RAS question
Who presides over the Lok Sabha when neither the Speaker nor the Deputy Speaker is available?
Correct answer: (A) A member from the panel of chairpersons.
When both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are absent from the Lok Sabha, a member of the Speaker-nominated Panel of Chairpersons presides over the House.
Explanation
Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha provides for a Panel of Chairpersons nominated by the Speaker from among members of the House, with the panel capped at ten members. Any one member from this panel may preside when the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are absent. The point is that the House does not fall back on executive office, age, or informal seniority; it follows a pre-nominated parliamentary mechanism. So the correct answer is a member from the Panel of Chairpersons, because that panel exists precisely to keep proceedings validly chaired when the two regular presiding officers are not in the Chair.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) The President of India does not preside over Lok Sabha sittings; Rule 9 points instead to a member from the Speaker-nominated Panel of Chairpersons.
- (C) The senior-most member is not chosen merely by seniority, because the Rules require a member from the nominated Panel of Chairpersons.
- (D) The Prime Minister does not automatically chair the House in this situation; the presiding role goes to a nominated panel member.
Concept
This tests the procedural rules on presiding officers in the Lok Sabha, especially the Panel of Chairpersons under Rule 9. RAS repeatedly asks such questions because constitutional posts and parliamentary procedure are core parts of Indian Polity.