Have the presiding officers of Houses of Parliament become partisan players in their own right?

This piece is an attempt to analyse how both the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha are no longer umpires but have become political and legal players in their own right, acting in a partisan manner.

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WHEN King Charles I demanded that the Speaker of the House of Commons produce five members for arrest during the Civil War of the 1640s, Speaker Lenthall famously proclaimed, "May it please Your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but as the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here, and I humbly beg Your Majesty's pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what Your Majesty is pleased to demand of me."

The Speakers of the House of Commons were so independent, that between 1394 and 1535, seven speakers were beheaded by the King of England, presumably for upsetting the king. This set the tone for the role of the modern institutions of Speakers in Westminster Parliaments across the Commonwealth.

In India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha were supposed to be non-partisan umpires who were supposed to be the protectors of the rights of the members of Parliament.

This piece is an attempt to analyse how both the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha are no longer umpires but have become political and legal players in their own right, acting in a partisan manner.

Much has been written on the role of the Speaker in certifying money Bills, maintaining decorum and disqualifying members. But I wish to draw attention to the often ignored role of the Speaker and Chairman in stifling opposition both inside and outside the Parliament.