Recently, a notice was submitted to initiate privilege proceedings in the Rajya Sabha against the Union Education Minister for allegedly “misleading” the house on the issue of ‘dropping’ the Preamble to the Constitution from certain NCERT textbooks.
- Privilege Motion: A privilege motion is a formal notice submitted by a Member of Parliament (MP) or a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) alleging a breach of parliamentary privileges.
- This occurs when a member’s rights and immunities, which are essential for the effective discharge of their duties, are disregarded.
- Such instances are considered offences known as ‘breach of privilege,‘ and are punishable under the laws of Parliament.
- Who Can Move a Privilege Motion?
- Any Member: Both MPs in Lok Sabha and MLAs in State Assemblies can move a privilege motion.
- Procedure:
- The motion must involve a recent incident that the member considers a breach of privilege.
- Notices must be submitted before 10 am to the Speaker or Chairperson of the House.
- The member must seek consent from the Speaker (Lok Sabha) or Chairperson (Rajya Sabha) to raise the issue.
- Role of the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairperson
- Initial Scrutiny: The Speaker and Chairperson are responsible for the first level of scrutiny of a privilege motion.
- They may either decide on the motion themselves or refer it to the Privileges Committee.
- Consent and Explanation: Upon giving consent under Rule 222, the concerned member is allowed to explain their case.
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Privileges Committee
- Composition: The Lok Sabha committee has 15 members, while the Rajya Sabha committee has 10 members.
- In the Rajya Sabha, the deputy chairperson heads the committee of privileges
- Function: The committee investigates the breach of privilege and submits a report to the House for consideration.
Parliamentary Privileges
- Parliamentary privileges are special rights, immunities and exemptions enjoyed by the two Houses of Parliament, their committees and their members.
- The Constitution also extends the parliamentary privileges to those persons who are entitled to speak and take part in the proceedings of a House of Parliament or any of its committees. These include the Attorney General of India and Union ministers.
- The parliamentary privileges do not extend to the President who is also an integral part of the Parliament. Article 361 of the Constitution provides for privileges for the President.
- Article 105 of the Constitution expressly mentions two privileges, that is, freedom of speech in Parliament and right of publication of its proceedings.
- Apart from the privileges as specified in the Constitution, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, provides for freedom from arrest and detention of members under civil process during the continuance of the meeting of the House or of a committee thereof and forty days before its commencement and forty days after its conclusion.
- The Parliament, till now, has not made any special law to exhaustively codify all the privileges.
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August 10, 2024
