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 Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

submitted to the house by the state

legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy 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 of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

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 (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ri ...

. 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, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

while deputy speaker election date is specified by speaker.

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 elections. ...

. He decides "when a member should be called upon to speak and how long he be allowed to speak". Questions relating

breach of privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...

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 by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

, 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.

References

Speakers of state lower houses in India * * {{India-gov-stub

Role

See also

References