Previous Year Question

Option (b) is correct. Pro-tem means “for the time being”, indicating a temporary arrangement. When a newly constituted Lok Sabha meets before the election of its regular Speaker, a Member is appointed by the President to perform the duties of the office of Speaker. The official Handbook of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs refers to this arrangement as the Speaker pro tem.

One of the principal functions of the Speaker pro tem is to administer the oath or affirmation to newly elected Members. Under Article 99, every Member of Parliament must make and subscribe an oath or affirmation before taking his or her seat, before the President or a person appointed by the President for that purpose. The Ministry's Handbook specifically records that the Speaker pro tem administers the oath/affirmation to newly elected Members.

The Speaker pro tem also handles the initial proceedings of the newly constituted House and performs the duties of the Speaker until the regular Speaker is elected. For example, during the constitution of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha, the Speaker pro tem performed these duties from the first sitting until the election of the Speaker.

Option (a) is not the intended answer because merely presiding in the regular Speaker's temporary absence is not the distinctive purpose of a Speaker pro tem. The arrangement arises principally at the beginning of a newly constituted Lok Sabha when the offices of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are vacant. Article 95(1) provides the constitutional basis for appointing a Member to perform the duties of the Speaker in such a situation.

Option (c) is also incorrect because the Speaker pro tem is not appointed because a Speaker is “unlikely to be elected”; the office is an interim arrangement until the Speaker is elected. Option (d) is not a function of the Speaker pro tem.