Legal immunity enjoyed by legislators protects them from bribery charges: Seven-judge Constitution bench initiates hearing today

Today, the Supreme Court of India is hearing submissions on whether the legal immunity, under Articles 105(2) and 194(2) of the Constitution, enjoyed by legislators protects them from prosecution for taking a bribe. On September 20, 2023, the Supreme Court referred the matter to a seven-judge Constitution bench. The bench then also referred the 25-years-old judgment in the PV Narasimha Rao vs. State case to a seven-judge bench where the Constitution bench held that the legislators enjoyed legal immunity from prosecution in bribery cases according to Articles 105(2) and 194(2) of the Indian Constitution. Today (October 04), a seven-judge bench including Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice MM Sundresh, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice AS Bopanna, Justice Manoj Misra, Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, and Justice PS Narasimha initiated the court proceedings. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Senior Advocate (SA) Raju Ramachandran, Senior Advocate PS Patwalia, and Senior Advocate Gopal Sakaranarayanan presented their submissions before the Constitution bench. Senior Advocate Vijay Hansaria will address tomorrow followed by SA Sankaranarayanan and Attorney General.