The Constitution First Amendment Act, 1961 had no retrospective effect and did not offer protection to the defendants under the original or amended Article 19.

( 1 ) THIS is a rule calling upon the Chief Presidency Magistrate to show cause why the records of a certain case should not be transferred to this Court under the provisions of Article 228 of the Constitution to enable this Court to decide the constitutional point involved in the case. We have heard the parties at length and we have come to the conclusion that this is not a case in which we should call for the records because it is clear that the view taken by the Chief Presidency Magistrate that the proceedings should continue is well founded.

( 2 ) THE petitioners, who are the parties accused in the proceedings, have been described by the complainant as members of the editorial board of a newspaper published in Bengali in the city of Calcutta known as "loka Sevak". Accused No. 1 Dr. Suresh Chandra Banerji, M. L. A. is said to be a member of the editorial board of the newspaper, whereas accused Nos. 2, 3 and 4 are respectively chairman of the board of editors, editor and publisher of the said newspaper. They are said also to be members of a recently formed political party in this State known as the Kriahak Praja Mardoor Party and the suggestion of the complainant is that the Loka Sevak is an organ of this party. '

( 3 ) THE proceedings arose out of a report in this Bengali newspaper of a speech made by Dr. Sartsh Chandra Banerji in the Legislative Assembly of the State of West Bengal. That speech is said to have been made on 13/8/1951 and the complainant in his complaint alleged that that speech contained matter defamatory of him. On 14th March the Loka Sevak published a report of the proceedings in the Legislative Assembly including a report of the speech of Dr. Suresh Chandra Banerji.

( 4 ) THE complainant then filed a complaint in the Court of the Chief Presidency Magistrate against the four petitioners alleging that this report of the speech of Dr. Suresh Banerji contained matter highly defamatory of him and had been published maliciously and in bad faith.

( 5 ) BEFORE the Chief Presidency Magistrate it was contended that no proceedings could lie against the four petitioners. It was urged that such proceedings were prohibited by Article 194 of the Constitution of India, and it was further contended that reports of proceedings of a Legislature of a State were privileged and no prosecution could lie in respect of anything contained in such reports. The learned Chief Presidency Magistrate however directed process to issue and the petitioners were called upon to answer the complaint made in respect of an offence under Section 600 of the Indian Penal Code.

( 6 ) THE petitioners then moved this Court and obtained a rule nisi calling upon the Chief Presidency Magistrate to show cause why the records of the case should not be - transferred to this Court so that this Court could decide the constitutional point involved, namely, whether Article 194 of the Constitution barred these proceedings.

( 7 ) WE have heard Mr. Sudhansu Sekhar Mukherjee in support of this rule and we are satisfied that there is nothing in Article 194 of the Constitution which bars this prosecution which has been instituted against the four petitioners.

( 8 ) ARTICLE 194 of the Constitution of India is in these terms:" (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution and to the rules and standing orders regulating the procedure of the Legislature, there shall be freedom of speech in the Legislature of every State. (2) No member of the Legislature of a State shall be liable to any proceedings in any Court in respect of anything said or any vote given by him in the Legislature or any committee thereof, and no person shall be so liable in respect of the publication by or under the authority of a House of such a Legislature of any report, paper, votes or {proceedings. (3) In other respects, the powers, privileges and immunities of a House of the Legislature of a State, and of the members and the committees of a House of such Legislature, s