Members of Parliament enjoy certain privileges for their conduct in the parliament. Article 105 of the constitution powers privileges of the House of members and Committees. A few of the privileges include:
· Freedom of speech in parliament.
· Immunity to a member from any proceedings in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in parliament or any committee thereof.
· Immunity to a person from proceedings in any court in respect of the publication by or under the authority of either House of Parliament of any report, paper, votes, or proceedings.
· Courts are prohibited from inquiring into the validity of any proceedings in Parliament on the ground of an alleged irregularity of procedure.
· No officer or Member of Parliament empowered to regulate procedure or the conduct of business or to maintain order in Parliament can be subject to regulate procedure or the conduct of business or to maintain order in Parliament can be subject to the court’s jurisdiction in respect of the exercise by him of those powers.
· No person can be liable to any civil or criminal proceedings in any court for publication in a newspaper of a substantially true report of any proceedings of either House of Parliament unless the publication is proved to have been made with malice. (This immunity is not available for secret settings of the parliament.
There have been instances when some of these privileges have been tested. Article 361A empowers the Press to authentically report on the proceeding of the house.
The Parliamentary Committee on privileges has taken numerous cognizance of media reports amounting to a breach of privileges. The House although have the power to punish for breach of privilege which includes imprisonment and admonition or reprimand. In all of such occasions, the house has taken the liberal view and have acquitted reprimanding.
In one such instance, The Indian Express was reprimanded by the Chairman of the House for alleged breach of privilege in reporting. “The Committee on privilege irked over a line which read “The new familiar pastime of baiting General Kaul and Choudhuri occupies half of the question hour in the Rajya Sabha”
Nav Bharat Times in 1986 contained a report calling “members of Parliament mentally under-developed”. In 1974, a Hindi weekly Pratipaksha contained a title “Sansad ya choron aur dalalon ka adda”. The house in both these instances didn’t comment, believing that commenting would on these were beneath the house and would provide undue publicity.
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