Supreme Court Reserves Verdict on Immunity to MPs and MLAs in Corruption Cases
Seven-Judge Constitution Bench Examined the Issue of Whether Immunity Can Be Extended to Legislators Where There Is a Criminal Component to Their Acts
A 1998 order granting immunity to MPs and MLAs from criminal prosecution for corruption even if they accept bribes for voting or making speeches in the House was under review by a seven-judge constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Thursday, but the judges reserved their decision.
The bench, which was made up of Justices Manoj Misra, A.S. Bopanna, M.M. Sundresh, P.S. Narasimha, J.B. Pardiwala, and Sanjay Kumar, had stated that it would look at the specific issue of whether immunity can be extended to legislators where there is a criminal component to their acts.
"We cannot claim that we are not required to investigate whether there is immunity or not. As you (Centre) stated, if the crime was done outside, there is no doubt that immunity under (Article) 105 will apply. During the two-day hearing that started on Wednesday, CJI Chandrachud had stated that immunity can never attach when there is a criminal element.
The seven-judge panel was addressing a reference made by a five-judge bench last month over a three-judge bench's recommendation to refer the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha case, a 1998 P.V. Narasimha Rao case, to a seven-judge bench in 2019.
