{"id":217212,"date":"2022-12-05T20:45:10","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T15:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=217212"},"modified":"2022-12-05T20:45:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T15:15:10","slug":"mps-and-mlas-have-special-rights-to-free-speech-for-a-valid-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/mps-and-mlas-have-special-rights-to-free-speech-for-a-valid-reason\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs and MLAs have special rights to free speech for a valid reason"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source<\/strong>: The post is based on the article\u00a0\u201cMPs and MLAs have special rights to free speech for a valid reason<\/strong>\u201d <\/strong>published in Live Mint<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a05th<\/sup> December 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Governance <\/strong><\/p>\n

Relevance: <\/strong>Concerns associated with parliamentary privileges of MPs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

News: <\/strong>The Supreme Court is reconsidering the privileges granted to the legislators in the Parliament or in Assemblies. The freedom of speech of MPs and MLAs are protected by the Constitution.<\/p>\n

What are the Constitutional provisions regarding free speech for MPs and MLAs?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Constitution provides all Indian citizens with freedom of speech under<\/strong> Article 19<\/strong> which is subjected to reasonable restrictions.<\/p>\n

However, the freedom of speech granted to MPs and MLAs in the Parliament or in Assemblies is protected under Articles 105 and 194<\/strong> respectively, as a parliamentary privilege.<\/p>\n

This freedom is only subjected to the provisions<\/strong> of the Constitution and standing orders of concerned legislative body.<\/p>\n

MPs cannot be punished in<\/strong> connection with any vote or speech made in Parliament. Courts are also barred from making inquiries into proceedings in Parliament.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the free speech of parliamentarians has been protected more than free speech available to citizens.<\/p>\n

Why is this freedom important for MPs and MLAs?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The free speech of legislators protects the integrity of discussions<\/strong> in Parliament and acts as a shield against the suppression by the executive.<\/p>\n

Further, Freedom of expression<\/strong> is regarded as the foundation of a liberal democracy<\/strong> and imposing unfair restrictions on legislators will hamper this foundation.<\/p>\n

Therefore, it is important to ensure such freedoms to the legislators as regulating it can impact the ability of Parliament to check the Executive.<\/p>\n

What are the concerns associated with this freedom?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

At present there are 2 types of challenges to this freedom, in front of Supreme Court (SC):<\/p>\n

First,<\/strong> the SC is considering whether there can be additional restrictions on speeches by MPs as there has been rise in the hate speech.<\/p>\n

Second,<\/strong> the problem of bribery of legislators because of the provisions of Article 105(2). The SC in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)<\/strong> bribery case held that bribes given for votes is not punishable under the Prevention of Corruption Act<\/strong> as they were the votes taken in Parliament. This view is being reconsidered.<\/p>\n

Article 105(2)<\/strong> provides protection to the legislators against the proceedings of the court related to vote, speech or any publication made under the authority of the Parliament.<\/p>\n

However, both of these concerns do not dilute the parliamentary privileges and both can be addressed separately.<\/p>\n

What are the provisions present for the hate speech by legislators?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

First Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n

The hate speeches made by MPs and MLAs that causes offence are punishable under Indian law if made outside the legislative house.<\/p>\n

Further, if their speech is printed in newspapers that goes against the law then s\/he can be punished.<\/p>\n

Second Issue<\/strong><\/p>\n

As per the amended Prevention of Corruption Act<\/strong>, illegal satisfaction is complete at the time a bribe is made and it is punishable without any further follow up.<\/p>\n

However, this act has no connection<\/strong> with any vote or speech made in the Parliament and it is protected under Article 105(2).<\/p>\n

Therefore, the JJM bribery case<\/strong> can be reconsidered on the basis that illegal satisfaction is not connected with any vote or speech in Parliament. The UK Supreme Court<\/strong> has taken the same view in the parliamentary expenses case in R. vs Chaytor.<\/p>\n

What is the way ahead?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The responsibility to improve politics and bring an ecosystem that discourages irresponsible speech and corruption lies with the citizens more than with the laws.<\/p>\n

Constitutional safeguards exist to ensure the structural integrity of political democracy.<\/strong> Therefore, using these laws to correct political problems is not the solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: The post is based on the article\u00a0\u201cMPs and MLAs have special rights to free speech for a valid reason\u201d published in Live Mint\u00a0on\u00a05th December 2022. Syllabus: GS 2 \u2013 Governance Relevance: Concerns associated with parliamentary privileges of MPs. News: The Supreme Court is reconsidering the privileges granted to the legislators in the Parliament or… Continue reading MPs and MLAs have special rights to free speech for a valid reason<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10501],"class_list":["post-217212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-live-mint","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}