Liberty and Freedom are the basic instincts of all and sundry. However, limitless self-actualisation and seamless independence is bound to intrude and interfere with the legitimate aspirations of the fellow human beings. In the same way, in democratic set up the elected representative is often confronted with the task of counterbalancing his individual perception with the expectations and aspirations of his electors. Unfortunately, there are various instances when the later gave way to the former. The crisis becomes acute in a hung political scenario where the legislators tend to defect for personal gains rather than any ethical or ideological reasons. The anti defection law/10th schedule, which puts severe restrictions on the people’s representatives, is seen as a legislative contrivance to rein in the individual legislator from acting according to his whims and fancies. Present study is a humble endeavour to dissect the problem of political defections viewed against the rights of a legislator, which are perforce available to an ordinary citizen in a democracy.
