Expedite pending trials against MPs, MLAs: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a string of directives to expedite pending criminal trials against the members of legislative assemblies and Parliament, noting that these cases have a "direct bearing on our political democracy" and that there is a "compelling need" for making all efforts to decide them quickly.

- Utkarsh Anand

"Confidence and trust of the constituency in their political representative, be it an MP or an MLA, is necessary for an interactive, efficient and effective functioning of a parliamentary democracy. However, such confidence is difficult to expect when figures loom large in our polity," said the bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, highlighting that as many as 5,175 such cases were pending as of November 2022.

"Cases that are pending for more than five years are as many as 2,116, which figure is more than 40% of such pendencies... a large number," lamented the bench, also comprising justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra, adding that systemic and institutional factors, including the method of adversarial litigation, availability of judges, difference of practice and procedure among different states, are reasons for delay in disposal of trials against the lawmakers.