New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana has ordered that criminal cases against the MPs and MLAs will not be withdrawn till the concerned High Court approves. The High Courts have been directed to examine the withdrawal of cases against the leaders since 16th Sep,2020 in reference with SC's order on the Kerala Assembly ruckus case. It is known that in Kerala Assembly ruckus case, the Court had refused to allow the state government to withdraw cases against its leaders accused of creating violence and ruckus in the Assembly back in 2015 during tabling of budget.
In this regard, the Registrar Generals of all High Courts have been asked to submit details of those judges who are dealing with cases against MPs and MLAs, as to how many cases were dealt by them during posting, how many are pending, what is the stage of pending cases and if there are any cases with reserved orders. The bench comprising of Justice Vineet Saran and Justice Surya Kant was hearing a plea by BJP member and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay seeking fast track trails against MPs and MLAs by setting up special courts.
In the context, the ED and CBI's replies in the matter were unsatisfactory for which the court pulled them up. It said that when the matter had come up earlier, the government had assured of its seriousness regarding the matter but nothing has been done. "We asked the government of India about its seriousness and they said that they wanted expeditious trials but from your side nothing has been done. For filing status reports also they are reluctant what should we presume tell us," said CJI NV Ramana to SG Tushar Mehta. To this, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the court saying that it is the last chance he is seeking and he will be filing ED and CBI affidavits properly.
"Last and final chance we are giving to you else we will presume that you have nothing to say," said CJI NV Ramana in response to SG's request. The matter has not been able to come up consistently. It was last heard in November, 2020, the CJI said adding that he will constitute a special bench to hear the plea so that it is heard regularly and issues are addressed.
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