The Anti-Defection law may have come into force in 1985 but it has not been able to curb the widespread menace of political defections. The law needs to be further reinforced to plug the prevailing loopholes and deter the evil of MPs and MLAs merrily hopping across parties motivated by the lure of office and monetary gains. This law has not been successful in preventing corruption by way of horse-trading as still the grey areas in the Act continue to be exploited by unscrupulous politicians.
Cases regarding defection must be disposed very expeditiously and in a time bound manner. Earlier this year the Supreme Court had set three months as the outer limit for the Speakers of Legislative Assemblies to conclude disqualification proceedings.
In 1992 a Constitutional bench of our Supreme Court reiterated extensively on the independence and impartiality of the Speaker's post. But as we are yet to see a Speaker that is non-partisan, there is a need of setting up a permanent independent Tribunal to decide cases under the Anti-Defection law. Needless to say when matters under this law land up in the High Courts or Supreme Court they should also be heard and decided expeditiously and prevent the defectors from seeking repeated adjournments to protract the proceedings. All this will restore the much needed morality and ethics in public life while deterring political prostitution.
Aires Rodrigues
Advocate High Court
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