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The term "Aaya Ram Gaya Ram'' gained popularity in India after Haryana legislator Gaya Lal switched parties three times in a single day. The state and central governments faced unstable functioning conditions as a result of frequent defection by elected and nominated party members. An anti-defection law was regarded as being necessary to try to stop such political defections. Rajiv Gandhi, the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989, implemented an anti-defection law through an amendment to the Constitution. The 52nd Amendment to the Indian Constitution, which came into effect in 1985, added a 10th Schedule—often referred to as "The Anti-Defection Law''—which prohibited members of Parliament from switching parties without first resigning and filing their nomination papers for re-election.

Defining Anti-Defection Law?  

The 52nd Amendment Act, passed in 1985 and added to the Constitution in 1987, outlines the procedure by which parliamentarians can be disqualified from serving on a legislative body due to defection i.e. changing their party affiliation from their original party to the opposite party after being elected to an electorate seat . This provision was implemented to prevent defection as a political strategy.

Challenging the Constitutional Validity of the 10th Schedule:

In the landmark case of Kihoto Hollohan v. Zachillhu And Others (1992), the Supreme Court of India upheld the validity of the 10th Schedule and addressed the following points of contention-

1. The 10th Schedule was challenged on the grounds that it violated the Constitution's Article 368(2) by making changes in chapter IV of Part V and chapter V of Part VI without ratification from half of the Indian states by at least half of Indian states.
2. The Apex Court was also confronted with the question of whether or not it was appropriate for Chairmen or Speakers to decide on disqualifications.
3. It was argued that even if the Amendment Act did not attract Article 368(2), it still took away judicial review and could be struck down.

The Supreme Court held that Article 368(2) was attracted to the 52nd Amendment Act, but simultaneously ruled that appointing the Speaker or Chairman as an adjudicator was justified. However, the court also concluded in Paragraph 6 that extraordinary jurisdiction of the Supreme and High courts as given in Articles 136, 226, and 227 was not excluded.

The Reason for Defection

Defection can occur for a variety of reasons that can be:

1. When legislators are offered a good incentive such as better designations to change parties, they often defect from the current party and join a new one.
2. In some cases, the benefits of being a minister are often less than the perks of being an MLA.
3. If the MLA is promised or offered the position of minister,
4. In those instances where the ideology does not match with the party.
5. Pressure groups may occasionally be to blame for the defect.
6. Lack of groupism or leadership in the party
   
   
   

Advantages of the Anti-Defection Law(10th Schedule)

1. Anti-defection laws help prevent members of a political party from abandoning their party and its policies, thus giving stability to the government.

2. To ensure that the party's members remain committed to its platform and policies, it is important that those chosen according to their political party affiliation stay with them.

3. Laws designed to prevent candidates from switching parties also help to prevent corruption by minimising the risk of bribery or other improper financial dealings with candidates or their staffs during election campaigns.

Case law: Rajendra Singh Rana, V. Swami Prasad Maurya, and others.

The issue was that the presiding officer did not respond to the petition. The Supreme Court further decided that it is unconstitutional for a speaker to dismiss a complaint or agree to reports about splits and mergers without conducting an investigation. It claims that it would be exceptional and a violation of the constitution if the Speaker ignored this petition.

Contemporary Issue:

In the recent decades, poaching of legislators from other parties has become a common political practice. Recently, when Eknath Shinde left Uddhav Thackeray's camp to join hands with the BJP, a new chapter in Maharashtra politics was written. The matter reached the Supreme Court where it was questioned whether the dissent of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction amounted to a “split” from original Shiv Sena party, which was led by Uddhav Thackeray, and the matter was referred the Constitution Bench for considering upon the disqualification of Mr. Shinde on the grounds mentioned under Schedule X of Indian Constitution.

A constitution bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud in the matter has recently passed the order on 27th September that the Election Commission will decide which of the two factions of the Shiv Sena - one led by Uddhav Thackeray and the other by chief minister Eknath Shinde - will be recognised as the 'real' party. Further, the matter related to the disqualification notice sent to Mr. Shinde and his 15 MLAs is pending to be heard before the Apex Court.

Conclusion

The Constitution, by adding Schedule X to it, was intended to counter the prospect of defection. Even though this has largely been successful, there are some ambiguities in the law. The courts, however, have done a respectable job of explaining how it should be applied to particular facts and circumstances. Even so, there aren't many generalisations that can be applied to any situation. There seems to be a lot of room for judicial interpretation—which might further clarify this statute and include a larger range of situations under its ambit.

References 

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-defection_law_(India)
2. https://www.insightsonindia.com/2020/06/17/10th-schedule-of-the-constitution-5/
3. https://prepp.in/news/e-492-anti-defection-law-10th-schedule-indian-polity-upsc-notes
4. https://www.iasexpress.net/anti-defection-law-tenth-schedule-upsc/
5. https://www.outlookindia.com/national/eknath-shinde-camp-mlas-to-join-bjp-uddhav-faction-flags-caution-news-232213