Anti-defection law should be strengthened for democracy.

Historical Genesis of the Law
• The law was introduced in 1985 to address party-switching by legislators, which often led to political instability.
• The law was enacted through the 52nd Amendment to the Constitution, introducing the Tenth Schedule during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as Prime Minister.
• The law aimed to provide stability to governments and ensure elected representatives remained loyal to the party’s mandate.

Loopholes and Implementation Issues
• The initial law had loopholes, such as allowing a split in a party if at least one-third of the members defected.
• The 91st Amendment in 2003 addressed this issue by requiring at least two-thirds of the members of a party to agree for a “merger” to avoid disqualification.

Challenges in Implementation
• The law has faced criticism and challenges in its implementation, including inordinate delay in deciding defection cases and lack of transparency in the issuance and communication of party whips.

Proposed Amendments
• A four-week time frame for decisions on defection cases and a framework for public notice of party whips are proposed to strengthen the law.
• The government should explore various suggestions made by the Dinesh Goswami committee report (1990), the Hashim Abdul Halim committee report (1994), the 170th report of the Law Commission of India (1999), the Report of the National Commission to review the working of the Constitution of India (2002), the Hashim Abdul Halim committee report (2003) and the 255th report of the Law Commission of India (2015) for strengthening the anti-defection law.

Need for Political Will
• The anti-defection law has historically played a crucial role in preventing instability caused by defections and maintaining the sanctity of the electoral mandate.
• The amendments to the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution should be prioritized to facilitate the effective implementation of the Union Government’s “One Nation, One Election” initiative.