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New Delhi: Till a decade ago, criminal cases were registered against sitting and former Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) by federal investigative agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). , are nowhere near the conclusion, noted a report submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Based on inputs from both the agencies, the report prepared by senior advocate Vijay Hansaria and advocate Sneha Kalita on the directions of the apex court said that most of the cases filed against MPs a decade ago are either pending for investigation or trial. Huh. The report has been accessed by ThePrint.
On August 10, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana asked the ED and the CBI to submit a status report on the investigation into cases filed against MPs and MLAs and cases filed during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Was. Settlement of criminal cases against sitting and former MPs.
While the ED investigates cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the CBI investigates corruption or heinous crimes such as murder and rape under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Supreme Court is likely to consider the report on Wednesday, which has also suggested measures to expedite the disposal of such cases.
Read also: Criminal cases against MPs and MLAs cannot be withdrawn without HC’s nod, Supreme Court rules
Details about CBI and ED cases pending trial or investigation
According to data provided to Hansaria, the ED has registered a total of 51 cases against sitting and former MPs. Of these, 28 are pending investigation, two are still in the cognizance stage, meaning that a trial court is yet to take cognizance of the chargesheet filed in these cases, and charges are yet to be framed in 10.
Only four cases are pending, while three of them cannot proceed due to stay orders of the High Courts (in two of them) and the Supreme Court (in one). Three cases are pending against the trial court’s order of acquittal or discharge, while in one the accused has died.
The report further states that a total of 71 cases have been registered by the ED against sitting and former MLAs. Of these, 48 are under investigation while charges are being framed in 15.
Of these, three cases are pending and three are pending – two by the High Courts and one by the SC. There is no information about the other two cases.
Meanwhile, there are pending CBI cases against a total of 121 MPs and MLAs (former and present). Of these, 58 face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and 45 have not framed charges in cases involving MPs.
The trial of 51 cases filed by the CBI against the MPs is still going on in the courts. 14 of them include sitting MPs and 37 former MPs.
Similarly, 112 cases of naming MLAs – 34 against sitting and 78 against former – are also at the trial stage. The oldest CBI case is pending in Patna and was registered in 2000.
Besides, 17 cases against MPs and 17 against MLAs are still under CBI investigation, where no charge sheet has been filed before any trial court. The earliest FIR in this batch of cases was registered in October 2013.
excessive delay in some cases
The report cited examples of “extreme delays” in investigation and hearing of cases.
For example, the ED is still probing cases in which cases involving MPs were registered in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The report said that of the five cases of 2011, one is still pending, while the courts have not framed charges in the remaining.
In some of these cases, the ED has also attached properties worth crores, and the delay in proceedings before the trial court is mainly due to the agency approaching the courts for a long time after the cases were registered.
Same is the case with legislators. Hansaria’s report shows that the ED is still probing the cases registered in 2012 and 2013.
The report said that in a case since 2011, in which provisional attachment orders worth Rs 2,790 crore were issued, the ED has failed to disclose the status of the trial. Provisional attachment orders are issued when the Directorate attaches properties.
Similar instances of delay have also been highlighted in CBI cases. A 2009 murder case is pending in Bhopal and the prosecution is at the stage of evidence. Meanwhile, charges are yet to be framed for an offense punishable with life imprisonment in a 2007 case and is before a special CBI court in Lucknow.
Recommendations for expediting cases
In his report, Hansaria included recommendations for speedy disposal of these cases.
He suggested that the High Courts should issue administrative directions to conduct day-to-day trials in the cases. He further said that the CBI should ensure that the public prosecutors do not seek adjournment and the witnesses are produced before the court on the stipulated dates.
Hansaria said that the cases where hearing has been stayed due to interim orders of the courts, should go ahead despite such directions.
The senior counsel also proposed the constitution of a monitoring committee, headed by a former judge of the apex court or a former high court chief justice, to assess the reasons for delay in cases where the investigation is incomplete and then completed at the earliest. issue appropriate instructions. examined.
Other members of the committee should be ED, CBI nominees, Union Home Secretary nominees and state judicial officers, he said. Hansaria said the committee will have to submit its status report regarding each case in a sealed cover to the apex court within two months of its first meeting.
(Edited by Rachel John)
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