Puri: A committee of presiding officers, set up by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Tuesday reviewed the constitutional and procedural framework governing disqualification of legislators under the anti-defection law, officials said.
The deliberations were held during the second meeting of the Committee of Presiding Officers in Puri, they said.
The four-member panel, headed by Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar, was constituted in January 2020 to examine issues relating to the powers of presiding officers under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and rules framed under it.
On the basis of the deliberations, a guideline would be prepared by the committee for presiding officers of all state legislatures, officials said.
Karnataka assembly speaker UT Khader, Nagaland’s Sharingain Longkumer and Odisha’s Surama Padhi are the other members of the committee.
Senior Lok Sabha officials, secretaries of various state assemblies, constitutional experts and Odisha’s Advocate General Pitambar Acharya were present at the meeting.
In the welcome address, Padhi highlighted the significance of the deliberations in strengthening the institutional framework governing the Tenth Schedule.
After deliberations, the committee decided to convene its next meeting in Karnataka after two months to further continue its review and finalise its recommendations, officials said.
The inaugural session focused on strengthening parliamentary democracy and improving the functioning of legislative institutions, they said.
The first meeting of the committee was held in Mumbai February 9 and 10.
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