Courts not to inquire into proceedings of Parliament

Article 101, Draft Constitution 1948

(1) The validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.

(2) No officer or other member of Parliament in whom powers are vested by or under this Constitution for regulating procedure or the conduct of business, or for maintaining order, in Parliament shall be subject to the jurisdiction of any court in respect of the exercise by him of those powers.

Article 122, Constitution of India 1950

(1) The validity of any proceedings in Parliament shall not be called in question on the ground of any alleged irregularity of procedure.

⁠(2) No officer or member of Parliament in whom powers are vested by or under this Constitution for regulating procedure or the conduct of business, or for maintaining order, in Parliament shall be subject to the jurisdiction of any court in respect of the exercise by him of those powers.

Draft Article 101 (Article 122) was debated on 23 May 1949. It barred any court from inquiring into parliamentary proceedings on grounds of procedural irregularities.

The proposals around this Draft Article revolved around language changes and suggestions to avoid future conflicting interpretations.

One member sought to add ‘in any court’ in clause (1). This would make it obvious that the provision prohibited ‘any court’ from inquiring into parliamentary proceedings. The Chairman of the Drafting Committee responded that this amendment was redundant, as the courts of India were the only appropriate forum in which such an inquiry could take place.

Another member proposed that the phrase ‘or other member’ in clause (2) be replaced by ‘or no member’. He claimed that the former was misleading as it implied that an officer was also a member of Parliament. In response, a member contended that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker were both members and officers, and hence the use of the phrase ‘or other member’ was accurate. This argument was further supported by the Chairman of the Drafting Committee.

The proposed amendments were negatived, and the Draft Article was accepted by the Assembly. It was adopted on 23 May 1949.