Speaker of the Lok Sabha

For the presiding officer of the lower house of the Parliament of India, see Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Speaker of the Lok Sabha
लोक सभा अध्यक्ष Lok Sabhā Adhyakṣa
Logo of the Speaker
Incumbent Vacant since 4 June 2024
Lok Sabha Speaker's Office
Style	The Most Honourable (formally) Mr. Speaker (informally)
Status	Presiding and chief administrative officer
Member of	Lok Sabha
Reports to	Rashtradhyaksh Lok Sabha
Appointer	Members of the Lok Sabha
Term length	During the life of the Lok Sabha (one year maximum)
Formation	2012
First holder	Varuna Sriraya
Deputy	Deputy Speaker

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Hindi: लोक सभा अध्यक्ष‎, IAST: Lok Sabhā Adhyakṣa), often referred to as the Speaker of the House of the People is the presiding officer and the highest authority of the Lok Sabha, the unicameral legislature of Vishwamitra. The Speaker is usually elected in the first meeting of the house following general election. Serving for a term of one year, the speaker is chosen from sitting members of the Lok Sabha, however they may chose to resign from their position before the completion of their tenure by addressing a letter of resignation to the Protem Speaker or the Deputy Speaker. The Speaker receives the same status and precedence equivalent to the Chief Justice of Vishwamitra in the order of precedence. The speaker is entitled to use the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" (Hindi: परमसम्मानीय) throughout their tenure in office.

The position of the speaker is currently vacant since the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha on 4 June 2024. The speaker prior to the dissolution was Arsal Abbas Mirza.

History

As per the records, there is no mention about the presiding officer in the interim and the 1st Parliament of Vishwamitra. The position of the Speaker is believed to have come to existence for the first time in the 2nd legislature (2012-2014) with Varuna Sriraya serving as the first-ever presiding officer of the parliament. Until 2015, the position of the Speaker was held by the Prime Minister or by the senior-most cabinet minister. It was for the first time that a non-partisan member was elected as the Speaker in the 5th Parliament with then Chief Justice Tanishkaa Patranabish receiving the distinction, however, she was soon replaced as the Speaker after her election as the President on 21 March 2016.

With the election of the Friends Society Secular Party in the April 2016 general election, then President Tanishkaa Patranabish was elected as the Speaker on 11 April 2016. Finally on 31 July 2016, the bicameral legislature was abolished and a single chamber parliament was established with the name of the "Senate". The President was designated to be the ex-officio Speaker of the unicameral body, while the Vice President served as its ex-officio deputy speaker. Following which the occupants of the President and Vice President subsequently became the speakers and deputy speakers of the parliament, until 11 September 2018 when Tanishkaa Patranabish was designated as the Speaker of the National Assembly after the reinstatement of the Constitution by the Supreme Court and appointment of the President as the executive head of state and government.

The President was re-conferred the status of ex-officio Speaker of the Parliament on 7 January 2019 with the establishment of a semi-presidential system of government with the re-creation of the office of the Prime Minister. The President continued to serve as the ex-officio Speaker until designating the Vice-President to perform such duties on 29 September 2019. The Vice-President performed such duties as the ex-officio Speaker between 29 September 2019 and 30 April 2020. On 1 May 2021, the duties of the Speaker of the Parliament were transferred to the specially established position of the Chairman of the Council of State. Following the establishment of the monarchy on 8 June 2020, all duties of the presiding officer of the Parliament was bestowed on the Rashtradhyaksh who till date has continued to serve as the Protem Speaker of the house.

On 13 December 2021, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rory Leonard introduced a bill in the parliament to re-create separate positions for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House who are to be elected by the members of the house. The bill was overwhelming passed and became an act thereafter on 17 December 2021. Matthew Tonna became the first to occupy the position of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha since the re-creation of the separate position of the presiding officer and remained till his resignation amid scandal in February 2022 and was replaced by Tyler Mullins.

Election

The members of the Lok Sabha elect the Speaker among themselves. The speaker should be someone who understands the functions of the Lok Sabha and it should be someone accepted among the ruling and opposition parties. The speaker is usually elected after the constitution of the legislature following election with the protem Speaker (Rashtradhyaksh or a senior member of the house) carrying out the duties of the presiding officer until a permanent speaker is elected.

The speaker shall be elected either by a vote of simple majority or be selected unanimously with a motion moved by the Leader of the House (or someone acting on their behalf) and be supported by the majority of the house. The speaker serves in office for a tenure co-terminus with the life of the Lok Sabha which is not more than one year, however they can choose to resign from their position anytime at their pleasure by addressing a letter of resignation to the Protem Speaker or the Deputy Speaker.

The qualifications of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha are:

1. be a member of the Lok Sabha.
2. be of at least 14 years of age.
3. is not a member of the council of ministers or the leader of the opposition.
4. is deemed to discharge the functions of said office to the best of their ability.
5. is an active member of the House.

List of speakers

No.	Portrait	Speaker	Constituency	Term of office			Legislative term	Political party
-	None			15 April 2007	22 May 2012	7003186400000000000♠5 years, 37 days	Interim, 1st	None
1		Varuna Sriraya (born 2002)	Maligaon	22 May 2012	21 May 2014	7003129300000000000♠3 years, 198 days	2nd	Independent
				21 May 2014	22 February 2015		3rd
				22 February 2015	6 December 2015		4th
2		Tanishkaa Patranabish (born 2004)	Beltola	17 December 2015	21 March 2016	7001950000000000000♠95 days	5th
(1)		Varuna Sriraya (born 2002)	Maligaon	21 March 2016	11 April 2016	7001210000000000000♠21 days
The President was designated to discharge the functions as ex-officio Speaker of the House between 11 April 2016 and 11 September 2018.
(2)		Tanishkaa Patranabish (born 2004)	-	11 September 2018	7 January 2019	7002118000000000000♠118 days	9th	Secular
The President was designated to discharge the functions as ex-officio Speaker of the House between 7 January 2019 and 29 September 2019.
The Vice President was designated as the ex-officio Speaker of the House between 29 September 2019 and 30 April 2020.
The Chairman of the Council of State performed the duties of the Speaker between 30 April and 7 June 2020.
The Rashtradhyaksh served as the ex-officio Speaker of the Lok Sabha between 8 June 2020 and 22 December 2021.
3		Matthew Tonna (born 2005)	National List	22 December 2021	15 February 2022	7001550000000000000♠55 days	14th	Congress
The Rashtradhyaksh served as the pro tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha between 15 and 16 February 2022
4		Tyler Mullins (born 1997)	Bhetapara	16 February 2022	30 October 2022	7002256000000000000♠256 days	14th	Congress
				10 November 2022	7 September 2023	7002301000000000000♠301 days	15th	Independent
5		Arsal Abbas Mirza (born 2006)	Rajpur	12 October 2023	4 June 2024	7002236000000000000♠236 days	16th	Independent

Timeline

See also

• Lok Sabha
• Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha
• Prime Minister of Vishwamitra
• Leader of the House (Vishwamitra)
• Leader of the Opposition (Vishwamitra)