Top court dismisses Kerala govt plea for withdrawal of case against 6 LDF leaders
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that no member of an elected legislature can claim either a privilege or an immunity to stand above the sanctions of criminal law, which applies equally to all citizens, adding acts of destruction of public property in the House cannot be equated with freedom of speech.
The top court said this as it dismissed a plea by the Left government in Kerala for withdrawal of the criminal case against the then six MLAs of the LDF over the opposition ruckus inside the state Assembly in 2015. The current Education minister V Sivankutty was among the MLAs who will now have to face trial.
Privileges and immunities are not gateways to claim exemptions from the general law of the land, particularly as in this case the criminal law which governs the action of every citizen, the court said, holding that the actions of the legislators have trodden past the line of constitutional means, and is thus not covered by the privileges guaranteed under the Constitution.
It further said that privileges bestowed upon elected members of the legislature are not a mark of status which makes them stand on an unequal pedestal. A bench of justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said an alleged act of destruction of public property within the House by members to lodge their protest against presentation of budget cannot be regarded as essential for exercising their legislative functions .
The top court made the observations in its 74-page verdict on two separate appeals, including the one filed by the state against the Kerala High Court's March 12 order dismissing the plea for withdrawal of the criminal case in the matter.
It said allowing the prosecution to be withdrawn would only result in a singular result that elected representatives are exempt from the mandate of criminal law. This cannot be countenanced as being in aid of the broad ends of public justice."
The Kerala assembly had witnessed a huge ruckus on March 13, 2015 as the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front(LDF) MLAs tried to prevent the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) finance minister K M Mani, who was facing allegations in the bar bribery scam, from presenting the state budget.
