List of speakers of the Punjab Legislative Assembly

In the Republic of India, the various central and state legislatures are presided by either a Speaker or a Chairman. The Speaker is elected in the very first meeting of the Punjab Legislative Assembly after the General elections for a term of 5 years from amongst the members of the Vidhan Sabha. The Speaker holds office until either he ceases to be a member of the Vidhan Sabha or he himself resigns. The Speaker can be removed from office by a resolution passed in the Vidhan Sabha by an effective majority of its members. In the absence of a Speaker, the meeting of Punjab Legislative Assembly is presided over by the Deputy Speaker. The incumbent Speaker is Rana Kanwar Pal Singh[1] and the deputy speaker is Ajaib Singh Bhatti[2] of Indian National Congress.

Speaker of Punjab Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Rana Kanwar Pal Singh

since 27 March 2017
AppointerMembers of Punjab Legislative Assembly
Term length5 years
no renewable limit
Inaugural holderShahab-ud-Din Virk
Formation6 April 1937; 83 years ago
DeputyAjaib Singh Bhatti
(since 16 June 2017)
Website

Powers and functions of the Speaker

Following are the functions and position of Speakers.[3]

  • The Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha conducts the business in house, and decides whether a bill is a money bill or not.
  • They maintain discipline and decorum in the house and can punish a member for their unruly behaviour by suspending them.
  • They also permit the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions such as a motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure and calling attention notice as per the rules.
  • The speaker decides on the agenda to be taken up for discussion during the meeting.
  • The date of election of the speaker is fixed by the Governor of Punjab. Further, all comments and speeches made by members of the House are addressed to the speaker.
  • The speaker is answerable to the house.
  • Both the speaker and deputy speaker may be removed by a resolution passed by the majority of the members.
  • Speaker also gives recognition to the main opposite party as an Official Opposition and to the leader of that party in assembly as the Leader of Opposition.

Speaker

Color keys for the party of Speaker

S. No. Name Tenure[4] Party Assembly
Pre-Independence (1937-1947)
1 Shahab-ud-Din Virk 6 April 1937 16 March 1945 Unionist Party 1st
2 Sataya Prakash Singha 21 March 1946 4 July 1947 2nd
After Independence (1947-present)
1 Kapur Singh 1 November 1947 20 June 1951 Indian National Congress -
2 Satya Pal 5 May 1952 18 April 1954 1st
3 Gurdial Singh Dhillon 18 May 1954 25 April 1957
25 April 1957 13 March 1962 2nd
4 Prabodh Chandra 14 March 1962 18 March 1964 3rd
5 Harbans Lal Gupta 25 March 1964 19 March 1967
6 Joginder Singh Mann 21 March 1967 13 March 1969 Akali Dal - Sant Fateh Singh 4th
7 Darbara Singh 14 March 1969 22 March 1972 Independent 5th
22 March 1972 3 September 1973 Indian National Congress 6th
8 Kewal Krishan 25 September 1973 30 June 1977
9 Ravi Inder Singh 1 July 1977 27 June 1980 Shiromani Akali Dal 7th
10 Brij Bhushan Mehra 1 July 1980 13 October 1985 Indian National Congress (Indira) 8th
(9) Ravi Inder Singh 15 October 1985 27 May 1986 Shiromani Akali Dal 9th
11 Surjit Singh Minhas 2 June 1986 15 March 1992
12 Harcharan Singh Ajnala 17 March 1992 9 June 1993 Indian National Congress (Indira) 10th
13 Harnam Das Johar 21 July 1993 23 November 1996
14 Dilbagh Singh Daleke 23 December 1996 2 March 1997
15 Charanjit Singh Atwal 4 March 1997 20 March 2002 Shiromani Akali Dal 11th
(8) Kewal Krishan 21 March 2002 15 March 2007 Indian National Congress 12th
16 Nirmal Singh Kahlon 16 March 2007 19 March 2012 Shiromani Akali Dal 13th
(15) Charanjit Singh Atwal 20 March 2012 27 March 2017 14th
17 Rana KP Singh 27 March 2017 Incumbent Indian National Congress 15th

Deputy Speaker

The Deputy Speaker is the vice-presiding officer of the Vidhan Sabha. Acts as the presiding officer in case of leave or absence caused by death or illness of the Speaker.

