Parliamentary Privilege And Hate Speech
- IJLLR Journal
- Jul 19
- 1 min read
Rishitha Nimmani, NALSAR University of Law
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the extent of Parliamentary Privileges granted under Article 105 (1) of the Indian Constitution and whether it grants a privilege against instances of Hate Speech inside the Parliament. The constitutional transplantation of Parliamentary Privileges from British Jurisprudence leaves the Jurisprudence in India unharmonized with its own Constitutional Scenario; we delve into how the Privileges in India need to be refined to suit the Indian Political and Constitutional Landscape. The analysis in this paper would mainly depend upon the implications drawn from the case of Sita Soren vs Union of India, especially the Necessity Test and the slew of cases that dealt with Freedom of Speech and Vote inside Parliament, to examine whether the current Parliamentary Rules and Procedure sufficiently address Hate Speech inside the Parliament and whether such speech is amenable to Judicial Review. The paper also theoretically explores the themes of Constitutional Supremacy and Parliamentary Sovereignty to provide context for the discussion on whether the veil of Privilege can be pierced in certain instances. Ultimately, this paper seeks to identify gaps in the current discourse on Parliamentary Privilege and provide a more constitutionally anchored understanding of Parliamentary Privileges.
