The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to consider setting up fast-track courts to expedite trials against parliamentarians and legislators.

After going through the names of seven Lok Sabha MPs and 98 MLAs facing probe by tax authorities for sudden increase in their assets, a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and S Abdul Nazeer wondered how these public representatives were able to amass huge wealth
after they are elected.

The court observed that if a person elected in 2014 as an MP files an affidavit for the 2019 elections showing his assets increased exponentially, then the source of such assets needs to be investigated.

Attorney General K K Venugopal said the tax authorities are serious about the matter.

He said they do investigate the affidavits filed by the candidates if there are any discrepancies.

During the hearing, the court said Parliament has the competence to come up with a law and create necessary infrastructure to set up courts for the speedy disposal of cases against lawmakers.

The bench said the legislature and Parliament have been coming up with new laws that have led to more cases in the courts. “You (Centre) should create new courts and infrastructure, as at present, the Government of India is spending only 1% or 2% of the budget (on the judicial system),” the bench told Venugopal.

Venugopal agreed that fast-track courts are the need of the hour and said such courts have done an excellent job in the past. The court reserved its judgement on a plea by an NGO, Lok Prahari, for creating a permanent mechanism to investigate candidates whose assets have grown disproportionately during their tenure as MLAs or MPs.

DH News Service

Need courts to look into rise in assets of MPs, MLAs: SC