No Immunity To Legislators From Bribery Charges For Votes And Speech: Supreme Court Overrules Previous Judgment

Calling the 1998 judgment a "grave danger", the Supreme Court on Monday (4 March) overruled the judgment that granted immunity to legislators from bribery charges connected to voting.

Earlier, in the PV Narasimha Rao versus State case of 1998, a five-judge bench ruled with a 3:2 majority that legislators are immune from criminal prosecution in matters related to bribery for their speech and votes in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies.

A seven-judge Bench led by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud disagreed with this judgment while analysing majority and minority views on the matter and said that an individual legislator cannot claim immunity.

According to Indian Express, the bench noted that the previous judgment was contrary to Articles 105(2) and 194 of the Indian Constitution as bribery is not rendered immune under these articles that provide protection to legislators.

This comes a few months after Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra was expelled from Lok Sabha after an Ethics Committee report over allegations of bribery from Darshan Hiranandani for targeting the Adani Group in Parliament.