Cash-for-vote: SC to review order on MLA, MP immunity

New Delhi: A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will decide whether Parliamentarians or MLAs can claim immunity from criminal prosecution for taking bribe to give a speech or vote in an assembly or the Parliament. The apex court has decided to revisit its 21-year-old verdict in the sensational Jharkhand Mukti Morch (JMM) bribery case.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi has referred to a larger bench the appeal of Sita Soren, incidently also a JMM MLA, against the Jharkhand high court order for quashing criminal case lodged against her for allegedly taking bribe to vote for a particular candidate in Rajya Sabha elections held in 2012.

Ms Soren is also the daughter-in-law of former union minister Shibu Soren who was involved in the JMM bribery case. Mr Shibu Soren, along with his four party MPs, had allegedly taken bribe to vote against the no-confidence motion against the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao government in Centre in July 1993.

In the present appeal filed by Ms Soren, the Jharkhand high court had rejected the contention taken that, as she has been charged to have received bribe for casting vote in favour of one MLA R.K.Agarwal, she cannot be prosecuted criminally as the provision contained in Section 194 (2) of the Constitution granted immunity to her. The high court had refused to accept the ruling in the Narasimha Rao verdict, hence it needed to be revisited, the apex court said and referred the issue for adjudication by a larger bench.