Maharashtra leads in cases against current and former elected representatives

Maharashtra tops in the country, when it comes to number of criminal cases pending against present and former elected representatives.

This information is available in a report of the amicus curiae submitted in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Supreme Court (SC) by Ashwini Upadhyay, alleging that the present and former elected representatives use money and muscle power to delay trial.

The SC had fast-tracked the proceedings and appointed amicus curiae to help in monitoring the progress in trials. Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria was appointed as amicus curiae by the court. After collating the statistics received by him from various High Courts in the country, Hansaria reported that 1,899 cases are pending for more than five years, 1,475 between 2-5 years and 1,599 for less than two years. After October 2018, the fast-track Member of Parliament (MP)/Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) courts have disposed of 2,775 such cases.

Seven major high courts did not furnish any information about the states/Union Territory (UT) concerned - Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and J & K (UT).

Hansaria’s report was presented to the court through advocate Sneha Kalita.

Hansaria mentioned in his report that 106 criminal cases were registered against UP strongman Ateeq Ahmed between 1979 and 2019, of which 17 involved murder charges, 12 under UP Gangster Act and eight under UP Goonda Act. Given his criminal activities even while being lodged in a UP jail, the SC had ordered his shifting to a Gujarat jail in 2019.

Other states with huge pendency of such cases include Kerala (384), Madhya Pradesh (329), Tamil Nadu (260), West Bengal (244), Karnataka (221), Jharkhand (198), Delhi (93), Andhra Pradesh (92) and Punjab (91).

Various agencies were asked to submit a status report on the cases. The CBI informed the court that 121 cases are pending trial against 14 sitting MPs and 37 former MPs. Similarly, the agency has filed chargesheets against 34 sitting MLAs and 78 former MLAs. In 58 of the cases, the charges are punishable with life imprisonment.

The Enforcement Directorate informed that 51 MPs and former MPs are facing PMLA cases of which 28 cases are still under investigation. As many as 71 MLAs/MLCs are accused in PMLA cases, it said. The NIA said it is investigating four such cases of which two are against sitting lawmakers.

Hansaria suggested that the special courts set up to expeditiously try cases against sitting and former MPs/MLAs must not be saddled with other cases, which could be taken up after completing the trial in the cases for which they have been set up. He also suggested that except in rare and exceptional circumstances, these courts must not grant any adjournment.