June 2014	5 years, 0 days	15th	Indian National Congress
16	Sumitra MahajanIndore		6 June 2014	16 June 2019	5 years, 10 days	16th	Bharatiya Janata Party
17	Om BirlaKota		19 June 2019	Incumbent	1 year, 319 days	17th