Apex court informed of over 4,000 criminal cases pending against MPs and MLAs

The Supreme Court on Tuesday was informed that there are a total of 4,122 criminal cases pending against present and former members of Parliament and legislative assemblies.

Some of these cases have been pending for over 30 years, reported PTI.

Based on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi will take up this issue in court today.

The SC had also sought detailed data on the pending criminal cases against these present and former legislators so as to enable the setting up of an adequate number of special courts for expedited trial in these cases.

According to the compiled data, trial has been stayed by the high courts in 264 of such cases. Furthermore, the report also said that in several cases that have been pending since 1991, “charges have not yet been framed.”

The data received from various states and high courts was filed and submitted to the apex court by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter, along with advocate Sneha Kalita.

The court is also expected to hear the PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Aswhini Upadhyay that seeks a life time ban on politicians who have been convicted in criminal cases, as well as the setting up of special courts to “expeditiously try such cases involving elected representatives.”