550 criminal trials pending against MPs/MLAs in Maharashtra, Goa; Bombay High Court takes suo motu cognisance

The Bombay High Court on Friday directed its registry to submit details of criminal cases where the trial court proceedings against sitting or former Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MPs/MLAs) of Maharashtra and Goa have been stayed by the High Court..Chief Justice Dipankar Datta constituted a special bench that included himself and Justice SK Shinde to hear the matter.He called for a list of all pending criminal cases involving sitting or former legislators, where stay had been granted by the High Court on the trial court proceedings. Once it receives the list, the High Court would decide whether the stay granted should continue or not."We will consider those matters for their reliefs and then either extend or cancel the stay. In the event the stay is necessary, we will hear the matter on a day to day basis and decide," the Bench said. .The suo motu proceedings were initiated by CJ Datta in order to monitor the progress of the trials against legislators.Cognisance was taken in compliance with the Supreme Court order of September 2020 pertaining to inordinate delay in inquiries and criminal trials against legislators under various enactments..Meanwhile, sources told Bar & Bench that there are approximately 550 criminal cases pending in trial courts and various Benches of the Bombay High Court across the States of Maharashtra and Goa.Out of that, 51 cases are pending before the High Court which are as follows:Principal Bench (Mumbai) - 19Nagpur Bench - 9Auragabad Bench - 21Goa Bench (Panjim) - 2Around 500 cases are pending in lower courts across Maharashtra and Goa, including the Union Territory of Dadra Nagar and Haveli. Amravati district in Maharashtra tops the list with 45 cases followed by Parbhani which has 40. Gadchiroli has the lowest number at 0 followed by Latur 1. .Recently, the Amicus Curiae appointed by Supreme Court in relation the issue had submitted a report before the top court as per which a total of 4,984 criminal cases against former and sitting MPs and MLAs are awaiting trial before various sessions and magistrate courts across the country.1,899 of such pending cases are more than five years old while 1,475 such cases have been pending for a period between two and five years, the report further revealed.The data was furnished in a 2016 petition filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking the establishment of special courts to try criminal cases against law makers. The plea also prayed for debarment of convicted persons from the legislature and the executive.The Supreme Court has been passing orders to High Courts from time to time in that case. The present step by Bombay High Court Chief Justice is also pursuant to one such orders.The apex court had given the following directions to Chief Justices of High Courts, to be complied with:Formulate and submit an action plan for rationalisation of the number of Special Courts (trial courts hearing matters pertaining to legislators) necessary. This data is to include:- total number of pending cases in each district,- required number of proportionate special courts,- number of courts available,- tenure of judges,- number of cases assigned to each judge,- expected time for disposal of cases.The Chief Justices were asked to consider whether the pending trials were required to be transferred to some different Court.