[Kerala Assembly vandalism] Is it in interest of justice to damage material at the sanctum sanctorum of democracy? Supreme Court reserves verdict

The Supreme Court today reserved orders in a plea filed by the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala seeking permission to withdraw cases against its leaders for vandalism in the Kerala Assembly in 2015, when it was in opposition..A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and MR Shah stated that this case was "not about theft but damage to public property and that the government is the custodian of this property.".Justice Chandrachud further observed, "Let us take example of court. Even in court, lawyers sometime lose their cool and oppose each other. But will that justify destroying court property?".Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the leaders, argued today,"Members of ruling party were equally at fault. It was a fight between two parties.".Justice Chandrachud went on to ask,"Is it in interest of justice to throw things and damage material at the sanctum sanctorum of democracy?".Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, on the other hand, questioned whether "a privilege can be claimed and House members can have the right to destroy public property, abuse the Speaker and destroy his chair?".The Court ultimately went on to reserve orders, stating that it would look into whether the High Court had committed any material irregularity in dismissing the plea of the State..The plea was filed against a March 12, 2021 order of the Kerala High Court which had dismissed the State's petition against an order of rejection by the Chief Judicial Magistrate's Court at Thiruvananthapuram, seeking permission to withdraw prosecution against the accused, including sitting ministers.."MLA throws Mic on floor, not acceptable:" Supreme Court on Kerala govt plea to drop cases against Left front leaders for Assembly vandalism.The State government said in its petition that the High Court failed to appreciate that the alleged incident had occurred while the assembly was in session and no crime could have been registered against the MLAs without previous sanction of the Speaker of the House for an incident that happened on the floor of the House."The FIR registered by the Secretary Legislative Assembly without the consent of the Speaker is wrong...the act of the accused persons being in relation to their function to protest as members of the legislative assembly the MLA’s who are accused in this FIR had entitled to get protection under the Constitution," the petition said..In this regard, the State also highlighted Articles 105(3) and 194(3) of the Constitution of India which confers certain privileges and immunities on the members of Parliament and state legislatures."Therefore it not proper to the Secretary of Legislative Assembly to file cases against MLAs with regard to an incident that happened on the floor of the House during the protest made by the opposition members," the plea emphasised.The appeal further stated that the question pertains to the interpretation of Section 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives powers to the prosecutor to file an application for withdrawal of a case."This Hon’ble Court settled the proposition of law on this aspect in a number of decisions. What can be look into by the court whether the public prosecutor had filed the application for withdrawal in good faith after independently analysing the whole situation and whether the withdrawal of the cases will help the ends of justice," the appeal said..The Kerala High Court in its order had noted that question was whether the acts allegedly committed by the accused, which, if proven, would be offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code, are to be reckoned as part of the proceedings of the House, for the purpose of their protection."The answer can only be in the negative, since privileges and immunities are provided to ensure smooth functioning of the House by guaranteeing absolute freedom to the members to speak and participate in its deliberations. Here the allegation is of the functioning of the Assembly Session having been disrupted by the members by trespassing into the Speakers Dias and committing mischief. The aforementioned acts, if proven to be true, can, by no stretch of imagination, be deemed to be acts done in furtherance of the free functioning of the house," the High Court had said..The top court had earlier observed that the behaviour of CPI (M) leaders in the assembly, which included throwing microphones and causing damage to public property, should be met with legal action."Prima facie we have to take a strict view of this kind of behaviour. This is not acceptable behaviour. Look at the behaviour of MLA who throws mic on the floor of the house. He must face trial," Justice Chandrachud had said during a hearing on July 5."They are MLAs, they were representing the people," Justice Shah had weighed in..[Vandalism in Assembly] "No crime could have been registered without speaker's sanction:" Kerala govt moves SC to drop cases against left leaders.[Read a detailed account of today's hearing]