Kerala High Court flags discrepancy in pending cases against MPs, MLAs
The Kerala High Court on Thursday took note of a discrepancy in the number of criminal cases pending against sitting and former Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly members in the state. According to a report filed by the High Court administration, 555 cases were pending as of June 30. However, the State Police Chief's report cited only 256 cases.
The division bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Syam Kumar was hearing a suo motu petition initiated following a Supreme Court directive to monitor the progress of criminal cases against lawmakers. The court observed the variance and directed the State Police Chief to correct the statistics.
The court noted that the details of pending cases had been shared with the police chief by the Registrar General of the High Court. The bench directed the registry to forward the list along with a compliance report to ensure greater diligence in future filings.
Separately, a report from the district judiciary revealed that 12 cases older than five years had pending summons or warrants due to non-execution, and 31 cases had similar delays of over two years. The court observed that a large number of warrants in Thiruvananthapuram city remained unexecuted. The Assistant General of Police was directed to submit a report after reviewing the district judiciary's statistics.
Earlier, the Registrar had pointed out delays in executing summons despite the appointment of nodal officers in the police department. It was suggested that trial courts be directed to expedite disposal of cases delayed for three years, along with those delayed five and two years.
The suo motu petition was initiated after the Supreme Court issued guidelines for speedy completion of investigation, trial, and conclusion of cases. High Courts were directed to prioritise cases against MPs and MLAs punishable with death or life imprisonment, followed by those with imprisonment terms, and then other cases. They were also asked to create an independent tab on their websites with district-wise information.
The district judiciary has been tasked with ensuring adequate infrastructure for speedy disposal of pending cases.
