Chiranjeev Dubey, O.P. Jindal Global University
The seminal Nabam Rebia case 1had a very eminent judgement which revolved around significant constitutional questions regarding the separation of powers between the Speaker, Governor, and the wider brethren of legislative assembly. The judgement provided by Supreme Court in this case led to be impactful on a magnitude of political case. Analysing this case was majorly entailing the bridge between the legal intricacies and the modern-day political issues faced by India.
Issues
The case was based on two crucial issues. To begin with the question was around the Governor’s powers under article 174, which provides the power to summon, prorogue or dissolve a state legislative assembly, whether their powers can be exercised unilaterally i.e. without advice of Council of Ministers. Furthermore, the case was also built on the speaker’s disqualification powers i.e. whether Speaker of the Assembly could disqualify members through powers provided by Tenth Schedule which is regarding anti defection laws while a motion for the removal of Speaker is pending under Article 179(c) of the Indian Constitution.
Rules
Under Article 174, the Governor has the right to summon, prorogue, or dissolve the assembly; however, that power is subject to advice from the Council of Ministers, thereby making the otherwise unilateral powers of the Governor somewhat ineffective. Article 163 clarifies that the discretion of the Governor is not altogether unfettered and is generally subject to the advice given by ministers. Article 179(c) does not permit the Speaker who has a motion for his removal to enjoy powers that the Speaker can exercise under the Tenth Schedule, about anti-defection laws, whereby if there is a vacancy in the post of the Speaker, the Speaker himself would not act with conflict of interest, and the procedure against him would not be tainted.
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