Question

The Supreme Court first recognized that Parliamentary privileges do not automatically override the fundamental rights in which case?

• A. Pandit M.S.M. Sharma v. Sri Krishna Sinha
• B. Keshav Singh v. Speaker Legislative Assembly, U.P.
• C. Raja Ram Pal v. Speaker, Lok Sabha
• D. Gunupati Keshavram Reddy v. Nafisul Hasan

Hint:

The very early Gunupati case (1952) is the first example of the Supreme Court upholding a fundamental right (Article 22) in a direct conflict with a parliamentary privilege claim.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understand the conflict.
There has been a long-standing conflict between Parliamentary privileges (under Article 105) and the Fundamental Rights of citizens (under Part III).
The question asks for the \textit{first} case where the Supreme Court prioritized a fundamental right.

Step 2: Analyze the early cases.

The case of Gunupati Keshavram Reddy v.
Nafisul Hasan (1952) was one of the earliest on this issue.
In this case, an editor was arrested and detained by the Speaker of the U.
P.
Assembly for contempt of the House.
He was not produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, which violated his fundamental right under Article 22(2).

The Supreme Court issued a writ of habeas corpus and ordered his release, thereby implicitly holding that the fundamental right of the citizen under Article 22(2) prevailed over the parliamentary privilege.

In the later \textit{Pandit M.
S.
M.
Sharma} case (also known as the Searchlight case), the court took a different view, giving primacy to privilege over freedom of speech (Article 19).

Step 3: Conclude the first instance.
Despite later shifts, the Gunupati case stands as the first instance where the Supreme Court intervened to protect a citizen's fundamental right against a claim of parliamentary privilege.