Home The Constitution Part VI Article 178

Art. 178 Part VI: The States

The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

Exact text — Constitution of India

Every Legislative Assembly of a State shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the Assembly to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the Assembly shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.

In Plain English

What this Article actually means

The state-level mirror of Article 93 — the Legislative Assembly chooses both its Speaker and Deputy Speaker entirely from among its own elected members, reflecting the same self-governing principle for choosing presiding officers as the Lok Sabha.

Why This Matters To You

How it shows up in everyday life

This is why every State Assembly has its own Speaker, chosen by fellow MLAs, playing an equivalent institutional role to the Lok Sabha Speaker at the state level, including significant power over legislative procedure and, notably, over anti-defection disqualification decisions for that Assembly.

Read alongside this one

Art. 93 — The Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People

Frequently Asked

Quick answers about Article 178

Does the State Assembly Speaker also decide anti-defection cases, like the Lok Sabha Speaker does?

Yes — following the Kihoto Hollohan framework, the Speaker (or Chairman, for a Legislative Council) is the deciding authority for Tenth Schedule disqualification questions in their respective House, subject to judicial review.

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The text above reproduces Article 178 of the Constitution of India as amended to date, for general educational reference. It is public-domain legislative text, but we recommend cross-checking the authoritative version at legislative.gov.in or india.gov.in before relying on it for a legal matter. The explanation, examples and FAQs are general information, not legal advice — consult a qualified advocate for guidance on your specific situation.