State withdraws two criminal cases against 4 MLAs, cites no loss of life or property

Maharashtra government plans to withdraw two criminal cases against 10 individuals, including four legislators, citing no loss of life or property damage.

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay high court that it has decided to withdraw two criminal cases against 10 persons, including four sitting legislators, on the ground that the incidents did not involve loss of life or damage to property.

State withdraws two criminal cases against 4 MLAs, cites no loss of life or property

One case related to a 2020 protest at the Reserve Bank of India’s Nagpur office involving former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, cabinet minister Radhakrushna Vikhe Patil, and MLA Vikas Thakre. The second, also from 2020, was against MLA Sameer Meghe for allegedly flouting Covid-19 restrictions during a public gathering. Charge sheets in both matters had been filed before Nagpur magistrates.

“These cases must now be formally withdrawn by moving the jurisdictional courts,” a division bench of justices Shree Chandrashekhar and N J Jamadar observed while hearing a suo motu petition to monitor criminal trials against lawmakers.

The state’s additional public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh told the bench that a list of prosecutions proposed to be dropped against Members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly is being compiled, and so far two cases have been recommended for withdrawal.

The matter stems from a 2020 Supreme Court directive requiring special monitoring of criminal cases against sitting and former legislators. In April this year, the high court recorded that 455 such cases were pending in Maharashtra—about 250 in the Bombay region, 75 in Nagpur, and 110 in Aurangabad.

The HC has directed lower courts to give priority to these trials, update case status twice a month, and submit consolidated reports regularly.