Manipur has 10 criminal cases pertaining to MPs and MLAs of the state and one case pending over five years, the Manipur High Court has informed the Supreme Court of India.
Regarding a PIL of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs in India, the Amicus Curiae submitted before the Supreme Court that the senior advocate in his latest affidavit (17th Report) apprised the bench of 962 cases pertaining to MPs and MLAs pending for a period in excess of five years, as per information received from 16 high courts on November 15. Some high courts of India have yet to file affidavits, it stated.
On September 10, the Apex Court directed all the high courts to file an affidavit before it, indicating the number of criminal cases pertaining to MPs and MLAs pending for a period in excess of five years and explaining the steps taken to ensure expeditious conclusion of these trials and four weeks' time was granted to file the affidavit.
It may be mentioned that the petition was filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, seeking expeditious disposal of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs pending investigation or trial in various courts.
According to data received by the Amicus Curiae (till 12.11.2022) from 16 out of 25 high courts, Odisha seems to have the largest number of such cases at 323 cases, which are pending for more than five years.
Odisha is followed by Maharashtra with 169 cases. In the rest of the states, the number of criminal cases against MPs and MLAs pending for over five years are either in double-digits or single digit.
Nagaland, Mizoram Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadar and Nagar Haveli do not have a single criminal case pertaining to MPs and MLAs pending beyond five years. Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur each have one such case pending for over five years.
As per the affidavit filed by the Amicus Curiae, data regarding the total number of pending cases categorised in time-frames as in December 2021 was 4,984 total number of cases pending trail; 1,899 cases pending for more than five years; 1,475 cases pending between two to five years; 1,599 cases pending for less than two years and 2,775 disposal of case after October 4, 2018.
The Amicus Curiae noted that even though a series of directions have been passed by the Supreme Court, a large number of criminal cases are pending against MPs and MLAs and many are pending for more than five years.
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