Supreme Court clears the way for action against MLAs for violence in Kerala

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the prosecution of six Kerala MLAs who had taken the law into their hands during a protest inside the Assembly. It observed that law-makers cannot claim immunity from criminal prosecution for destroying property and beating up others in the House.

A single judge of the Kerala High Court had, on March 12, 2021, upheld an order of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Thiruvananthapuram, declining permission to the public prosecutor to withdraw sanction to prosecute these LDF MLAs. A bench, which also comprised Justice MR Shah, upheld this decision on Wednesday.

The incident dates back to March 13, 2015, when the then Finance Minister was presenting the budget for the financial year 2015-2016.


The MLAs, then in the Opposition, had disrupted the presentation of the budget, climbed over to the Speaker’s dais and damaged furniture and articles including the Speaker’s chair, computer, mike, emergency lamp and electronic panel, causing a loss of Rs 2,20,093.

“... there has been a growing recognition and consensus both in this court and Parliament that acts of destruction of public and private property in the name of protests should not be tolerated,” a bench, led by Justice DY Chandrachud, said.

The persons named as accused in the FIR in the present case held a responsible elected office as MLAs in the Assembly. In the same manner as any other citizen, they are subject to the boundaries of lawful behaviour set by criminal law, it said.