New Delhi: The Supreme Court has been informed that a total number of 4,984 cases are pending against the sitting Members of Parliament(MPs) and Members of Legislative Assemblies(MLAs), as of 1 December 2021.
Amicus curiae Vijay Hansaria, in a petition pertaining to debarment of legislators from contesting elections if they have cases against them, submitted the report in the top court after compiling data taken from High Courts across the country.
The number of cases pending for less than 2 years stands at 1599, a number of cases pending between 2 to 5 years are at 1475, and a number of cases pending for more than 5 years are at 1888. A total of 2,775 cases against MPs and MLAs have been disposed of since 4 October 2018.
"This shows that more and more persons with criminal antecedents are occupying the seats in Parliament and State Legislative assemblies. It is of utmost necessity that urgent and stringent steps are taken for expeditious disposal of pending criminal cases," submitted Hansaria.
The report says that some states have special courts to deal with MPs and MLAs' cases but in other states, courts in the respective jurisdiction are conducting trials against legislators along with the roaster allocated to them.
"It is further submitted that no response has been filed by the Central Government in terms of the order dated 25.08. 2021 as regards expeditious investigation/trial of cases, providing infrastructure facilities to the courts, and constitution of the monitoring committee to evaluate the reasons for the delay of investigation. It is necessary that all the courts trying cases against MPs/MLAs are equipped with necessary infrastructure for the conduct of court proceedings through internet facility," read the report.
The amicus curiae have sought directions that courts dealing with MPs and MLAs cases must exclusively deal with them and other cases should be taken up only after the trials in the former cases are over. He prayed that there shall be no adjournment and that both the prosecutor and prosecution shall cooperate, failing which it shall be reported to the Chief Secretary of respective states.
He sought directions to the trial court to send reports of the cases pending for more than 5 years to the respective High Courts, suggesting reasons for delays and remedial measures, so that the HCs shall pass orders accordingly.
Additionally, the amicus curiae also asked that the HCs shall submit a proposal to the Law Secretary regarding funds required for video conferencing facilities and the Centre should provide the same within 2 weeks of receiving the proposal. It will be subject to final adjustment with the state government as per sharing pattern. He also sought directions to constitute a monitoring committee, headed by a former SC judge or Chief Justice of HC, to monitor the investigation of cases pending before the ED, CBI, and NIA.
