This paper tries to examine the relationship between the privileges and obligations of the MPs’ in ensuring ethics in their conduct in and outside Parliament. A set of high standard of ethical codes is a sine qua non of parliamentary democracy. As our Constitution provides a specific set of privileges to the MP's, it is worth examining at this juncture whether these privileges are hampering on maintaining their obligations to the nation and finally in performing their duties within the existing ethical codes. The MPs’ perceived irresponsiveness, various forms of upcoming misconduct and corruption scandals have eroded public trust on politicians and political institutions like Parliament. This paper tries to find whether we actually need a more stringent new set of code of conduct or we can still regulate the MPs with the existing codes. The paper looks into the MP's role as an elected representative of a constituency, a member of the party he belongs to, at times as a Minister of the Government and as a responsible citizen of the country. How difficult it is to reconcile the obligations towards these roles would also be analyzed in the wake of upcoming demands of transparency and accountability in their actions. The paper concludes with probable solutions about the utility of such codes in maintaining parliamentary ethics and provides suggestions for improving the same.
Privileges, Ethics, Parliament, Freedom, MPs
