The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is the presiding authority and highest authority of
state legislative assemblies in India for carrying house proceedings. He is empowered to determine the status of a
bill submitted to the house by the state
legislator
A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...
s. Elected by the
members of assembly, this post is held by two politicians for two identical roles such as "speaker" and "deputy speaker" for
assembly session proceedings. In case one fails to attend the session due to some uncertainties such as resignation, illness or death, deputy speaker acts as a
presiding officer until a new speaker is elected.
It is created under the
Article 178 of the
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...
. The Indian constitution also allows
all states and union territories for the appointment of a speaker.
The two members are elected at anytime after the state election is declared. In Indian political system, the time frame for the election of a speaker and deputy speaker is determined by the state legislators independently. The election date for the post of speaker is decided by the
state governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
while deputy speaker election date is specified by speaker.
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Role
A speaker is responsible for presiding assembly debates and maintains order and discipline of the house during
legislative session
A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two electi ...
. He decides "when a member should be called upon to speak and how long he be allowed to speak". Questions relating
breach of privilege and
contempt of the house is raised by the
member
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
s with consent of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker.
With regard to matters within the assembly house or related to the
members of the legislative assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nationa ...
, it is the right of the Speaker to interpret the constitution and rules. The prime responsibility of the speaker is to maintain discipline and order in the house by practicing disciplinary
privileges granted by the constitution of India.
Deputy Speaker
Chairperson of Legislative Council
See also
*
List of current Indian legislative speakers
References
Speakers of state lower houses in India
*
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