HC wants speedy disposal of cases against MPs, MLAs

Cuttack: The Orissa high court on Thursday directed district and sessions judges to ensure speedy disposal of cases against MPs and MLAs by the designated courts under their respective jurisdictions.Earlier, in pursuance of a Supreme Court direction, the high court had registered a suo motu case on December 11 last year and directed the district and sessions judges to furnish statement showing institution, disposal and pendency of such cases.Reports received from all the 30 districts indicated that 423 cases were pending against MPs and MLAs, as on December 31, 2023. While 24 cases were instituted, 17 were disposed of last year. While Khurda figured on top of the list with 86 cases, Sambalpur and Ganjam followed with 53 and 51 cases, respectively. Koraput (48), Sundargarh (41) and Cuttack (36) followed in the list. The reports indicated that cases registered in 1991 were pending in Koraput district and cases dating back to 1998 were pending in Khurda and Sundargarh districts.Government advocate Jyoti Prakash Pattnaik said, “Taking note of the pending cases, the division bench of acting Chief Justice B R Sarangi and Justice M S Raman posted the matter to for further monitoring of early disposal of cases against MPs and MLAs to two weeks later.”“According to the Supreme Court direction, the bench expected designated courts to give priority to the criminal cases against MPs and MLAs punishable with death or life imprisonment, then to the cases punishable with imprisonment for five years or more and then hear all other cases and not to adjourn the cases except for rare and compelling reasons,” Pattnaik said.The court expected the director of prosecution to ensure public prosecutors take necessary steps for speedy disposal of the cases in compliance to the direction issued by the Supreme Court in the Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay vs Union of India case on November 9, 2023.