REPORTED BY: Prachi Singh
Location: Supreme Court of India, New Delhi
Case Details:
• Case Title: N. Ravi & Ors. v. Speaker, Legislative Assembly, Chennai & Ors.
• Writ Petition (Crl.) Nos.: 206–210 of 2003
• Court: Supreme Court of India
• Bench: CJI Surya Kant, Justice Aravind Kumar, Justice P.K. Mishra, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, Justice Vipul M. Pancholi, Justice Shree Chandrashekhar, and Justice V. Mohana
A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday formally disposed of a long-pending constitutional reference concerning the conflict between legislative privileges and fundamental rights under Articles 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution. The Court recorded that the 2003 resolution of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which originally triggered the proceedings, had been withdrawn in 2004, rendering the cause of action infructuous. The matter originated in November 2003 when the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed a resolution holding five senior journalists of The Hindu—including Editor N. Ravi—guilty of breach of privilege for publishing editorials critical of the State administration.
The Assembly had sentenced the journalists to 15 days of simple imprisonment and ordered their arrest. The journalists approached the apex court, which stayed the arrest warrants and referred the conflict between legislative privileges under Article 194(3) and fundamental rights to a higher Bench. During proceedings before the Supreme Court, Senior Advocate Raju Ramachandran brought to the Court’s notice that the 2003 resolution had been revoked by a subsequent Assembly resolution passed on July 30, 2004. Taking note of the development, the seven-judge Bench headed by CJI Surya Kant recorded that the factual dispute no longer survived. The Court disposed of the writ petitions while keeping the broader questions of law open to be determined in an appropriate future case.
