Also: legislative privileges, breach of privilege, contempt of the House
Definition
The special rights and immunities enjoyed by each House of Parliament and state legislature, their committees and members, so they can function without obstruction, including freedom of speech in the House and the power to punish for breach of privilege and contempt; they rest mainly on Articles 105 and 194 and remain largely uncodified.
Legislative privileges come from the British House of Commons, which won freedom of speech and the right to regulate its own affairs through long struggles with the Crown, confirmed in the Bill of Rights of 1689. When the Constitution was framed, it adopted this tradition. Articles 105(3) and 194(3) originally said that, until defined by law, the privileges of Indian legislatures would be those of the House of Commons at the commencement of the Constitution.
The 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the reference to the House of Commons, stating that privileges would be those enjoyed immediately before the amendment came into force, but the content remained the same. Parliament has never passed a law defining privileges, partly because legislators fear that codification would make privileges subject to Fundamental Rights and judicial review. This page covers the system of privileges and how breaches are handled; the separate entry on Article 105 deals with the text and the immunity of MPs for votes and speech.
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