In Brief
In this landmark judgment on parliamentary privilege and legislative competence, the Supreme Court upheld the Delhi Assembly's Committee on Peace and Harmony's power to summon Facebook India to testify about its role in the February 2020 communal riots. The Court held that legislative committees can compel attendance of non-member witnesses, including private corporations, for legitimate inquiries into matters of governance and peace. However, the Court struck down paragraph 4(vii) of the Committee's Terms of Reference, which sought to recommend criminal action, as this falls exclusively within law enforcement's domain. The Court emphasized that while committees perform essential investigative functions, they cannot encroach upon constitutionally excluded domains (law and order, police) or regulate intermediaries—matters reserved for the Union. Facebook cannot refuse to appear but can decline to answer questions specifically about law and order or police matters.
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