Prelims 2012 · archive
EasyRegarding the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker, consider the following statements:
- 1.He/She holds the office during the pleasure of the President.
- 2.He/She need not be a member of the House at the time of his/ her election but has to become a member of the House within six months from the date of his/her election.
- 3.If he/she intends to resign, the letter of his/her resignation has to be addressed to the Deputy Speaker.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 3 only
Article 94 of the Constitution lets the Speaker resign by a letter addressed to the Deputy Speaker. It says nothing about the President's pleasure. Article 93 requires the House to choose the Speaker from among its own members, so only statement 3 is correct.
- ✗ 1. The President has no role in the Speaker's tenure; the Speaker is chosen by the House. Article 94 lists how the office is vacated: by ceasing to be a member of the House, by resigning, or by removal through a resolution of the House. None of these involves the President's pleasure.
- ✗ 2. Article 93 says the House chooses 'two members of the House' as Speaker and Deputy Speaker. So the Speaker must already be a member when elected. There is no six-month window to become one.
- ✓ 3. Article 94(b) says the Speaker may resign 'by writing under his hand addressed… to the Deputy Speaker'. The Deputy Speaker's resignation goes to the Speaker.
Remember · The Speaker is elected from among Lok Sabha members (Art. 93). Resignation goes to the Deputy Speaker. Removal needs a resolution that gets the support of a majority of the entire membership of the House at that time, after at least 14 days' notice (Art. 94).
Sources
- Constitution of India, Article 94 (Vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker) ↗ “may at any time, by writing under his hand addressed, if such member is the Speaker, to the Deputy Speaker, and if such member is the Deputy Speaker, to the Speaker, resign his office … The House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2012, General Studies paper. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·