Telangana MP to move privilege motion against PM

• Four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) members in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday submitted a Privilege Motion against Prime Minister regarding his remark in the Upper House about the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill.
• The Prime Minister questioned the parliamentary process adopted for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Privilege Motion

• About: It is concerned with the breach of parliamentary privileges by a minister.
• Breach of Parliamentary Privileges: Parliamentary Privileges are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by members of Parliament, individually and collectively, so that they can “effectively discharge their functions”.
• When any of these rights and immunities are disregarded, the offence is called a breach of privilege and is punishable under the law of Parliament.
• A notice is moved in the form of a motion by any member of either House against those being held guilty of breach of privilege.

Role of the Speaker/Rajya Sabha (RS) Chairperson:

• The Speaker/RS chairperson is the first level of scrutiny of a privilege motion.
• The Speaker/Chairperson can decide on the privilege motion himself or herself or refer it to the privileges committee of the Parliament.
• If the Speaker/Chairperson gives consent under relevant rules, the member concerned is given an opportunity to make a short statement.

Rules Governing Privilege:

• Rule No 222 in Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rule Book and correspondingly Rule 187 in Chapter 16 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook governs privilege.
• Rules say that a member may, with the consent of the Speaker or the Chairperson, raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the House or a committee thereof.

Parliamentary Privileges

• These are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by members of Parliament, their committees and their members.
• Article 105 of the Constitution expressly mentions two privileges, that is, freedom of speech in Parliament and right of publication of its proceedings.
• The parliamentary privileges do not extend to the President
• Article 361 of the Constitution provides for privileges for the President.
• Apart from the privileges as specified in the Constitution, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, provides for freedom from arrest and detention of members under civil process during the continuance of the meeting of the House or of a committee thereof and forty days before its commencement and forty days after its conclusion.

Privilege Committee

• It is a Standing Committee. It examines the cases of breach of the privileges of the House and its members and recommends appropriate action.
• The Lok Sabha committee has 15 members, while the Rajya Sabha committee has 10 members.