Parliamentary Privileges

The Constitution of India envisages a parliamentary form of government, both at the Centre and in the states. Articles 74 and 75 enshrine the parliamentary system at the Centre and Articles 163 and 164 at the states. The political party that wins maximum seats in the Lok Sabha develops the next government.

Explain Parliamentary privileges 

India follows the parliamentary form of government whose features are directly borrowed from the British Constitution. Parliamentary privileges, also called the benefits or advantages, are offered to the members of legislatures. Therefore, in most democratic countries like India, the members of legislatures enjoy a set of privileges that others don’t have access to. It is believed that the members of legislatures can easily exercise these privileges without any hindrance or help from judges. In India, these privileges are enjoyed by the members of Rajya sabha and lok sabha and are referred to as Parliamentary privileges. 

Introduction of Parliamentary privileges in India  

In 1833, the term Parliamentary privileges were used for the first time when the 4th member was included in the council of the governor-general. At this time, a new type of legislative assembly came into power which introduced an institution that later transformed into the law-making body in the country. According to the government of India Act, 1935, freedom of speech was given to everyone. 

Sources of parliamentary privileges 

There are five sources of parliamentary privileges. These are as follows – 

• Various laws made by Parliament
• Parliamentary conventions
• Rules of both the Houses
• Constitutional provisions
• Judicial interpretations

Uses of Parliamentary privileges 

The following are the uses of the Parliamentary privileges – 

• The privileges given helps in maintaining the honour, dignity and authority of the members of Parliament.
• The immunities, exemptions, or rights given to the members of the parliament houses along with the parliament committees secure the effectiveness of actions decided by them. 
• These privileges secure the members of each house of the Parliament from any kind of obstruction in regards to their action. 

Types of Parliamentary privileges  

The Parliamentary privileges are mainly classified into two major categories. 

Collective privileges 

• The first point under the collective privilege includes the ability or power to conduct debate, publish reports, or proceedings. Also, having the power to stop others from doing so. 
• Keeping strangers out of the room to address any emerging issues. 
• Making and following your own rules for governing commercial activities and procedures. 
• Ability to immediate notification of the member’s conviction, arrest, imprisonment, custody and release.

Individual privileges 

• No member can be arrested forty days before and after the parliament session. Note this privilege is only applicable in civil matters. 
• Another parliamentary privilege is that the member has the right to express or speech. No one has the power to question them. 
• The parliament members have the right to decline to give tests or evidence in court. 

Why India adopted for a parliamentary form of government:

There were several reasons why India chose to adopt the Parliamentary form of government. These were as follows – 

• Familiarity with the System: The constitution-makers were fairly familiar with the parliamentary system as it had been in operation in India during the British colonial rule (modern history legacy).

• Priority to More Responsibility: The parliamentary system of government clearly outlines the responsible behaviour of the executive, and the makers of the Constitution prioritised the principle of responsibility on the highest pedestal.

• Avoid Conflicts: The framers of the Constitution sought to avoid the conflicts among the executive and legislature which are bound to occur in the Presidential system prevalent in the USA. 

• Rich Diversity: India is one of the most heterogeneous States and most composite plural societies in the world. Representation of these diversities was seen as more promising by the parliamentary system.

Benefits of parliamentary form of government:

• Coherence between Legislature and Executive organs: The privilege of having a parliamentary form of government is that it upholds a balance between the legislative and executive organs of the government.

• Prevents Despotism: In the parliamentary form of government, the executive authority is placed in the group of individuals which includes the Council of Ministers, which reduces the chances of arbitrariness while making decisions. 

• Ready Alternative Government: If the party which is currently ruling loses the elections, the State’s Head sends an invitation to the opposition party to form a new government. 

• While considering the nation’s rich diversity, the parliamentary form of government was the best-suited option available to the makers of the Constitution, which has maintained its sanctity to date and is expected to serve the same in the future.

Conclusion 

Articles 74 and 75 enshrine the parliamentary system at the Centre and Articles 163 and 164 at the states. There are mainly two types of parliamentary privileges that the members of Parliament enjoy that we discussed in today’s article. 

In this article describing parliamentary privileges in India, we studied the concept of parliamentary privileges in length. We covered several other topics such as the privileges offered in Parliament, the use of Parliamentary privileges, types of Parliamentary privileges, and other related topics. We hope this study material must have helped you better understand parliamentary privileges.