Requisite Reformation Of Parliamentary Privilege In India: Prospects And Challenges
By Arindam Shit, Alliance School Of Law, Karnataka.*
Abstract
Each member of each House i.e., Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has certain rights and immunities, such as the right to be free from arrest and the right to freely express themselves, because the House cannot carry out its duties without the free and unfettered use of the services of its members. Each House, for the sake of its members' safety and the upholding of its own authority and dignity, has a few other rights and immunities, including the power to punish for contempt and the power to regulate its own constitution. Members of the House enjoy certain rights, but these rights exist primarily to facilitate the efficient performance of the House’s collective duties. If any of these protections are disregarded or attacked, it is considered a breach of privilege and is subject to parliamentary punishment. The Parliament of India and the State legislative Assemblies possess authority to codify law on parliamentary privileges and State Legislatures under Article 105(3) and 194(3) of the Constitution respectively. But it is the concern of judiciary from the Search light case onwards, that none of the legislative authorities in India has codified the law on this subject, due to which this privileges are considered to be a part of Article 19(1)(a) and thus not subjected to judicial review, as only codified law can be advanced for judicial review and not a constitutional provision that too a fundamental rights guaranteed to its citizens. This piece of research is an attempt to analyze the current legal status of parliamentary privileges taking into consideration the need of its reformation and reasons for existing as uncodified legal dilemma with freedom of press.
Keywords: Parliamentary Privileges, Uncodified, Law, Reformation, Analysis.
* The author is a fourth-year BBA LL.B. student pursuing from Alliance School Of Law, Alliance University, Karnataka.
