Staff Reporter
Guwahati: A report by the Registry of the Gauhati High Court shows that, out of the 20 criminal cases against MLAs and MPs pending before the Principal Seat, 5 cases have been disposed of.
The division bench of Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury was informed that the remaining 15 cases have been fixed for final hearing and disposal in the month of February, 2025.
The bench was hearing a suo moto writ petition (WP(C)(Suo Moto)/3/2020) taken up in terms of the direction issued by the Supreme Court for the constitution of a special bench to try pending cases against sitting and former MLAs and MPs.
The said report indicates that so far as the district judiciary of Assam is concerned, 73 proceedings are pending before the various courts, which are in different stages of their proceedings.
Being a monitoring bench, the court said, “We refrain from passing any order in this regard, save and except observing that the concerned courts may take all reasonable steps so as to expedite the hearing and disposal of those cases, if necessary, by fixing short dates and by avoiding adjournments wherever possible.”
On Tuesday, the bench directed the registry to submit an updated status report regarding the cases pending against MPs and MLAs before the district courts in Assam before the next date in the proceedings, on March 11. The report of the Registry also indicates that, insofar as the states of Nagaland and Mizoram are concerned, there is no case pending against any MLAs or MPs.
The bench also directed the HC registry to furnish a copy of the said report dated January 24, 2025, to the respective counsel representing the states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh.
Regarding the cases pending in the Principal Seat of the Gauhati High Court, the registry was also directed by the bench to furnish an updated status report on or before the next date fixed.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had sought detailed reports from all the High Courts regarding the pending criminal cases against persons involving sitting legislators and former legislators and to take necessary steps for streamlining the trials in the cases for their expeditious disposal.
Also Read: Assam: 74 criminal cases pending against MPs and MLAs in state
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