Anti Defection Law

➖ The anti-defection law punishes individual MPs/ MLAs for leaving one party for another.

➖ It allows a group of MP/ MLAs to join (i.e. merge with) another political party without inviting the penalty for defection.

➖ And it does not penalise political parties for encouraging or accepting defecting legislators.

➖ Parliament added these provisions to the Constitution as the Tenth Schedule in 1985.

➖ The purpose of the anti-defection law was to bring stability to governments by discouraging legislators from changing parties.

➖ It was a response to the toppling of multiple state governments by party-hopping MLAs after the general elections of 1967.

➖ The Presiding Officers of the Legislature (Speaker, Chairman) are the deciding authorities.