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Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court on Monday declared former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singhs expulsion by the Assembly as constitutionally invalid and ruled that it is improper for Parliament or an Assembly to expel a member for breach of privilege citing acts of corruption or misconduct allegedly committed as part of executive functions.
The legislatures power to expel a member for breach of parliamentary privilege is limited to those acts which directly distort,obstruct or threaten the integrity of legislative proceedings in any manner,a five-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI K G Balakrishnan said.
Singh was expelled from the 13th state Assembly on September 10,2008,for breach of privilege after a resolution was passed on the basis of the report of a panel appointed by the Assembly on alleged irregularities. The resolution was at the instance of the SAD-BJP government led by Parkash Singh Badal for causing a loss to the exchequer by granting exemption to 32.1 acres land of a private builder from the purview of the Amritsar Improvement Trust scheme.
The alleged improper exemption of land was an executive act, the court said,adding that ideally the government should have filed a criminal complaint against Singh.
It cautioned legislature from using phrases like lowering the dignity of House to disqualify a member. It said once a House is dissolved,a successive House cannot inquire into its business. If we were to permit the legislature to exercise privileges for acting against members for their executive acts during previous terms,the courts are likely to be flooded with cases involving political rivalries, it said.
The court also reiterated a settled principle that legislative proceedings should not touch matters pending in courts.
