HC to monitor progress of trial

IN CASES AGAINST MPs AND MLAs ON A FORTNIGHTLY BASIS FROM JUNE

The Bombay High Court said on Wednesday that it will monitor the progress of trial in cases against sitting and former Members of Parliament (MP) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) on a district-to-district basis.

A special bench comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice SK Shinde has been constituted to review the progress of the trials against legislators pursuant to Supreme Court directions 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.

CJ Datta said that from June onwards, the special bench will sit on a fortnightly basis and review the status of such pending cases district wise. The High Court has also asked Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to inform the court about the district which has maximum number of pending cases, so that the exercise of monitoring the progress of such cases can commence.

The court said that it plans to see the frequency of dates when the trial is listed and how often adjournments are taken in the cases.

Earlier, Kumbhakoni had said that several of the cases are stalled due to stay imposed by high courts. He had then requested the bench to pass an order to all High Court benches directing them to review their respective orders of stay on the criminal trials.

The judges had quipped that as a division bench they could not pass directions to co-ordinate benches. Even though, it is a special bench, it comprises two judges and hence it cannot give directions to other division benches.

On Wednesday, the court said that the cases in which trial was stayed by the high court, the prosecutor could approach the concerned bench for vacating such stay.