With reference to anti-defection law in India, consider the following statements : 1. The law specifies that a nominated legislator cannot join any political party within six months of being appointed to the House. 2. The law does not provide any time-fra

examrobotsa's picture

Submitted by examrobotsa on

Q: 16 (IAS/2022)
With reference to anti-defection law in India, consider the following statements :
1. The law specifies that a nominated legislator cannot join any political party within six months of being appointed to the House.
2. The law does not provide any time-frame within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

question_subject: 

Polity

question_exam: 

IAS

stats: 

0,144,231,36,244,66,29

keywords: 

{'defection case': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'nominated legislator': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'law': [0, 0, 0, 1], 'political party': [1, 0, 0, 0]}

The anti-defection law in India is part of the 10th Schedule of the Indian Constitution, and it sets the provisions for disqualification of elected members on the grounds of defection to another political party.

Option 1 states that a nominated legislator cannot join any political party within six months of being appointed to the House. However according to the anti-defection law, a nominated member can join a political party within six months of taking his seat in the House. If he does not join any party within six months, he will be treated as an independent member. So, the first statement is incorrect.

Option 2 states that the law does not provide any time-frame within which the presiding officer has to decide a defection case. This statement is correct. The law does not specify a period for the presiding officer to decide on a defection case. In the absence of a clear time frame, there have been instances where proceedings on disqualification matters have taken years.

So, the answer is 2, indicating only the second statement is correct.

Preparing for Future Exams: Learning from the Analysis of Past Questions

Topics to study:

  • Anti-defection law in India
  • Constitutional provisions related to defection
  • Powers of the presiding officers in deciding defection cases
  • Nominated members of the legislature
  • Political parties and their role in Indian politics

Sources to study:

  • The Constitution of India
  • The Representation of the People Act, 1951
  • The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (Anti-Defection Law)
  • Articles, news reports, and editorials on defection cases in India

NCERT and reference book chapters:

  • NCERT Political Science textbooks for classes 11 and 12
  • Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
  • Introduction to the Constitution of India by Durga Das Basu

Related concepts:

  • Coalition politics
  • Parliamentary democracy
  • Separation of powers
  • Federalism
  • Electoral systems and processes in India.