The high court has directed the Punjab and Haryana governments to file complete details of cases instituted against MPs/MLAs by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate and income tax department.
The directions were issued by the bench of acting chief justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and justice Rohit Kapoor while taking up a 2021 suo motu case where the court is monitoring a probe into FIRs registered against MPs and MLAs in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh upon directions from the Supreme Court.
During the hearing on August 10, the high court said various orders had been passed to speed up probe/trials and evolve a mechanism for old cases to be immediately highlighted so that appropriate directions could be issued for the disposal of such matters.
The court also discussed an envisioned colour-coded mechanism, which would indicate the period for which a particular matter had remained pending in court.
Three distinct colour codes had been resorted to based on the duration for which the matter had remained pending, it stated, requesting the high court registry to explore the possibility of separate colour coding for matters where interim orders by superior courts were operating, which kept the proceedings pending at one stage.
While posting the matter for August 31, the high court directed the respective counsels to supply affidavits 48 hours before the hearing.
{{/usCountry}}While posting the matter for August 31, the high court directed the respective counsels to supply affidavits 48 hours before the hearing.
{{/usCountry}}Statistics produced in the high court reveal that as of July 31, 59 cases were pending in Haryana, 66 cases in Punjab and 10 cases in Chandigarh.
When these proceedings were instituted in 2021, preliminary data produced in the Supreme Court had suggested that 35 such criminal cases were pending in Punjab and 42 in Haryana. These included cases against former lawmakers.