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Synopsis

The Madras High Court on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, issued direction to expedite ongoing criminal cases involving both current and former MPs and MLAs in Tamil Nadu.

The division bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad passed the order in a suo motu writ petition initiated by the court, prompted by the Supreme Court's direction in 2020 to monitor the progress of criminal proceedings against parliamentarians and legislators.

 As part of the directions, the court asked the prosecution to provide a status report on the progress of these cases by June 20, 2024.

Advocate General P.S.Raman informed the court that there are 561 cases registered against the Members of Parliament and the Members of the Legislative Assembly for the offences under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code and other Acts, excluding the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

He added that there are 20 cases pending against the Members of Parliament and the Members of the Legislative Assembly for the offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 at the stage of trial and nine cases are under investigation.

Additionally, he informed that out of the 20 cases under trial, nine cases are at the advanced stage of trial.

Court said that the cases which are pending for framing of charges need to be expedited.

"There are number of cases under investigation. The same also shall be effectively proceeded. Learned Public Prosecutor shall take stock of these matters," the division bench ordered.