New Delhi, 06 October (H.S.): A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has closed a nearly 22-year-old reference concerning legislative privileges and freedom of speech. The Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, accepted the petitioners’ request to leave the larger questions of law open for consideration in an appropriate case in the future.

The Constitution Bench noted that an affidavit filed by the Assembly Secretary in August 2004 had informed the court about a resolution passed on July 13, 2004, through which the earlier resolution had been withdrawn. The Bench observed that the controversy had thereby become academic, a fact that had evidently escaped the court’s attention when the matter was referred to the seven-judge Bench.

Apart from the Chief Justice, the Constitution Bench comprised Justice Aravind Kumar, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, Justice V.M. Pancholi, Justice Chandrashekhar and Justice V. Mohana.

In this case, journalist Ajit Anjum and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra had also filed intervention applications before the Supreme Court.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar