The Madras High Court on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, directed the prosecution to expedite proceedings in criminal cases pending against sitting as well as former MPs and MLAs in Tamil Nadu and file a status report before the court, on June 20, 2024.
The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad issued the direction on a suo motu writ petition taken up by the court, on the request of the Supreme Court, in 2020 to monitor the progress of criminal cases booked against MPs and MLAs.
Advocate General P.S. Raman and State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah informed the Bench that as many as 561 cases had been registered in Tamil Nadu against the sitting as well as former legislators under the Indian Penal Code and other laws but for the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988.
When the Chief Justice wanted to know how many cases had been booked under the PCA, the law officers said, 20 corruption cases were at the stage of trials while nine more were under investigation. They also pointed out that of the 20 cases, nine were at the advanced stage of trials.
After recording their submissions, the Bench ordered that “the cases which are pending for framing of charges must be expedited. The public prosecutor shall take stock of these matters. There are also a number of cases under investigation, the same also shall be effectively proceeded with.”
The Bench asked the two top law officers to file a further status report by June 20.
