04 March 2024 Criminal Appeals & Suspension of Sentence >> Criminal Law  

Facts:

• A previous decision by the Court (PV Narasimha Rao) suggested that bribery by a legislator could be protected by parliamentary privilege.
• In the current case, Sita Soren, a member of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha party, was allegedly offered a bribe to cast a vote in a particular direction.
• It is not mentioned in the article whether Soren accepted the bribe or not.
• Regardless of whether she cast her vote in the direction of the alleged bribe giver, the High Court of Jharkhand declined to quash the chargesheet against Soren.

Conclusion:

• The Court is reconsidering the correctness of the previous decision (PV Narasimha Rao) on parliamentary privilege.
• The Court is likely to rule that bribery by a legislator is not protected by parliamentary privilege.
• The Court's reasoning is that the bribery offense is complete when the bribe is accepted, not when the vote is cast. Accepting a bribe violates the public's trust in legislators and should not be protected by parliamentary privilege.