Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 10
The Gauhati High Court on May 8 directed the Registrar General of the Court to collect status reports of pending cases concerning Members of Parliament and State Legislators in Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh, the four states under its jurisdiction.
The Special Bench, comprising Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury, also inquired about any stay orders in the High Court affecting the expeditious trial or disposal of these cases, seeking specific details if applicable.
A similar exercise will be carried out concerning cases pending before the District Courts as well as in the Court of learned Special Judge(s) in the four states by the next date of hearing on May 31, it added.
The Bench issued the direction during a suo moto proceeding before the Court based on the judgment order passed by the Supreme Court in WP(C) 699/2016 on November 9, 2023, which laid down certain guidelines for the expeditious disposal of cases pending against MPs and MLAs.
According to the judgment, as of November 2022, a total of 5,175 cases against MLAs/MPs were pending in various courts across the states and union territories. There were none from Nagaland and Mizoram, while Assam and Arunachal Pradesh had 75 and 4 pending cases, respectively.
However, it must be noted here that prior to the February 2023 Nagaland Legislative Assembly elections, an analysis of the affidavits filed during nomination by The Morung Express revealed that seven candidates had pending criminal cases.
Among them, two candidates were successfully elected during the election and currently serve as MLAs in the State Assembly.
