Sambit Patra Asserts Constitutional Immunity for President and CECs

Constitutional Immunity for High Offices

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sambit Patra on Saturday said the immunity and protection for the President and the Chief Election Commissioner are already enshrined in the Constitution and that the BJP has not created any new law in this regard. Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Patra said the government has only introduced a specific procedure for it, which was not explicitly defined earlier.

“The BJP did not create this immunity by enacting a new law. The BJP did not introduce any law that did not already exist. Immunity and protection for the President and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) are already enshrined in the Constitution. However, the specific procedure was not explicitly defined,” Patra said.

Rationale Behind Procedural Changes

Referring to a 2023 incident in Telangana, Patra said, “In August 2023, in Telangana, a lower special court ordered that an FIR be filed against the Chief Election Commissioner. The High Court immediately quashed the order, stating that this was not the correct procedure and directed that it be dismissed.”

“But it became evident then that, due to political pressure, anyone could file a case or an FIR against individuals, even those holding high constitutional offices who are protected by the Constitution, without any regard for the law. Therefore, a procedure was introduced. It was merely a procedure. The legal provision already existed within the Constitution. The Constitution of India provides this protection,” he added.

Criticism of Opposition and Historical Allegations

Launching a sharp attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Patra said, “Go hold your mock parliament, carry out your marches. The world has already realised that Rahul Gandhi lacks the fuel. This satellite will never launch. Keep him as your mock Prime Minister for life. We have no objection.”

Earlier, Patra launched a blistering counter-offensive against the opposition INDIA bloc over its “symbolic public impeachment” of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alleging that the very first instance of “vote theft” in independent India was committed by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to deny Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel the Prime Minister’s post.

Targeting Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over allegations of electoral malpractice, Patra invoked India’s first Home Minister on his birth anniversary, remarking that historical “vote theft” was an indisputable fact—engineered by the Gandhi family’s first member.

“Today, regarding their allegation of vote theft, as Kharge ji was speaking about this issue of vote theft, I would like to tell Kharge ji: Yes, there is truth to the claim of vote theft. Vote theft did indeed take place. Today is October 31st. It is the birth anniversary of the revered Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. And if there was ever a vote theft in India, it was committed by the first member of the Gandhi family, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who stole the votes of prominent Congress leaders,” Patra said during a press conference in the national capital.

Taking a direct swipe at Nehru’s appointment as India’s first Prime Minister, Patra added, “Those leaders had cast their votes in a ballot box to elect Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as Prime Minister. By stealing those votes, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru became the Prime Minister of the country, an unelected Prime Minister.”

Slamming the INDIA bloc’s mock impeachment demonstration against the CEC, Patra claimed that the grand old party was denigrating democratic institutions through theatrics. “The drama that the Congress party is currently staging, this ‘mock parliament’, is, in effect, making a mockery of the Parliament itself. Let all your speakers and participants there hear this: the very first instance of vote-stealing was committed by Nehru himself,” the BJP leader remarked.

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