Lok Sabha saw three resolutions to remove Speakers, but all defeated; no precedence in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The resolution against Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar may be a first to remove a Vice President but Lok Sabha has witnessed three such debates against Speakers with charges ranging from partisan attitude, partial in allowing adjournment motions, and making statements undermining MPs.

The charges in the Lok Sabha resolutions echo some of the charges leveled by the Opposition against Dhankhar. The resolutions against GV Mavlankar and Balram Jakhar were defeated but the one on Hukkam Singh was not taken up as the motion did not get the support of a minimum of 50 MPs.

No such resolutions have come in Rajya Sabha so far against the Chairman although the Opposition had submitted one against Deputy Chairman Harivansh in September 2020 accusing him of violating “cannons of law, procedure, parliamentary procedures, practices, and fair play” while passing the contentious farm laws.

The first Speaker to face such a resolution was Mavlankar on 18 December 1954. The resolution claimed that Mavlankar had “ceased to maintain an impartial attitude necessary to command the confidence” of all sections of Lok Sabha in giving his consent to adjournment motions and disallowing questions.

It also said Mavlankar in a “partisan manner” disregarded the rights of MPs and made pronouncements and gave rulings, “calculated to affect and undermine” the rights of lawmakers.

In a grave allegation, it went on to add, “...he openly espouses the version of the official spokesman on all controversial matters as against information supplied by other Members of Parliament” and it constituted a “serious danger” to the proper functioning of Lok Sabha.

A similar resolution against Singh came on 24 November 1966, claiming that he arbitrarily disallowed questions likely to cause “acute embarrassment to the Prime Minister, other Ministers, top Congress leaders, and high government officials”.

Singh also faced the allegation of “usurping the privileges” of MPs by refusing to bring breach of privilege motions before the House to decide. He was also accused of “generally regulating the proceedings and abusing the disciplinary powers to prevent “exposure of the government's incompetence and misdeeds” while suppressing the Opposition.

The third resolution was against Jakhar on 15 April 1987 when Opposition MPs raised certain rulings by him which denied MPs the right to raise vital “Constitutional”, “procedural” and “burning” problems through adjournment motions.