One of the few jurists to be elevated directly from the bar to the Supreme Court, Justice Lalit has played a pivotal role in shaping modern Indian legal discourse through landmark rulings on individual rights, gender justice, and institutional accountability, including being part of the Constitution Bench in Shayara Bano v. Union of India, which declared instant triple talaq unconstitutional, and the ruling in Joseph Shine v. Union of India, which struck down the offence of adultery, reaffirming the values of dignity, equality and personal autonomy.

During his visit to the SRMIST campus, Justice Lalit delivered a lecture on the constitutional basis and contemporary relevance of ‘Parliamentary Privileges’, tracing their origin to the evolution of the British Parliament and how they were adopted and adapted within the Indian constitutional framework.

“Parliamentary privileges are not personal advantages, but institutional safeguards designed to preserve the dignity, independence, and effectiveness of legislative bodies,” Justice Lalit noted.

Referring to Article 194 of the Constitution, which deals with the powers, privileges and immunities of State Legislatures, he noted that while the Constitution lays down the framework, the contours of these privileges have been shaped over time through judicial interpretation. He underlined the need to view legislative privileges in harmony with fundamental rights and constitutional principles.