The Speaker’s powers and duties include:
- Maintaining order and decorum in the House.
- Final interpreter of the Constitution, Rules of Procedure, and parliamentary precedents within the House.
- Adjourning the House or suspending meetings in absence of quorum.
- Not voting in the first instance but exercising a casting vote in case of a tie.
- Presiding over a joint sitting of both Houses.
- Allowing a ‘secret’ sitting of the House.
- Deciding whether a bill is a money bill (decision is final).
- Deciding disqualifications of members on grounds of defection (subject to judicial review).
- Acting as ex-officio chairman of the Indian Parliamentary Group.
- Appointing chairmen of parliamentary committees and supervising their functioning. He/she is chairman of the Business Advisory Committee, Rules Committee, and General Purposes Committee.