VIJAYAWADA: AP Legislative Assembly Speaker Tammineni Sitaram has underscored the need for reforms in the anti-defection law. “The Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, popularly known as Anti-Defection Law, was enacted with a noble objective of ending defections. But ironically, even after 25 years of implementation of the law, defection of legislators are still continuing unabated,’’ he observed.
Participating in the two-day All-India Presiding Officers Conference held in Dehradun on Thursday, Tammineni said the inherent inadequacies in the Anti-Defection Law are the main reason for the defection of legislators.
“The absence of time limit for the disposal of petitions filed under the Anti-Defection Law by the presiding officers is the first and foremost inadequacy. In some States, the presiding officer (Speaker) did not take up petitions filed under the anti-defection law for five years, leading to the natural death of petitions with the dissolution of the House,’’ he said.
Recalling that the TDP government in AP during 2014-19 admitted 23 YSRC MLAs and made four of them ministers, he said no action was taken against the defectors. It raised many questions about the inadequacies of the anti-defection law. He also hailed CM Jagan Mohan Reddy for his stand against defection.
Inadequacies in the law’
No time limit for disposal of petitions filed under the law
Voluntarily giving up of membership has not been defined in the Tenth Schedule, giving scope for rift between legislature and judiciary
Merger clause provided under Tenth Schedule’. Many legislators are using the merge clause as cover for their defections
Unless and antil the above inadequacies and lacunas are plugged, the anti defection law will remain toothless, says Tammineni