List of Deputy Speakers

Color keys for the Party of Deputy Speaker

Name Tenure[5] Party
Pre-Independence (1937-1947)
Dasaundha Singh 6 April 1937 7 April 1941 Unionist Party
Gurbachan Singh 22 April 1941 16 March 1945
Kapur Singh 26 March 1946 4 July 1947
After Independence (1947-present)
Thakur Panchan Chand 3 November 1947 20 March 1951 Indian National Congress
Smt. Shanno Devi 26 March 1951 20 June 1951
Dr. Gurdial Singh Dhillon 10 May 1952 17 May 1954
Swaroop Singh 19 May 1954 31 March 1957
25 April 1957 28 February 1962
Smt. Shanno Devi 19 March 1962 31 October 1966
Jagjit Singh Chohan 27 March 1967 27 November 1967 Akali Dal - Sant Fateh Singh
Baldev Singh 08 December 1967 23 August 1968 Shiromani Akali Dal
Brig. (Retd.) Bikramajit Singh Bajwa 20 March 1969 24 April 1970
28 July 1970 13 October 1971
Dr. Kewal Krishan 28 March 1972 25 September 1973 Indian National Congress
Nasib Singh Gill 28 September 1973 30 April 1977
Panna Lal Nayyar 8 July 1977 17 February 1980 Shiromani Akali Dal
Guizar Singh 8 July 1980 26 June 1985 Indian National Congress (Indira)
Nirmal Singh Kahlon 5 November 1985 6 May 1986 Shiromani Akali Dal
Jaswant Singh 2 June 1986 5 March 1988
Romesh Chander Dogra 7 April 1992 7 January 1996 Indian National Congress (Indira)
Naresh Thakur 28 February 1996 11 February 1997
Swarna Ram 18 June 1997 26 July 1997 Bhartiya Janata Party
Baldev Raj Chawla 23 December 1997 31 December 1999
Satpal Gosain 5 September 2000 24 February 2002
Prof. Darbari Lal 26 June 2002 10 March 2003 Indian National Congress
Bir Devinder Singh 27 March 2003 9 July 2004
Prof. Darbari Lal 12 July 2004 27 February 2007
Satpal Gosain 16 March 2007 14 April 2011 Bharatiya Janata Party
Chuni Lal Bhagat 13 June 2011 6 March 2012
Dinesh Singh 20 March 2012 11 March 2017
Ajaib Singh Bhatti 16 June 2017 Incumbent Indian National Congress

Pro tem Speaker

After a general election and the formation of a new government, a list of senior Members in Vidhan Sabha prepared by the Legislative Section is submitted to the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, who selects a pro tem speaker who holds the office of Speaker until a full time speaker is elected. However,, in Punjab mostly the pro tem speaker become the full time Speaker. The appointment has to be approved by the Governor.[6]

The first meeting after the election when the speaker and the deputy speaker are selected by members of the Vidhan Sabha is held under the pro tem Speaker. In the absence of the speaker, the deputy speaker acts as speaker. In the absence of both, a committee of six members selected by the speaker will act as speaker according to their seniority.

The eligibility criteria to become the Speaker of the Assembly are:

  • He or she must be a citizen of India;
  • He or she must not be less than 25 years of age; and
  • He or she should not hold any office of profit under the Government of Punjab, India.

In Punjab Legislative Assembly mostly Pro-tem speaker is elected as Speaker.

List of Pro tem Speakers

Sr. no. Year Pro-tem Speaker[7] Elected Speaker
1 1952 Dr. Satyapal
2 1957 S. Gurdial Singh Dhillon
3 1962 Sh. Prabodh Chandra
4 1967 Sh. Lal Chand Sabharwal S. Joginder Singh Mann
5 1969 S. Darbara Singh
1972
6 1977 S. Ravi Inder Singh
7 1980 S. Gurdarshan Singh Sh. Brij Bhushan Mehra
(6) 1985 S. Ravi Inder Singh
8 1992 S. Harcharn Singh Ajnala
9 1997 S. Charnjit Singh Atwal
10 2002 Dr. Kewal Krishan
11 2007 S. Nirmal Singh Kahlon
(9) 2012 S. Charnjit Singh Atwal
12 2017 Rana Kanwar Pal Singh

References

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