Our Correspondent
Nearly 4,500 criminal cases are pending in the courts against MPs and former MPs in the country. This is in the information from 24 High Courts across the country. The Supreme Court observed that the incident was shocking. The Supreme Court said that many cases against political leaders have not progressed from the initial stage due to the influence of the people’s representatives.
“There are 4,442 cases pending in the courts against MPs and former MPs. Of these, 174 cases are punishable by life imprisonment,” said a Supreme Court bench headed by N.V .Ramana. The trial in 352 cases has been left to the Supreme Court or the High Court. There are cases registered in Punjab and Bengal from 1981 and 1983. The court also observed that a case registered in 1991 in Uttar Pradesh was pending.
The petition was filed by BJP leader Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay. The BJP leader had approached the court seeking to ban convicted people from contesting elections for life. Those currently convicted in cases are barred from contesting elections for six years.
During the hearing of the petition, the apex court had sought information from the Supreme Court on cases against MPs in the country. Information on white collar criminals has also been sought. Amicus Curiae Vijay Hansaria told the court that the information would be passed soon
