Which of the following statements with regard to the Speaker, Lok Sabha is/are correct? 1. The election of the Speaker of Lok Sabha is conducted by the Election Commission of India 2. The Speaker on assuming his office is not required to make and subscribe oath or affirmation 3. The Speaker does not exercise a casting vote in case of equality of votes Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Correct — A, 2 only. Statement 2 holds: the Speaker takes no separate oath on assuming the chair. Article 99 requires every member of either House to make and subscribe an oath or affirmation before taking his seat, and the Speaker has already done that as a member; no further oath attaches to the office, unlike the President, the Vice-President, judges and Ministers, all of whom are sworn in under specific articles. Statement 1 fails: the Speaker is elected by the members of the Lok Sabha from among themselves, on a date fixed by the President, and the Election Commission has no role — the pro tem Speaker presides over that election. Statement 3 fails too: Article 100(1) gives the person presiding no vote in the first instance but a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes, so the Speaker does exercise a casting vote.

• (b)1 and 3 — It takes the two statements that are wrong and leaves out the one that is right. The Election Commission does not conduct the Speaker's election, and the Speaker does hold a casting vote.
• (c)1 only — The Election Commission's role is confined to elections to the House, not to elections held inside it. The Speaker's election is conducted by the House itself, presided over by the pro tem Speaker.
• (d)2 and 3 — Statement 2 is right but statement 3 is not. Article 100(1) is explicit that the presiding officer votes only in the case of an equality of votes, which is the definition of a casting vote.

The Speaker's neutrality is built into the voting rule. Because he does not vote in the ordinary course, he cannot be counted as part of the government's or the Opposition's numbers on a division; because he votes when the House is tied, no question can be left undecided. Convention adds a further discipline, that a casting vote should be used to maintain the status quo — to let a matter be debated again rather than to settle it against the House's evident division.

All three statements are about who does what, and each is decided by locating the right authority. The Election Commission conducts elections to the House; the House conducts elections within itself. Oaths are prescribed article by article, and the article for members covers the Speaker already. The casting vote is written into Article 100 in plain words. Statement 3 is the one most often misread, because 'does not vote' is true of the Speaker in ordinary divisions and candidates carry that impression into the tied case. This item is tagged Defence and Security in the store, which is another instance of that label being applied to a polity question.

• The Speaker is elected by the members of the Lok Sabha from among themselves on a date fixed by the President.
• The pro tem Speaker, appointed by the President, presides over the swearing-in of members and the Speaker's election.
• Article 99 requires every member to make and subscribe an oath before taking his seat; no separate oath exists for the Speaker.
• Article 100(1) gives the presiding officer no vote in the first instance but a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes.
• By convention a casting vote is exercised so as to maintain the status quo.

• Extending the Election Commission's mandate to elections held inside the House.
• Reading 'the Speaker does not vote' as absolute and forgetting the tied case.
• Assuming every high office carries a separate oath; the Speaker's does not.

Asked as a three-statement item in which the two false statements both overstate a half-truth — one about the Election Commission's reach, one about the Speaker's abstention.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Under Article 100(1) of the Constitution, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha may vote

  • (a)on every question before the House
  • (b)only in the case of an equality of votes
  • (c)only on money bills
  • (d)never, in any circumstances

  Answer(b) only in the case of an equality of votes — the casting vote.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who presides over the first sitting of a newly elected Lok Sabha and administers the oath to its members?

  • (a)The outgoing Speaker
  • (b)The Chief Election Commissioner
  • (c)The pro tem Speaker
  • (d)The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha

  Answer(c) The pro tem Speaker — appointed by the President, and presiding until the House elects its Speaker.