The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to re-examine its 1998 judgment granting MPs and MLAs immunity from prosecution for taking bribes to make a speech or vote in Parliament or state legislatures.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that it will set up a seven-judge to re-examine the matter.
Earlier, in 2019, a three-judge bench headed by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had referred it to a five-judge bench noting that it was of “substantial public importance”.
It had said that it would revisit the sensational Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) bribery case on an appeal filed by Sita Soren, JMM MLA from Jama constituency in Jharkhand.
Soren was being prosecuted by the CBI for allegedly taking bribes for voting in the 2012 Rajya Sabha elections. She was accused of receiving bribes from a Rajya Sabha candidate for casting her vote in his favour, but instead cast her vote in favour of another candidate, reported The Tribune.
Her father-in-law and JMM leader Shibu Soren was saved by the 1998 Constitution Bench verdict.
The top court’s five-judge bench had in its 1998 verdict in the PV Narasimha Rao versus CBI case held that parliamentarians had immunity under the Constitution against criminal prosecution for any speech made and vote cast inside the House.