Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday that members have a wrong notion that they have privilege from action by investigating agencies while the session is on.
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The Congress has been protesting against the alleged misuse of Central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department by the government to “frame” political rivals.
A day ago, Congress members forced adjournments in the Upper House when Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said he had received a summon from the ED to appear before the agency even while the House was in session.
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Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena too raised the issue of the arrest of member Sanjay Raut by the ED saying that the Chairman should have been apprised.
On Friday too, protest by the Congress members on the issue led to an adjournment by nearly 30 minutes.
As the House assembled, Mr. Naidu said, “Going by what has happened in the last few days, I want to clarify one thing that there is a wrong notion among the members that they have a privilege from action by agencies while the session is on.”
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He said he had examined all the precedents and under Article 105 of the Constitution, MPs enjoy certain privileges so that they can perform their parliamentary duties without any hindrance.“One of the privileges is that a Member of Parliament cannot be arrested in a civil case, 40 days before the commencement of the Session or Committee meeting and 40 days thereafter.This privilege is already incorporated under section 135A of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
However, in criminal matters, MPs are not on a different footing than a common citizen.It means that an MP does not enjoy any immunity from being arrested in a criminal case during the session or otherwise, he said.
He added there had been a number of rulings by Presiding Officers.He recounted a ruling given in 1966 by Dr. Zakir Hussain. It was said, “Members of Parliament do enjoy certain privileges so that they can perform their duties.One such privilege is freedom from arrest when the Parliament is in sessio.This privilege of freedom from arrest is limited only to civil cases and has not been allowed to interfere in the administration of criminal proceedings.”
He asked the members to recall an observation made earlier by him where he said, “No member should avoid appearing before any investigating agency when she or he is called upon to do so by citing reason of House duty.As law makers, it is our bounden duty to respect the law and legal procedures.”