GS Paper 2 10 marks · 150w 9 min Easy
Discuss the role of the Vice-President of India as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Subtopic: Constitution & Polity · Vice-President and Rajya Sabha
How to structure your answer
Introduction → Article 64: ex officio Chairman, not a member → Presiding functions: order, rulings, casting vote → Gatekeeping and disciplinary powers → Quasi-judicial role under the Tenth Schedule → Limitations vis-à-vis the Speaker → Conclusion
Detailed model answer
207 words · target 150 words · 9 min
Under Article 64, the Vice-President of India is ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha — the presiding officer of the Upper House without being its member, a design borrowed from the American Vice-Presidency.
Roles as Chairman
- Presiding officer: conducts proceedings, maintains order and decorum, interprets the Rules of Procedure, and gives rulings on points of order that bind the House.
- Casting vote: does not vote in the first instance but exercises a casting vote in case of a tie (Article 100).
- Gatekeeping: decides the admissibility of questions, motions, notices and short-duration discussions, and consents to raising matters of urgent public importance.
- Disciplinary powers: can direct a member to withdraw, name and suspend members under the rules, and expunge unparliamentary remarks from the record.
- Quasi-judicial role: decides disqualification petitions against Rajya Sabha members under the Tenth Schedule, subject to judicial review (Kihoto Hollohan, 1992).
- Institutional head: nominates members to committees, appoints the panel of vice-chairpersons, and heads the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
Limitations
- He cannot preside when a resolution for his removal is under consideration (Article 92); unlike the Speaker, he neither certifies Money Bills nor presides over joint sittings.
As custodian of the council of states, the Chairman is expected to act with strict neutrality, balancing government business with the Opposition's right to deliberate.
What an examiner expects to see
- Article 64 makes the Vice-President ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha; he is not a member of the House and votes only to break a tie (Article 100).
- Core presiding functions: maintaining order, interpreting rules, ruling on points of order, protecting members' privileges.
- Gatekeeping role: admissibility of questions, motions, calling-attention and short-duration discussions.
- Disciplinary armoury: withdrawal directions, naming and suspension of members, expunction of remarks.
- Anti-defection role: adjudicates Tenth Schedule disqualifications of Rajya Sabha members, reviewable per Kihoto Hollohan (1992).
- Article 92 bar: cannot preside while his own removal resolution is under consideration; contrasts with the Speaker — no Money Bill certification, no joint-sitting chair.
- Conclusion on expected neutrality and the office's role in dignified functioning of the second chamber.
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu (1992) — presiding officers' Tenth Schedule decisions subject to judicial review
- Suspension of Rajya Sabha members for disorderly conduct under Rule 256 (e.g., winter session 2021 suspensions)
- Article 92 — Chairman not to preside when his removal resolution is under consideration
- Deputy Chairman under Article 89 presiding in the Chairman's absence
Terminology to weave into the answer
Article 64ex officio Chairmancasting voteTenth Schedule adjudicationRules of Procedure of Rajya Sabhapresiding officer neutrality