There is no ‘unequal pedestal’ before the law. The Supreme Court reasserted this principle while sitting on the Kerala government’s plea for the withdrawal of criminal cases filed against six members of the legislative assembly from the Left Democratic Front for turbulent conduct during a session in 2015. The LDF MLAs, then in Opposition, had damaged in a protest equipment and furniture to the tune of Rs 2.20 lakh in the Kerala assembly. But the privileges and immunities that legislators enjoy do not give them a separate status under the law of the land. The Supreme Court, while dismissing the Kerala government’s plea, reportedly said that the privileges accorded to the members of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom did not exempt them from the law, but allowed them to discharge their duties freely. Similarly, the privileges and immunities enjoyed by elected representatives in India were intended to create conditions for them to do their job effectively, without fear or favour, not to remove them from the purview of the law. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a message to all elected representatives who engage in violent protest in Parliament and the assemblies. Legislators are constitutionally permitted to protest, as the court pointed out with reference to the pertinent provisions. But this freedom of expression does not include smashing up public property.

The law violated in such cases is the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, by which the Supreme Court has traditionally laid great store. The court’s ruling underlined two ironies. The Kerala government itself had enacted a law against the destruction of public property, it reportedly said. Besides, claiming exemption for a breach of criminal law would betray the trust imposed in elected representatives as enactors of laws. This suggested that legislators’ conduct should be in tune with the laws they make for the people — again a message that should be noted. When will it be followed? The plea itself indicated how law is sought to be politicized by today’s leaders: the LDF is now in power in Kerala. Trying to extricate colleagues from criminal cases when in power is a tendency most political parties share; Yogi Adityanath’s efforts in this direction are spectacular. The Supreme Court ruling — and elucidation — must be welcomed in this context as well.