Hear cases against legislators periodically: Madras High Court

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Monday directed all the district and judicial magistrate courts designated as Fast Track courts, to hear cases against MLAs and MPs by allocating a specific time, daily or weekly.The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the interim order while hearing a suo motu PIL to monitor and review cases pending against MPs and MLAs. The suo motu proceeding was initiated after a direction issued by the Supreme Court, on a plea regarding debarring a person convicted for offences under the Representation of the People Act, from contesting in MLA or MP election. 

During the hearing on Monday, advocate-general Vijay Narayan submitted that the sessions and magistrate courts in each of the districts could not provide effective hearing to such cases as they are already held up with regular criminal cases and others. The State also said that it is willing to provide additional infrastructure.

The bench recording the submissions observed, “Appropriate committee shall be constituted at the High Court level to look into the additional infrastructure which may be necessary and how soon such infra can be set up to meaningfully proceed with the cases against legislators, so as to complete them with the kind of despatch contemplated in the order of the Supreme Court.”

The bench directed the Registry to circulate the orders passed by the SC to all the district courts that any interim stay issued by the HC or other courts against the cases registered against legislators would be valid only for six months. The bench adjourned the plea to January 25.