Delhi Riots- Facebook India VP's Challenge against Delhi Assembly Summons: Live Updates From Supreme Court

Salve: I submit this formulation to remove obstructions in its working. This is what I mean by privilege being a shield. To prevent people from interfering in your working.

Salve: The shield of privilege is to prevent the crown, which in our system will be the executive from interfering with the working of a house.

Salve: If that power is not given, it will lead to considerable degree of friction. I think Mr. Dhawan appeared for the State of TN when WTO treaty was challenged. For such a debate, would they have the privilege of summoning the secretary of foreign affairs to give evidence?

Salve: Today, for example, an international treaty is signed. The power rests with the union but that doesn’t mean a state legislature cannot discuss that treaty.

Salve: This is the starting point. Powers are dependent upon and are necessary for the conduct of each house. You can have a debate in any elected house on any aspect. That’s your freedom of speech.

"There are therefore two dimensions, first, privileges are to enable you to discharge your functions, and second, they are against the executive government." Salve submits.

Salve: Privileges are primarily directed to the crown. Can the GOI be heard to say that any information with the Govt or any of its agencies will not be made available to the parliamentary committee? Or can it say you are preventing me from exercising my functions?

Salve: It could extend to those who are connected with executives. Because parliament primarily has two broad functions, legislative and executive.

Salve: The privilege was that you were exempted because the law of rem will not apply to you. That’s how the word privilege came otherwise they would have called it powers.

Salve: I want to start first with the proposition that a privilege is primarily meant to be shield. A privilege is considered as something necessary to enable the house to conduct its business.