The schedule of the Constitution that contains the anti-defection provisions, setting out the grounds and procedure for disqualifying legislators who defect.
- Added by the 52nd Amendment, 1985, and linked to Articles 102(2) and 191(2).
- Grounds for disqualification: voluntarily giving up party membership, or voting or abstaining contrary to the party whip without permission and without condonation within fifteen days.
- The decision rests with the Presiding Officer (Speaker or Chairman), and it is subject to concept judicial review (Kihoto Hollohan, 1992).
- The 91st Amendment, 2003, deleted the earlier one-third "split" exception; now only a "merger" of at least two-thirds of the legislature party is protected.
- It is a self-contained code, distinct from the broader anti defection discussion.
The schedule number (Tenth), the amendments (52nd and 91st), and the merger-versus-split change are high-frequency objective items.
The Tenth Schedule is the anti-defection schedule; do not confuse it with the Ninth Schedule (laws shielded from judicial review, though that shield is itself reviewable after 1973) or the seat-distribution schedules.
Tenth Schedule (52nd Amendment, 1985): disqualifies defectors; only a two-thirds merger is exempt after the 91st Amendment (2003).