163 CASES PENDING AGAINST MPS, MLAS IN PUNJAB, HC TOLD

At least 163 cases are pending against sitting or erstwhile Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in Punjab. This was stated in an affidavit submitted by Arun Pal Singh, inspector general of police, litigation, bureau of investigation, Punjab, during the resumed hearing of a suo motu plea initiated upon apex court orders on monitoring trials against sitting or erstwhile MPs and MLAs.

The data has been compiled by the director, bureau of investigation, Punjab, after obtaining information from the commissioners of police and senior superintendents of police of various districts.

Satya Pal Jain, additional solicitor general of India, has sought more time to seek information from the Enforcement Directorate on the said matter. The case will now come up for hearing on May 27.

21 cases in Haryana

In an affidavit by Sanjay Kumar, inspector general of police, administration and law and order, Haryana, it was submitted that a total of 21 cases – eight against ex-MLAs of the state and two against former legislators of Himachal Pradesh – are still under trial and three out of these have been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation in Chandigarh. The high court was appraised that 15 out of the 21 criminal cases are pending before trial courts, whereas, six cases are pending before the appellate/revisional courts.

An affidavit filed by Sanjay Baniwal, director general of police, Chandigarh, stated that seven cases are pending but all these are in investigation stage. None of these have reached the trial stage. Kuldeep Chahal, SSP, Chandigarh, told the HC: “Investigation in these cases has been slightly delayed due to the Covid-19 situation and an effort shall be made to conclude the same at the earliest.”