PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES OF PARLIAMENT - POLITY
News: Article
105 of Constitution: The limits to free speech in Parliament, and what Supreme
Court has ruled
What's in the news?
● Protesting
against the expunction of parts of his speech on the motion of thanks on the
President’s Address, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge has argued that MPs have freedom of speech, and that he did
not make any personal allegations in the House.
Key takeaways:
● In
his letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Kharge cited Article 105
of the Constitution that deals with the privileges and powers of
parliamentarians.
Article 105:
● Article
105 of the Constitution deals with “powers,
privileges, etc of the Houses of Parliament and of the members and committees
thereof”.
Go back to basics:
Types of Parliamentary Privileges in India:
Collective Privileges:
The
privileges belonging to each House of Parliament collectively are
● The
ability to publish reports, debates,
and proceedings, as well as the ability to prevent others from doing so. It can
publish truthful reports of Parliamentary proceedings without the House's
authorization under the freedom of the press. However, in the case of a House
meeting held in secret, this right of the press does not apply.
● Keep strangers out of the
gathering and organize covert sessions to address
vital issues.
● Make
rules to govern its own procedure
and commercial activity, as well as to adjudicate on such issues.
● Right to immediate
notification of a member's arrest, custody,
conviction, imprisonment, and release.
● Initiate
inquiries and compel a person's attendance.
● The
courts are not allowed to investigate a House's or its committee's proceedings.
● Without
the consent of the Presiding officer, no one (whether a member or an outsider)
can be arrested, and no legal process (civil or criminal) can be served within
the House's boundaries.
Individual Privileges:
The
privileges belonging to the members individually are
● During
the session of Parliament, from 40 days before the beginning to 40 days after
the finish, no member may be arrested. This privilege is only granted in civil matters; it is not granted in criminal or
preventive detention situations.
● In
Parliament, members have the right to
free expression. No member of Parliament or its committees is accountable
in any court for anything said or voted in Parliament or its committees. This
independence is limited by the Constitution's provisions as well as the norms
and standing orders that govern Parliament's functioning.
● Members
of Parliament are exempt from jury duty
when Parliament is in session. They have the right to decline to give evidence
and testify in court.
Exceptions:
● Article 361-A
was added by the Constitution 44th
Amendment which says that no person shall be liable to any proceedings,
civil or criminal in any Court of law in respect of any publication in a
newspaper of a substantially true report of any proceedings of either House of
Parliament or Legislative Assembly, unless the publication is proved to have
been made with malice. A similar immunity is extended to broadcast on air.
● Article 121
of the Constitution prohibits any discussion in Parliament regarding the
“conduct of any Judge of the Supreme Court or of a High Court in the discharge
of his duties except upon a motion for presenting an address to the President
praying for the removal of the Judge.