Articles 96 and 97 of the Constitution of India: Speaker Removal Proceedings and Salaries
Articles 96 and 97 form part of the constitutional framework governing the presiding officers of Parliament. Article 96 regulates who may preside, and how the Speaker may participate and vote, when a resolution for removal of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker is under consideration. Article 97 provides the constitutional basis for salaries and allowances of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Council of States and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People.
Article 96 - Speaker or Deputy Speaker not to preside during consideration of removal resolution
Clause (1): At a sitting of the House of the People, the Speaker must not preside while a resolution for removal of the Speaker is under consideration. Likewise, the Deputy Speaker must not preside while a resolution for removal of the Deputy Speaker is under consideration. The constitutional arrangement referred to in Article 95(2) applies to such a sitting.
Clause (2): When a resolution for the Speaker's removal is under consideration, the Speaker retains the right to speak and otherwise participate in the proceedings. Notwithstanding Article 100, the Speaker may vote in the first instance on that resolution or another matter during those proceedings, but has no casting vote in the event of equality of votes.
Meaning and effect of Article 96
The provision separates the function of presiding over the House from the right of the Speaker to participate when the House considers the Speaker's own removal. The Speaker therefore does not control the chair during those proceedings, but is not excluded from debate or from an initial vote.
Article 96 should be read with Articles 94 and 95. Article 94 deals with vacation, resignation and removal from the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, while Article 95 provides for performance of the Speaker's duties when that office is vacant or the Speaker is absent.
Article 97 - Salaries and allowances of parliamentary presiding officers
Article 97 provides that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Council of States, and the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People, are to receive salaries and allowances fixed by Parliament by law. The constitutional text also contains a transitional reference to the Second Schedule until Parliament makes such provision by law.
Parliament has enacted the Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament Act, 1953. Accordingly, readers looking for the operative statutory framework on salary, allowances and associated entitlements should consult that Act and its current amendments rather than treating the Second Schedule's transitional arrangement as the present source of the payable amounts.
Official legal resources
For authoritative reference, consult the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice - Constitution of India and the India Code database for central legislation, including the Salaries and Allowances of Officers of Parliament Act, 1953.