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Journalism of Courage
The notice given by Opposition INDIA bloc MPs Tuesday to move a no-confidence motion against Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar seems more to make a symbolic statement than set in motion any parliamentary process.
Unlikely to yield any result given that the Opposition does not have the numbers, if the motion is taken up in the House, and the Opposition’s grievances are debated, it will be hard for Dhankhar to preside over those proceedings in Rajya Sabha.
According to Article 92 of the Constitution, the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman cannot preside while a resolution for their removal from office is under consideration.
“At any sitting of the Council of States, while any resolution for the removal of the Vice-President from his office is under consideration, the Chairman, or while any resolution for the removal of the Deputy Chairman from his office is under consideration, the Deputy Chairman, shall not, though he is present, preside, and the provisions of clause (2) of Article 91 shall apply in relation to every such sitting as they apply in relation to a sitting from which the Chairman, or, as the case may be, the Deputy Chairman, is absent,” the provision states.
However, the provision also states that the Chairperson shall have the right to speak and take part in the proceedings but cannot vote “at all on such resolution or any other matter during such proceedings.”
But these provisions only kick in if the motion is accepted by Deputy Chairperson Harivansh Singh.
In 2020, then Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu rejected a no-confidence motion against Deputy Chairman Harivansh on the grounds that it should have been a resolution and needed a 14-day notice.
In the present case, too, the Parliament will conclude before the 14-day notice period required for considering a motion for removal ends.
The winter session is scheduled to be concluded on December 20. Article 67 of the Constitution requires a 14-day notice for considering the motion, which in Dhankar’s case would be on December 25.
Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat told The Indian Express that the consideration of the motion can be carried over to the next session. “The 14-day notice period does not lapse when the session ends. It can be brought up again when Parliament meets next,” Kamat said.
