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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Courts can see House reports

Courts can see House reports

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published Published on May 10, 2018   modified Modified on May 10, 2018
-The Telegraph

New Delhi: A five-judge Supreme Court constitution bench on Wednesday ruled that parliamentary standing committee reports can be examined by courts for evidence evaluation, rejecting the Centre's argument that it would be a breach of parliamentary privileges and an encroachment into the domain of the legislature.

The apex court, however, said "admissibility of a parliamentary committee report in evidence does not mean facts stated in the report stand proved", as it has to be corroborated by other evidence.

"There can be no dispute that a parliamentary standing committee report being in the public domain is a public document. Therefore, it is admissible under Section 74 of the Evidence Act and judicial notice can be taken of such a document as envisaged under Section 57(4) of the Evidence Act," the Supreme Court said.

"There can be no scintilla of doubt that the said document can be taken on record. As stated earlier, it can be taken aid of to understand and appreciate a statutory provision if it is unclear, ambiguous or incongruous," it added.

The bench, which had Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices A.K. Sikri, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, passed the 338-page judgment while dealing with a PIL filed by social activist Kalpana Mehta and others challenging the justifiability of the action taken by the Drugs Controller General of India and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in approving the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for cervical cancer patients despite a parliamentary standing committee report opposing its use.

The vaccine is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline Asia and MSD Pharmaceuticals ostensibly for preventing cervical cancer.

The petitioners had moved the court seeking a ban on the use of the vaccine as, according to them, several women had died during a pilot immunisation camp in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

The Centre, defended by attorney-general K.K. Venugopal, and senior advocates Harish Salve and others appearing for the pharma companies opposed any move by the top court to rely on parliamentary standing committee reports, which they claimed amounted to breach of parliamentary privileges. They also said that the courts should not enter into legislative domain.

The constitution bench ruled that there was no violation as parliamentary standing committee reports are available in the public domain.

Please click here to read more.

The Telegraph, 10 May, 2018, https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/courts-can-see-house-reports-229414?ref=india-ft-stry


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