Abhijay Raj Vaish, Pune
A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court has overruled the 1998 judgement, which allowed legislators immunity from bribery cases in terms of how they vote or speak in the house. The decision was taken unanimously on Monday in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha case, citing that bribery is not considered to be immune under Articles 105(2) or 195(2).
The 1998 judgement in P.V. Narsimha Rao vs. State held that legislators are entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution in cases where they take bribes to vote or say something in parliament. The current bench stated the judgement to be paradoxical while also citing the prosecution of such cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The 1998 case was reconsidered after Sita Soren, an MLA of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, was accused of casting a vote for a particular candidate in the 2012 Rajya Sabha elections in exchange for a bribe. The Jharkhand High Court refused to revoke the case filed against her by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2014, which further led to an appeal in front of the Supreme Court. The then Chief Justice of India (CJI), Ranjan Gogoi, heard the appeal and considered the narrow margin by which the case was decided, along with the public importance attached to the hearing. Thereby, he referred the matter to a larger bench, which culminated in the five-judge bench led by CJI Chandrachud in September 2023. The bench highlighted three issues for reconsideration, and the case was further referred to the seven-judge bench headed by the current CJI, which declared the verdict. The bench was also composed of Justices M.M. Sundresh, P.S. Narasimha, A.S. Bopanna, Sanjay Kumar, Manoj Mishra, and J.B. Pardiwala in the case of Sita Soren vs. The Union of India.
“The judgement of the majority bench in the Narsimha Rao case, which grants immunity to legislators, has grave danger and is thus overruled,” a seven-judge bench led by the CJI DY Chandrachud said. The CJI further noted that bribery and corruption destroy the functioning of the Indian parliamentary system.
The judgement has allowed the CBI to prosecute the accused under the Prevention of Corruption Act.