NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday indicated that its seven-judge Constitution Bench may not decide the long-pending question of whether legislative privileges can override the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression after the Tamil Nadu Assembly informed it that the disputed 2003 resolution had been withdrawn in 2004.
The development came in the case concerning journalists N Ravi and others, who approached the Supreme Court after then Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker K Kalimuthu ordered the arrest of six journalists for alleged breach of privilege and contempt following a resolution passed by the House in 2003. The apex court stayed the arrests and later referred the matter for an authoritative determination of the scope of legislative privileges.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was told by senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, appearing for the TN Assembly on Monday, that the 2003 resolution had been withdrawn by the House in 2004. He said the development may not have been brought on record earlier.
Chief Justice Kant said the court should not engage in an “academic exercise” and stressed the need for a live controversy. The court directed Ramachandran to place the 2004 withdrawal resolution before the seven-judge bench on Tuesday.