Supreme Court to revisit verdict on immunity to lawmakers : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Supreme Court to revisit verdict on immunity to lawmakers

Refers Narasimha case ruling to 7-judge Bench

Supreme Court to revisit verdict on immunity to lawmakers

Can lawmakers claim immunity from prosecution for taking bribes for voting in the House? Twentyfive years after a five-judge Constitution Bench in PV Narasimha Rao's case ruled that a lawmaker was immune to prosecution even if he/she took money to vote on the floor of the House, the Supreme Court on Wednesday referred the issue to a seven-judge Constitution Bench to reconsider the correctness of the 1998 judgment. - File photo



Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, September 20

Can lawmakers claim immunity from prosecution for taking bribes for voting in the House? Twentyfive years after a five-judge Constitution Bench in PV Narasimha Rao’s case ruled that a lawmaker was immune to prosecution even if he/she took money to vote on the floor of the House, the Supreme Court on Wednesday referred the issue to a seven-judge Constitution Bench to reconsider the correctness of the 1998 judgment.

“This enumeration of the legal position indicates that the decision in the Narasimha Rao case is wrong. The only question is: Should we wait for it to arise at some time in future or lay down a law…We must not also ignore that if it also furthers public morality on the part of our elected representatives, then we should not defer our decision to some uncertain day in the future,” a five-judge Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said.

“The correctness of view propounded in majority of the Narasimha Rao case needs to be dealt with,” it added. The reference order came after senior advocate and amicus curiae PS Patwalia submitted that a lawmaker couldn’t claim immunity from prosecution for taking bribes for voting or making a speech in the House. “It’s too important an issue to be left like that,” Patwalia said, urging the matter to be sent to a larger Bench.

The Bench chose to ignore the suggestions of Attorney General R Venkataramani and senior counsel Raju Ramachandran (representing the petitioner) who submitted that it was not needed to get into the constitutional question as the case in hand didn’t warrant it.

“This case must rest on its own facts… Prosecution must continue,” Venkataramani said, adding there was no question was any protection under Article 194 of the Constitution as the act in question didn’t relate to anything said or any vote given in the House.

The reference order came while dealing with an important questions of law relating to parliamentary privilege under Article 105 and Article 194 of the Constitution referred to it by a three-judge Bench headed by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi on March 7, 2019. The case related to JMM legislator Sita Soren’s plea claiming protection under the top court’s ruling in Narasimha Rao’s case after being accused of taking a bribe during a Rajya Sabha election.

According to Article 105(2), “No member of Parliament shall be liable to any proceedings in any court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or any committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of either House of Parliament of any report, paper, votes or proceedings.”

#Supreme Court


Top News

10 BJP MPs elected to state assemblies resign from Parliament

10 BJP MPs elected to state Assemblies resign from Parliament

Among the 10 who put in their papers are nine Lok Sabha MPs,...

BJP MPs elected to Assemblies resign—what it means

BJP MPs elected to Assemblies resign—what it means

Resignation of Union ministers also revived speculation of r...

DMK MP Senthil Kumar withdraws anti-cow belt remarks after Lok Sabha furore

DMK MP Senthil Kumar withdraws anti-cow belt remarks after Lok Sabha furore

The withdrawal of statement by MP Senthil came when the Hous...

'Maybe politics wasn’t Rahul’s calling', Pranab Mukherjee told daughter Sharmistha

'Maybe politics wasn’t Rahul’s calling', Pranab Mukherjee told daughter Sharmistha

‘In Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers’, Sharmistha Muk...


Cities

View All