SC appoints amicus curiae to help it decide if lawmakers can claim immunity from prosecution
Decision to be made in taking bribe to vote case
New Delhi, Nov 15: The Supreme Court on Tuesday appointed senior advocate P S Patwalia as amicus curiae to assist it in examining whether an MP or MLA can claim immunity from criminal prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or vote in the Legislative Assembly or Parliament.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice S A Nazeer also asked advocate Gaurav Agarwal to assist Patwalia in the matter.
The bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian, and B V Nagarathna, said it will hear the issue on December 6, 2022.
In 2019, a bench headed by then chief justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Sanjiv Khanna had referred to a five-judge bench the crucial question, noting it had "wide ramification" and was of "substantial public importance".
The three-judge bench had then said it will revisit its 24-year-old verdict in the sensational Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) bribery case on an appeal filed by Sita Soren, a JMM MLA from Jama constituency in Jharkhand.
The top court, in its 1998 five-judge constitution bench verdict delivered in the PV Narasimha Rao versus CBI case, had held that parliamentarians had immunity under the Constitution against criminal prosecution for any speech made and vote cast inside the house.
She had appealed against the Jharkhand High Court order of February 17, 2014 refusing to quash a criminal case lodged against her for allegedly taking bribe to vote for a particular candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections held in 2012.
She was charged by the CBI with allegedly taking bribe from one candidate and voting for another.
Sita Soren is the daughter-in-law of former union minister and Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren, who was a key accused in the JMM bribery case.
Shibu Soren, along with his four-party MPs, had allegedly taken bribe to vote against the no-confidence motion against the then P V Narasimha Rao government at the Centre in July 1993.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
