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‘No heinous crimes’: SC lets Himachal withdraw 39 Covid-era cases on MPs, MLAs
The state in its application before the high court said that the decision for withdrawal was taken in public interest
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The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed the Himachal Pradesh government to withdraw prosecution in 39 criminal cases against former and sitting lawmakers, noting that the cases were linked to the politicians holding protests during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“None of the cases shows any grave or heinous crimes nor any remote suggestion that the accused are hardened criminals or have indulged in repeat offences,” a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
“Continuation of prosecution in these cases will not serve the cause of administration of justice. On the other hand, it will slow the progress of trial in other serious cases which courts are expected to decide finally,” the top court said.
The state government had initially approached the Himachal Pradesh high court to seek permission to close 65 criminal cases against lawmakers across party lines. In its verdict on April 16, 2024, the high court only allowed the state to withdraw prosecution in 15 cases. The trial court decided five more cases during the pendency of the application in the high court, leaving a balance of 45 cases.
The high court’s approval was required in terms of an August 10, 2021 verdict of the Supreme Court that ordered state governments to get the high court’s approval to withdraw cases against MLAs/MPs. This was a unique requirement introduced by the top court to ensure that governments did not abuse its power to withdraw prosecution under the criminal procedure code.
During proceedings in the top court, the state’s additional advocate general (AAG) Vaibhav Srivastava told the bench that, effectively, only 39 of the 45 cases remained, since trials in six more cases had ended with the accused either acquitted or discharged.
In its verdict, the three-judge bench on Wednesday noted that the 65 cases were primarily registered during the Covid-19 pandemic under four heads: cases under Section 269 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) which relate to acts likely to spread infection; Section 352 of IPC pertaining to assault or criminal force against public servants with not a single instance of any injury or assault recorded; sections 504 and 506 relating to breach of peace and criminal intimidation and staging of dharnas prohibited under National Highways Act; and Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act where the public representatives burnt effigies in public places.
The bench said, “On perusal of allegations in these FIRs, we find all incidents pertain to Covid-19 pandemic period that was an exceptional condition with unforeseen circumstances where people, including public representatives, were in distress in different manner.”
In its 2024 verdict, the high court noted that in some cases, the district attorneys had not consented to the withdrawal. The high court also cited the top court’s August 2021 verdict, which stressed that the public prosecutor should form an independent opinion to withdraw prosecution before an application is made to the high court. It said the state government did not meet this condition.
