A Two-Volume Constitutional Law Reference · 4th Edition · 2023
A standing reference on the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, the doctrine of parliamentary privileges, and the architecture of legislative accountability in the Indian republic. Authored by Subhash C. Kashyap; published by Eastern Book Company. Curated and highlighted by Shaunak Kashyap, Advocate of Kashyap Chambers.
About the Volumes
First conceived as a single study of the constitutional response to political defections, the work has matured across editions into a two-volume treatment of how the Indian Parliament governs its members, protects its proceedings, and disciplines departures from party allegiance.
The current 4th edition (2023) is published by Eastern Book Company and listed in the Constitutional Law · Election Laws category. It draws on the author's long career inside Parliament — Subhash C. Kashyap served as Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha — and continues to be cited by practitioners, scholars, and legislative researchers concerned with the Tenth Schedule, the contours of parliamentary privilege, and the Speaker's adjudicatory role.
This page is maintained by Shaunak Kashyap, Advocate, of Kashyap Chambers, as a curated entry point to the work and to the surrounding constitutional-law conversation. Primary purchase links route to Amazon and the publisher's storefront.
A WordPress mirror and backlink hub for this resource is also available at shaunakkashyapadvocate.blog, with book links, essay links, public references, and curator contact details.
The Subject
Two doctrines hold much of the architecture of Indian parliamentary democracy in place. One disciplines how legislators may shift loyalty between parties. The other protects how legislators speak, vote, and conduct business inside the House. Both are quietly decisive in moments of constitutional stress.
Introduced by the 52nd Amendment in 1985, the Tenth Schedule disqualifies legislators who voluntarily give up party membership or defy a party whip. It remains the single most consequential rule on legislator behaviour in India.
The freedoms enjoyed by Houses of Parliament and their members — freedom of speech in the House, immunity from certain proceedings, control over internal affairs — together shape the daily working of the legislature.
Where defection law and privilege intersect, the Speaker's adjudicatory function, judicial review, and constitutional morality together define how representative democracy answers to its own rules.
The Curator
Shaunak Kashyap is a practising advocate based in India, associated with Kashyap Chambers. His work and reading sit at the meeting point of constitutional law, parliamentary procedure, and election law — the same terrain that this two-volume reference covers.
This page exists to bring the book and a small selection of accompanying writing within easier reach of advocates, law researchers, and serious lay readers. It is a curatorial spotlight; nothing on the page is a substitute for the volumes themselves or for primary constitutional sources.
Essays & Notes
Short companion pieces written to orient readers around the volumes — the anti-defection rule, the privileges question, and why advocates and researchers still return to this subject.
The Tenth Schedule explained — its 1985 origin, its grounds for disqualification, the Speaker's role, and what the courts have made of it since Kihoto Hollohan.
Read the essay →Article 105, freedom of speech inside the House, immunity from judicial process, and the open question of codification — read as a single doctrinal arc.
Read the essay →Where defection law and privilege turn up in real practice — election petitions, disqualification references, contempt notices, and constitutional litigation.
Read the essay →Sources & Listings
Public metadata for the volumes lives across several listings. Some details vary between editions and platforms; the entries below are the references this page draws on.