PRIVILEGE MOTION

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Introduction:

Parliamentary privileges are special rights, immunities, exceptions enjoyed by the members of the two houses of parliament and their committees. Originally the constitution envisaged two types of privileges under article 105 of the Indian constitution. One is freedom of speech in Parliament and the right of publication of its proceedings. Concept of parliamentary privilege in the Constitution of India has been taken from the British Constitution. The main motive of these privileges is to uphold the supremacy of the office of the Parliament and its members.

What is privilege motion?

The Members of Parliament are granted certain privileges individually and collectively so as to perform their duties properly. But if any of the members disregard or misuses any of these privileges or rights, it is considered as a breach of the privilege motion and is liable for punishment under the Parliamentary laws.

This motion is applicable for members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and if any member notices another member or members breach it, they can move the privilege motion against the accused members.

What is Breach of Privilege Motion?

A breach of privilege is an infringement of any of the privileges of MPs or Parliament. Parliamentary privilege refers to the rights and immunities enjoyed by Parliament as an institution and Member of Parliament in their individual capacity, without which they cannot discharge their functions as endowed upon them by the Constitution.

What is the procedure?

  • Rule No 222 in Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rule Book and correspondingly Rule 187 in Chapter 16 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook govern privilege.
  • It says that a member may, with the consent of the Speaker or the Chairperson, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or of a committee thereof.
  • The rules however mandate that any notice should be relating to an incident of recent occurrence and should need the intervention of the House. Notices have to be given before 10 am to the Speaker or the Chairperson.
  • The Speaker/RS chairperson is the first level of scrutiny of a privilege motion. The Speaker/Chair can decide on the privilege motion him or herself or refer it to the privileges committee of Parliament. 
  • If the Speaker/Chair gives consent under Rule 222, the member concerned is given an opportunity to make a short statement. In the Lok Sabha, the Speaker nominates a committee of privileges consisting of 15 members as per respective party strengths.
  • In the Rajya Sabha, the deputy chairperson heads the committee of privileges that consists of 10 members. A report is then presented to the House for its consideration.
  • The Speaker may permit a half-hour debate while considering the report. The Speaker may then pass final orders or direct that the report be tabled before the House. A resolution may then be moved relating to the breach of privilege that has to be unanimously passed.

What impact it can have?

The Privileges are given to the members of Parliament so that they discharge their duty properly without any destruction. There have been various complains raised for the breach of the privilege motion. There have a few cases that had gather a lot of public attention. Few of the most important ones are mentioned below:

In most recent time, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik had moved the breach of privilege motion, accusing Arnab Goswami of using derogatory language against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party Sharad Pawar. A similar privilege motion has been moved against actor Kangana Ranaut for claiming that Mumbai resembles Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

In December, 2018,  breach of privilege motion was passed on to then Prime Minister and the Defense Minister of the country, claiming that they had misled the members of the Parliament and the Supreme Court on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

The most significant privilege motion was passed in 1978 against Indira Gandhi. The motion was passed on by the then Home Minister Charan Singh claiming excesses made by her during Emergency. She was found guilty and was expelled from the House. In another case, in 1976, Subramanian Swamy, MP was expelled from the Rajya Sabha for disgracing the Indian Parliament through his interviews to foreign journals.

Multiple other cases have been recorded and many have been rejected by the Committees of both the Houses of Parliament. The major reason to introduce the privilege motion was to ensure that no Minister misuses his powers once he gets the privileges of a person of higher authority.

Is Privilege motion same like contempt?

Contempt of the House may be defined generally as “any act or omission which obstructs or impedes either House of Parliament in the performance of its functions, or which obstructs or impedes any Member or officer of such House in the discharge of his duty, or which has a tendency directly or indirectly, to produce such results.”

It may be stated that it is not possible to enumerate exhaustively every act which might be construed by the House as contempt of the House. Some of the important types of contempt of Parliament are, however, mentioned below:-

  • Speeches or writings reflecting on the House, its Committees or Members;
  • Reflections on the character and impartiality of the Chairman/Speaker in the discharge of his duty;
  • Publication of false or distorted report of the Proceedings of the House;
  • Publication oil expunged proceedings of the House;
  • Publication of proceedings of secret Sessions of the House;
  • Pre-mature publication of proceedings, evidence or report of a Parliamentary Committee;
  • Reflections on the report of a Parliamentary Committee;
  • Molestation of Members on account of their conduct in the House or obstructing Members while in the performance of their duties as Members or while on their way to or coming after, attending the House or a Committee thereof;
  • Offering bribes to Members to influence them in their Parliamentary conduct;  Intimidation of Members in connection with their Parliamentary conduct;
  • Any misconduct or undignified behaviour on the part of a Member, such as, corruption in the execution of his office as Member, disorderly and undignified conduct contrary to the usage or inconsistent with accepted standards of Parliamentary conduct;
  • Obstructing or molesting officers of the House in the discharge of their duties; Giving false or misleading evidence or information deliberately to the House or a Committee thereof, by a Member or a witness.

What is the punishment for an individual who is found guilty of breaching the legislature’s privilege?

If the Committee finds the offender guilty of breach of privilege and contempt, it can recommend the punishment. The punishment can include communicating the displeasure of the state legislature to the offender, summoning the offender before the House and giving a warning, and even sending the offender to jail.

In the case of the media, press facilities of the state legislature may be withdrawn, and a public apology may be sought.

Conclusion:

Both the Parliament and State Legislatures have a duty to look carefully before making any law, so that it doesn’t harm other rights. It is also a duty of the members to properly use these privileges and not misuse them for alternate purposes that is not in the favour of general interest of nation and public at large. Thus what we must keep in mind is the fact that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. For this not to happen under the privileges granted, the public and the other governing body should always be on vigil.

The content of this document do not necessarily reflect the views / position of RKS Associate, but remains a probable view. For any further queries or follow up please contact RKS Associate at [email protected]