No immunity to MLAS, MPS from criminal law: SC

NEW DELHI: Legislators do not have immunity from criminal law for acts of vandalism or destruction of public property inside state assemblies or in Parliament, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday, clearing the decks for the prosecution of some of Kerala’s sitting and former MLAS who threw furniture and destroyed computers and microphones during House proceedings in 2015.

It also said that in this case, there is no need for the sanction of the speaker of the assembly to prosecute the legislators.

The bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and MR Shah underlined that privileges and immunities to the legislators under the Constitution “are not gateways to claim exemptions from the general law of the land, particularly, as in this case, the criminal law which governs the action of every citizen.”

It held that any attempt to claim an exemption from the application of criminal law would be betraying the trust impressed on the character of elected representatives as the makers and enactors of the law. “No member of an elected legislature can claim either a privilege or an immunity to stand above the sanctions of the criminal law, which applies equally to all citizens,” said the bench, rejecting a plea by the Kerala government to let it drop the criminal charges against two sitting and four former MLAS.

The Kerala government, through senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, sought to protect the six accused, who were MLAS of the Left Democratic Front (the oppoaccused, sition then) at the time of the incident in March 2015, by citing immunity granted to the members of the House under Article 194(1) of the Constitution and their right to protest. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta appeared for some of the accused as he defended the state government’s decision to withdraw the prosecution. The lawyers asked for setting aside a Kerala high court judgment of March and let off the six KT Jaleel, V Sivankutty, CK Sadasivan, EP Jayarajan, K Ajith and Kunjammadu Master.

But the bench rejected their submissions. “The persons who have been named as the accused in the FIR in the present case held a responsible elected office as MLAS in the Legislative Assembly. In the same manner as any other citizen, they are subject to the boundaries of lawful behaviour set by criminal law. No member of an elected legislature can claim either a privilege or an immunity to stand above the sanctions of the criminal law, which applies equally to all citizens,” said the court.

Soon after the apex court’s order, the opposition parties in Kerala stepped up pressure for the resignation of state education minister V Sivankutty.

However, the ruling party defended the minister, saying he will face the trial as the apex court did not get into the merit of the case. “It is not the final verdict. All accused will face the trial,” said CPI(M) acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan.

Senior advocate V Giri said, “With this judgment there is clarity now that members of legislatures will have to face the law for committing criminal acts inside the House. The Court has held that Legislature is a public place and assaulting the Speaker, destroying public property are plain offences, against which no state can withdraw prosecution. MPS and MLAS have other ways to show protest by raising slogans and staging walkout and the judgment makes it clear that any act of vandalism will not go unpunished.”

THE VERDICT CLEARS THE DECKS FOR PROSECUTION AGAINST SITTING AND FORMER MLAS WHO THREW FURNITURE AND DESTROYED COMPUTERS

(Ramesh Babu in Thiruvananthapuram contributed to this story)