Bombay HC seeks data of pending cases against MPs and MLAs in Maharashtra
India Today
The Bombay High Court instructed its Registry to submit details of cases against the legislators wherein the trial proceedings have been stayed.
The Bombay High Court on Saturday directed its Registry to submit details of cases where the trial court criminal proceedings against MPs and MLAs in the state have been stayed by orders of the High Court at its various benches in Maharashtra and Goa.
A special bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice SK Shinde was formed after a Supreme Court directive to all high courts in the country to expedite the trials against Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly in the state.
The bench in Mumbai had set up a suo motu for this. The bench called for a list of all pending criminal cases involving sitting or former legislators, where a stay had been granted by the High Court on the trial court proceedings.
"We will consider those matters for their relief and then either extend or cancel the stay. In the event the stay is necessary, we will hear the matter on a day-to-day basis and decide," the bench said.
Meanwhile, according to data available with India Today, there are approximately 550 criminal cases pending in trial courts and benches of high court across the state of Maharashtra and Goa.
It was informed that there were 51 cases pending in the High Court benches. There are 19 cases before the Principal Bench, nine before the Nagpur Bench, 21 before the Aurangabad Bench and two before the high court at Goa.
There were around 500 cases pending in lower courts across Maharashtra and Goa, including the Union Territory of Dadra Nagar and Haveli. Data suggested that the highest tally of pending cases was in the Maharashtra district of Amravati (45), followed by Parbhani (40), while the lowest was Gadchiroli (0) followed by Latur (1).
