Context

• Indian national political party Indian National Congress has moved a privilege motion in the Rajya Sabha against Home Minister Amit Shah for misleading the House.

Privilege Motion

• It is an important parliamentary procedure used by MPs to accuse a member of the House or a committee of violating privileges.
• This motion is moved by a member when he feels that the minister has not disclosed the correct facts or has violated the privilege of the House or one or more members of the House by providing wrong information.
• Its purpose is a kind of censure.

Parliamentary Privilege

• It refers to certain rights and exemptions enjoyed by members of Parliament individually and collectively.
• Article 105: Mentions two privileges, namely, the right to 'freedom of speech in Parliament' and the right to 'publication of its proceedings'.
• Article 194: It guarantees similar privileges to members of the Legislative Assemblies of the states.
• These rights protect members of Parliament from obstructions in the course of their work and help maintain their dignity, authority and honour.
• Parliamentary privileges, while being part of the law of the land, provide certain exemptions from the general law.
• Disregarding or attacking the privileges and immunities is called a breach of privilege and is punishable.
• Parliamentary privileges are not extended to the President who is also an integral part of the Parliament, rather Article 361 of the Constitution provides privileges to the President.

Privileges Committee

• This is a permanent committee. This committee investigates cases of violation of the privileges of the House and its members and also recommends appropriate action.
• The Lok Sabha committee has 15 members, while the Rajya Sabha committee has 10 members.

Parliamentary privilege and related matters