Punjab & Haryana HC Registers Suo Moto Case For Early Disposal Of Cases Against MPs/MLAs On Supreme Court's Directive

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has taken suo moto cognizance on Saturday, to monitor the early disposal of pending criminal cases against Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies, following the Supreme Court directions issued in November.

A division bench of Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerjee issued notice to the states of Punjab, Haryana, U.T. Chandigarh, registrar general of the High Court and Union of India.

The Supreme Court on November 9, issued the following general directions for monitoring of early disposal of pending cases :

1. High Court Chief Justices shall register a suo motu case title "In Re Designated Courts for MPs/MLAs" to monitor early disposal of pending criminal cases against MPs/MLAs. The suo motu case may be heard by a special bench led by the Chief Justice or a bench assigned by him.

2. The Special Bench hearing the suo motu case may list the matter at regular intervals as felt necessary. The High Court may issue such orders and directions as necessary for expeditious and effective disposal of the cases. The Special Bench may consider calling upon the Advocate General or Prosecutor to assist the court.

3. The High Court may require a Principal District & Sessions Judge to bear the responsibility of allocating the subject cases to such court(s). The HC may call upon the Principal District & Sessions Judge to send reports on such intervals.

4. The designated court shall give priority - (i) to criminal cases against MPs/MLAs punishable with death or life imprisonment, (ii) cases punishable with imprisonment for 5 years or more, (iii) other cases. The trial court shall not adjourn the cases except for rare and compelling reasons.

5. The Chief Justice may list the cases where stay of the trial has been passed before the special bench to ensure that appropriate orders, including vacation of the stay order, are passed to ensure the commencement of the trial.

6. The Principal District & Sessions Judge shall ensure sufficient infrastructure facilities for the designated court and also enable it to adopt such technology as expedient for effective functioning.

7. The High Court shall create an independent tab on the website providing district-wise information about the details of year of the filing, number of subject cases pending and the stage of proceedings.

While listing the matter for February 09, the Court appointed Senior Advocate Rupinder S. Khosla as Amicus Curiae on the matter.

Appearance: DAG Arjun Sheoran for Punjab and AAG Pawan Girdhar for Haryana

Case Title: Courts on its own motion (In Re Designated Courts For MP/MLAs) v. State of Punjab & Others.