Anti-Defection Laws In Indian Democracy: Speaker’s Role And Reforms

Surabhi R Kanadam, Christ (Deemed to be University)

ABSTRACT

An essential part of India's parliamentary system, anti-defection laws have encountered a difficult and acrimonious political road. This essay aims to investigate how often these laws have been abused in India and the crucial part the Speaker has played in either encouraging or discouraging such abuse. The paper's first section offers a thorough analysis of the reasoning and historical context for anti-defection laws, highlighting their importance in upholding the democratic character of India's legislative bodies. The emphasis then turns to the pervasive worries about the improper application of these rules, which are frequently motivated by party politics and political expediency. The study emphasises how serious a threat such misuse is to representative democracy's tenets and how it calls into question the morality of elected officials' actions. We take a detailed look at the Speaker's function in this setting, highlighting both the difficulties they have in remaining impartial and their role as the arbiter of defection cases. The remaining portion of the article explores potential institutional and legal changes that could be made to solve the problem of anti-defection statute abuse and strengthen the Speaker's position in maintaining the credibility of India's parliamentary branches. Stronger checks and balances, stricter enforcement of anti-defection laws, and measures to guarantee a more fair and transparent disqualification process are among the recommendations. Additionally, by looking into other foreign forums, the paper proposes redefining the Speaker's position in order to maintain impartiality and maybe by various adjustments that can be brought about in the legal framework. To sum up, this abstract offers a thorough examination of the abuse of anti-defection laws in India as well as the critical need for institutional and legal changes to protect the credibility of legislative bodies and recast the Speaker's role in preserving democratic values, particularly in the Indian context.

Keywords: Anti-defection Laws, Speaker’s role, adjudicator, misuse, integrity, democratic values.