Friday, 18 February 2022 | PNS | Nainital
On the issue of criminal cases lodged against the MPs and MLAs of the state, the Uttarakhand high court has directed the State government to provide information to the court by March 3 about the number of criminal cases lodged against the State’s MPs and MLAs, and how many of these are under trial. The division bench of acting chief justice Sanjaya Kumar Mishra and justice NS Dhanik issued this direction while hearing the matter via video conferencing.
According to the case details, the Supreme Court had in August 2021 directed high courts in all the states to ensure speedy trials in criminal cases lodged against MPs and MLAs which are under trial. It was also observed that state governments were misusing power under section 321 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to withdraw cases against MPs and MLAs. The Apex court had also directed that State governments cannot withdraw criminal cases against MPs and MLAs without the approval of the high court of the state concerned. Special courts should be formed for disposal of such cases.
