Article 194 and Article 195 of the Constitution of India: State Legislature Privileges, Salaries and Allowances
Articles 194 and 195 form part of the constitutional framework governing State Legislatures. Article 194 deals with freedom of speech, legislative privileges and immunities of the Houses, their members and committees. Article 195 deals with salaries and allowances of members of the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council.
Updated legal overview: September 2026
In brief: Article 194 protects legislative speech and specified legislative proceedings, subject to the Constitution and procedural rules. Article 195 authorizes the State Legislature to determine by law the salaries and allowances of its members.
| Provision | Subject |
|---|
| Article 194 | Powers, privileges and immunities of the Houses of State Legislatures, their members and committees. |
| Article 195 | Salaries and allowances of members of State Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils. |
Article 194 - Powers, privileges and immunities of State Legislatures
Article 194 concerns the constitutional privileges of a House of the Legislature of a State and of its members and committees. The provision has four clauses covering freedom of speech, immunity in respect of legislative speech and votes, other legislative privileges, and the extension of those protections to certain non-members who have a constitutional right to participate in proceedings.
Article 194: Constitutional text
(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, shall be such as may from time to time be defined by the Legislature by law, and, until so defined, shall be those of that House and of its members and committees immediately before the coming into force of section 26 of the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978.
(4) The provisions of clauses (1), (2) and (3) shall apply in relation to persons who by virtue of this Constitution have the right to speak in, and otherwise to take part in the proceedings of a House of the Legislature of a State or any committee thereof as they apply in relation to members of that Legislature.
Meaning and scope of Article 194
Freedom of speech in the State Legislature
Clause (1) recognizes freedom of speech in every State Legislature. This freedom operates within the Constitution and the rules and standing orders regulating legislative procedure. It is therefore a specific constitutional protection for legislative proceedings rather than an unrestricted freedom detached from constitutional and procedural limits.
Immunity for speech and votes
Clause (2) protects a member from court proceedings in respect of anything said or any vote given in the Legislature or a committee. It also protects authorized publication by a House of legislative reports, papers, votes or proceedings.
Other powers, privileges and immunities
Clause (3) permits the State Legislature to define by law the other powers, privileges and immunities of the House, its members and committees. The present wording reflects the change made by section 26 of the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978.
Important Supreme Court clarification on bribery and legislative privilege
In Sita Soren v. Union of India, a seven-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court in 2024 held that the immunity under Articles 105(2) and 194(2) does not protect a legislator from prosecution for bribery connected with a speech or vote. The Court treated bribery as an offence that is not protected merely because the contemplated act concerns legislative speech or voting.
Article 195 - Salaries and allowances of members
Article 195 concerns remuneration of members of State Legislatures. It enables the Legislature of a State to determine, by law, the salaries and allowances payable to members of the Legislative Assembly and, where the State has a Legislative Council, its members.
Article 195: Constitutional text
Members of the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council of a State shall be entitled to receive such salaries and allowances as may from time to time be determined, by the Legislature of the State by law and, until provision in that respect is so made, salaries and allowances at such rates and upon such conditions as were immediately before the commencement of this Constitution applicable in the case of members of the Legislative Assembly of the corresponding Province.
How Article 194 and Article 195 differ
Article 194 protects the functioning and independence of the State Legislature through rules concerning speech, votes, proceedings and legislative privileges. Article 195 addresses a different subject: the legal authority for determining the salaries and allowances of State legislators. The two provisions appear consecutively but perform distinct constitutional functions.
Related constitutional provisions
For connected provisions on State Legislatures, see Articles 192 and 193 - disqualification decisions and penalty for sitting or voting when not qualified, Articles 196 and 197 - introduction and passing of Bills and powers of the Legislative Council, and Articles 198 and 199 - Money Bills.
