Many MPs are seen to be frequently absent from the house. The Constitution provides for disqualification provided a MP is absent for 60 continuous days without permission. Hence MPs submit leave applications when they are absent for a longer period of time. In the 16^th Lok Sabha, 28 leave applications were submitted till date.

Only few Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Lok Sabha maintain a healthy attendance record. Many others are frequently missing from the house. But MPs do submit a leave application when their absence is for a longer period. In the first 2 years of the 16^th Lok Sabha, a total of 28 leave applications were received from 26 different members of the Lok Sabha. These 28 applications together sought a leave of 894 days.

Why does a MP submit a leave application?

Article 101 of the Constitution of India lays down conditions for declaring a parliamentary seat as vacant. One of the conditions talks about absence of members from the house. If any MP is absent for a continuous period of sixty days (60) without permission, the house can declare his seat as vacant. Hence MPs submit leave applications when they are absent from the house for a relatively longer period.

The MP is supposed to submit his leave application to the Speaker of the house mentioning the reasons for absence. One single leave application cannot be for more than 60 days. All the leave applications thus received are referred to the ‘Committee on Absence of Members from the Sittings of the House’. The committee meets and decides on each leave application and  a suitable recommendation is made on each leave application. Leave applications are almost never rejected in practice. The house then ratifies the recommendations made by the committee. The committee is currently chaired by P Karunakaran of the CPI (M). He is a MP from Kerala.

28 Leave applications in the 16^th Lok Sabha

Till date, 28 leave applications were made by 26 different MPs in the 16^th Lok Sabha. Out of the 28, BJP MPs made 11 leave applications followed by 6 from MPs of Trinamool Congress and 4 from MPs of Indian National Congress. MPs from PDP & BJD made two leave applications each, while MPs from JMM, NCP & YSRCP made one application each.

Illness is the topmost reason for absence

16 of the 28 leave applications mentioned illness as the reason. 15 of them mentioned self illness while one application by a BJP MP mentioned illness in family as the reason. Next in the list of reasons were elections. 6 of the 28 applications mentioned elections in the constituency as the reason for absence. Two applications mentioned constituency related work as the reason while the two applications from the BJD MP mentioned ‘Under Judicial Custody’ as the reason. The CBI arrested the BJD MP in the chit fund scam. Two other applications mentioned ‘visit abroad’ as the reason for absence including one from BJP MP Hema Malini. Only one application by a Trinamool Congress MP mentioned multiple reasons in the application like Visit Abroad, marriage in the family and relief work in constituency. One of the Trinamool Congress MPs who applied for leave because of illness eventually passed away in October 2014.

All leave applications recommended by the Committee

The committee recommended all the leave applications received. In only two cases, it did not recommend the number of days as applied by the MP. In the case of INC MP, Amarinder Singh who applied for a leave of 60 days, the committee recommended leave for 59 days and asked him to apply afresh for the remaining day. In the case of BJD MP Rama Chandra Hansdah, who is under judicial custody, the committee condoned 67 days of leave. In all the other cases, the committee recommended the same number of days as applied by the MP.