Chairman

1. Constitutional position and selection

The Constitution combines the office of Vice-President with the chairmanship of the Rajya Sabha. Article 64 provides that the Vice-President shall be ex officio Chairman and shall not hold another office of profit. Article 89 establishes the presiding arrangement for the Council of States. Unlike the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chairman is not elected by the House from among its members. The office links a national constitutional position with the management of the parliamentary chamber representing the States and Union Territories.

Under Article 66, the Vice-President is elected by members of both Houses of Parliament through proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, with voting by secret ballot. Both elected and nominated MPs participate. State Legislative Assemblies have no role, unlike in the presidential election. Every elector’s vote has equal value. The Eleventh Constitutional Amendment Act, 1961 replaced the requirement of election at a joint meeting of the two Houses with election by an electoral college.

A candidate must be an Indian citizen, have completed 35 years of age and be qualified for election to the Rajya Sabha. The Vice-President cannot simultaneously remain a member of Parliament or a State Legislature; an existing seat becomes vacant on entering office. Under Article 71, disputes concerning the Vice-President’s election are decided by the Supreme Court. These provisions make the chairmanship constitutionally distinct from an ordinary parliamentary membership.

• Article 63: office of Vice-President.
• Articles 64 and 89: ex officio chairmanship.
• Articles 66 and 71: election and election disputes.

2. Tenure, resignation, removal and temporary substitution

Under Article 67, the Vice-President holds office for five years from entering office and may continue until the successor enters office. Re-election is permitted. Resignation is addressed to the President, not to the Lok Sabha Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman. Because chairmanship follows the vice-presidential office, there is no separate election or independent tenure for the Chairman.

Removal is not the President’s impeachment procedure. A resolution must originate in the Rajya Sabha and be passed by a majority of all its then members, commonly called an effective majority: more than half the total membership after excluding vacancies. The Lok Sabha must agree; the ordinary majority rule applies there. At least fourteen days’ notice of the intention to move the resolution is required. The Constitution does not specify particular grounds for removal.

Article 92 prevents the Chairman from presiding when a resolution for removal of the Vice-President is under consideration. The Chairman may speak and otherwise participate in those proceedings, but cannot vote on that resolution or on any other matter during those proceedings. Thus, even the ordinary casting-vote power is unavailable in this situation.

Article 91 distinguishes a vacancy from temporary absence. When the Chairman’s office is vacant, or the Vice-President acts as President or discharges presidential functions, the Deputy Chairman performs the Chairman’s duties. If the Deputy Chairman’s office is also vacant, the President appoints a Rajya Sabha member for this purpose. During absence from a sitting, the Deputy Chairman, or a person determined under the House’s rules, presides. The panel of Vice-Chairpersons facilitates this latter arrangement.

• While acting as President, the Vice-President does not perform the Chairman’s duties or receive the Chairman’s salary.
• The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha from among its members and is constitutionally distinct from the Vice-President.

3. Powers in conducting parliamentary business

The Chairman conducts sittings, recognises members to speak, decides points of order and interprets the Constitution and procedural rules for conducting House business. Article 118 authorises each House to make rules regulating its procedure and business. The Chairman applies these rules to questions, motions, debates and other parliamentary proceedings. Admission of notices is subject to the relevant procedural conditions rather than an unrestricted personal discretion.

Maintaining order is a central responsibility. The Chairman may direct a persistently disorderly member to withdraw for the remainder of the day under Rule 255. Under Rule 256, the Chairman may name a member for serious misconduct, after which the House may adopt a suspension motion. A frequent examination trap is treating naming by the Chairman and suspension by the House as identical acts. The Chairman may also adjourn proceedings when disorder makes business impossible.

Article 100 provides that questions are generally decided by a majority of members present and voting. The Chairman cannot vote in the first instance because the Chairman is not a House member, but exercises a casting vote when votes are equal. The quorum is one-tenth of the House’s total membership. If quorum is absent, the presiding officer must adjourn the House or suspend the meeting until quorum is restored.

The Chairman also has important committee-related functions under the rules, including nominations and referrals where authorised. However, parliamentary privileges under Article 105 belong to the House, its members and committees as constitutionally provided; they are not the Chairman’s personal powers. Institutional authority must therefore be exercised to facilitate deliberation and protect participation, including that of the opposition.

• Distinguish adjournment of a sitting by the Chair from prorogation by the President under Article 85.
• The Rajya Sabha is a continuing House and is not subject to dissolution.

4. Anti-defection jurisdiction and judicial review

The Tenth Schedule, inserted by the Fifty-second Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985, makes the Chairman the decision-making authority for disqualification petitions against Rajya Sabha members on grounds of defection. This is an adjudicatory role, distinct from routine management of debates. The Chairman must examine the applicable grounds and observe procedural fairness; an allegation by a political party does not itself complete disqualification.

In Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992), the Supreme Court upheld the core anti-defection framework and treated the presiding officer as a tribunal when deciding disqualification. Such decisions are subject to judicial review, including for constitutional violations, mala fides, denial of natural justice and perversity. Review ordinarily follows the decision. The judgment prevents parliamentary status from becoming a blanket shield for unconstitutional adjudication.

Article 122 protects parliamentary proceedings from challenge merely on the ground of procedural irregularity. It does not create absolute immunity from constitutional scrutiny. Raja Ram Pal v. Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha (2007) affirmed the availability of judicial review for substantive illegality or unconstitutionality. For examinations, distinguish judicial restraint regarding internal procedure from judicial review of constitutional limits.

• Anti-defection adjudication concerns Rajya Sabha members; the Chairman is not himself a member subject to party-based disqualification in that House.
• The Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms, 1990 recommended shifting defection decisions to the President or Governor acting on Election Commission advice.

5. Chairman versus Speaker: examination distinctions

The Chairman and Speaker both maintain order and generally exercise casting votes rather than first-instance votes while presiding. Their constitutional positions nevertheless differ. The Speaker is a Lok Sabha member elected by that House; the Chairman is the Vice-President, elected by the parliamentary electoral college. The Chairman has no power to certify a Money Bill: Article 110 assigns that function to the Lok Sabha Speaker.

Under Article 108, the Lok Sabha Speaker ordinarily presides over a joint sitting. The Chairman of the Rajya Sabha does not preside over it. The Chairman’s absence from this role should not be confused with the eligibility of the Deputy Chairman under the joint-sitting rules when the designated preceding officers are absent.

Removal proceedings reveal another distinction. Under Article 96, the Speaker may vote in the first instance during proceedings considering the Speaker’s removal, but cannot exercise a casting vote. Under Article 92, the Chairman cannot vote at all during proceedings considering removal of the Vice-President. Remembering the paired Articles 92 and 96 helps resolve statement-based questions.

• Money Bill certification: Speaker, not Chairman.
• Ordinary joint-sitting presiding officer: Speaker, not Chairman.
• Removal proceedings: Speaker has a first-instance vote; Chairman has no vote.

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