Unruly behaviour of lawmakers inside house can't be condoned: SC

The Supreme Court on Monday held that the unruly behaviour of law makers inside the Parliament and Assemblies cannot be condoned and they should face trial for destroying public property inside the houseA bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah told senior advocate Ranjit Kumar appearing for Kerala government that What were trying to tell you is that we cannot condone the behaviour of this kind of MLA who throws mikes and destroys public property while a Bill is being laidThere has to be a modicum of decorum in legislative bodiesAs Justice Shah asked What behaviour are you presenting to the public Kumar responded that he will bring everything on recordJustice Chandrachud queried further What is the larger public interest in shielding an MLA who created a ruckus while a financial bill was being laid He emphasised that the presentation of the Finance Bill is of utmost importanceKumar argued the Kerala High Court had culled out and taken minority views in two cases As the bench responded that the lawmakers obstructed the budget which was being laid down in the Assembly Kumar said Yes But he was suspended too and cited two judgments in defenceThe bench observed that the decision to withdraw the case is taken by the public prosecutor and not be the state government State cannot decide if it is to be withdrawn or not Its only the prerogative of the public prosecutor it notedAs Kumar requested another date in the matter the bench said that it will keep the matter for next week telling him Until then if you want to file any additional documents please doAfter hearing arguments the bench posted the matter for further hearing on July 15The Kerala government had moved the Supreme Court seeking its nod to withdraw cases against CPIM leaders including now Education Minister V Sivankutty for vandalism in the state Assembly in 2015 when the current ruling party was in the OppositionThe Kerala High Court in an order passed on March 12 had refused to give its nod saying that the elected representatives are expected to uphold prestige of the house or face the consequences The MLAs had vandalised the Speakers dais uprooted his chair pulled out the mike system computer etcThe special leave petition filed by the state government said When Article 1053 1943 of the Constitution of India confers certain privileges and immunities to the members of the Parliament and state Legislature is it proper to the Secretary of Legislative Assembly to file cases against the MLAs with regard to an incident that happened on the floor of the House during the protest made by the opposition members that too without the consent of the Speaker of the AssemblyThe state government contended that the High Court failed to appreciate the fact that the alleged offences under Section 447 and 427 of the IPC and Section 31 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act happened on the floor of the Assembly during the Budget Session as part of the protest by opposition members against the budget presentation by the then Finance Minister due to the then prevailing political situationThe FIR registered by the Secretary Legislative Assembly without the consent of the Speaker is wrong and therefore the application filed under Section 321 CrPC is liable to be allowed The act of the accused persons being in relation to their function to protest as members of the Legislative Assembly the MLAs who are accused in this FIR are entitled to get protection under the Constitution the state government arguedThe Kerala High Court had dismissed the states petition against an order of rejection by the Chief Judicial Magistrates court at Thiruvananthapuram seeking permission to withdraw prosecution against the accused including sitting ministersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever