555 cases pending against sitting/former MPs, MLAs in Kerala

As many as 555 cases are pending against sitting/former MPs and MLAs of Kerala as of June 30, according to a report filed by the High Court administration before the Kerala High Court on Thursday (July 23). 

The statement was filed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Syam Kumar, which was considering a suo motu petition initiated as directed by the Supreme Court to monitor the progress of pending criminal cases against sitting/ former MPs or MLAs.

The court observed that the data provided by the High Court administration were in variance with the report by the State Police Chief, which cited 256 pending cases, and directed the State Police Chief to correct the statistics.

The court noted that the details of the pending cases were shared with the State Police Chief by the Registrar General of the High Court. The Bench directed the Registry to forward the list of cases along with its compliance report to ensure that, in future, the State Police Chief would be more diligent in filing reports about such cases.

Additionally, a report filed by the district judiciary showed that there were 12 five-plus-year-old cases in which summons or warrants were pending due to its non-execution and 31 cases delayed for similar reasons for more than two years. 

The court observed that a large number of warrants had not been executed in respect of cases registered in Thiruvananthapuram city. The Assistant General of Police was directed to file a report after reviewing the district judiciary’s report on the statistics. 

In an earlier report, the  Registrar had pointed out that there was a delay in the execution of summons, despite the appointment of nodal officers in the Police department for the purpose. It was also suggested that the trial courts should be directed to effectively dispose of such matters delayed for three years, along with the cases marked in the reports with delays of five and two years.

The suo motu petition was taken up after the Supreme Court issued guidelines for the courts to ensure the completion of investigation, trial, and conclusion of cases at the earliest. The High Courts were also directed to consider criminal cases against MPs and MLAs punishable with death or life imprisonment first, then cases with a penalty of imprisonment, and then other cases. They were also asked to create an independent tab on the website providing district-wise information in these matters.

Meanwhile, the district judiciary was tasked with ensuring sufficient infrastructure for the speedy disposal of the pending cases.