Regarding the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker, consider the following statements: 1) He/she holds the office during the pleasure of the President. 2) He/she need not be a member of the House at the time of his/her election but has to become a member of the House within six months from the date of his/her election. 3) If he/she intends to resign, the letter of his/her resignation has to be addressed to the Deputy Speaker. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Only statement 3 is correct. The Speaker's resignation is addressed to the Deputy Speaker under Article 94(a), which is the only one of the three statements that holds.

• Statement 1 is wrong. The Speaker holds office during the pleasure of the House, not the President. Under Article 94(b) and (c), the Speaker vacates office by a resolution of the House passed by a majority of all members, and ceases on losing membership or on dissolution of the House.
• Statement 2 is wrong. The Speaker must be a member of the Lok Sabha when elected. The six-months-to-become-a-member rule is the one that applies to ministers under Article 75(5), and it is often confused with this office.
• Statement 3 is right. Article 94(a) says the Speaker resigns by writing to the Deputy Speaker.

The core concept is the security of tenure of presiding officers, which is designed to keep them independent of the executive. This links to the Mains debate on the Speaker's role in disqualification cases under the Tenth Schedule and the case for an independent office.

Trap: Candidates mix up the Speaker's rules with the Ministers' rules, such as the six-month clause in Article 75(5) and the Rajya Sabha Chairman's position, and pick statement 2.