New Delhi: On Monday, a bench of 7 judges of the Supreme Court gave its verdict on the matter related to the privileges of MPs and MLAs.
The Supreme Court said in its decision that MPs and MLAs will not get any kind of legal protection under the privilege in cases of taking bribes. With this decision, the Supreme Court has overturned its 1998 decision of Narasimha Rao. Then the bench of five judges had decided with a majority of 3:2 that public representatives cannot be prosecuted in such cases. But this time the bench of seven judges of the Supreme Court has given this decision unanimously.
Supreme Court stated that Corruption and Bribery of MPs and MLAs eroded foundation of Indian Parliamentary Democracy.
In this landmark judgment, a seven-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court has overturned a 25-year-old precedent, ruling that bribery charges are not protected by parliamentary privileges.
— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) March 4, 2024
Read more: https://t.co/WS5i0r1yXW#SupremeCourt #SupremeCourtofIndia pic.twitter.com/na8rqeULzh
According to Live Law website the constitution bench held that a member of parliament or the state legislature cannot claim immunity from prosecution on charge of bribery in a criminal court by virtue of Articles 105(2) and 194(2) of the Constitution, observing –
“We disagree with and overrule the judgment of the majority on this aspect. We have concluded that first, the doctrine of stare decisis is not an inflexible rule of law. A larger bench of this court may reconsider a previous decision in appropriate cases bearing in mind the tests which have been formulated by this court. The judgment in PV Narasihma Rao which grants immunity from prosecution to a member of a legislature who has allegedly engaged in bribery for casting a vote or making a speech has wide ramifications on public interest, probity in public life, and parliamentary democracy. There is a grave danger of this court allowing the error to be perpetuated if the decision were not reconsidered.”
Welcoming this decision of the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Modi wrote in a post on X, “SWAGATAM! A great judgment by the Hon’ble Supreme Court which will ensure clean politics and deepen people’s faith in the system.”
SWAGATAM!
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 4, 2024
A great judgment by the Hon’ble Supreme Court which will ensure clean politics and deepen people’s faith in the system.https://t.co/GqfP3PMxqz
After the Supreme Court’s decision, lawyer Ashwani Upadhyay told PTI, “A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court has unanimously said that accepting money to ask questions in Parliament or vote in the Rajya Sabha elections is against the constitutional values. That’s why no immunity would be given (to the Parliamentarians),”
VIDEO | "A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court has unanimously said that accepting money to ask questions in Parliament or vote in the Rajya Sabha elections is against the constitutional values. That's why no immunity would be given (to the Parliamentarians)," says advocate… pic.twitter.com/DYGviH6Oci
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 4, 2024
After a two-day long hearing, the bench had reserved the order for the seven judges hearing the hearing under the chairmanship of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud in October last year.
