The Supreme Court has asked to make major changes about how existing case of Ex-lawmakers and sitting lawmakers are to be heard. The court has put bar on unnecessary adjournments & indefinite stay in pending trials and to look into the matter of protection even without request to all witnesses.
Complete order of the court was made public yesterday. Upadhyay’s plea demanded the quick resolution of criminal trials pending against lawmakers which is being heard by SC since 2016.
There are more than 4,000 criminal cases pending against lawmakers across the country. In the said order, a 3-Judge bench of Justice NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant Justice Aniruddha Bose said that “Keeping in mind the public interest involved in these matters, & in order to prevent undue delay, we direct that no unnecessary adjournments be granted in these matters (involving MPs/MLAs).”
Senior Lawyer Gopal Shankarnaraynan who appeared for Upadhyay argued that the stay orders can’t be indefinite in such cases.
These new rules will apply to cases of both sitting & former members of Parliament & legislative assemblies is ordered by the apex court in a Public Interest Litigation filed by BJP leader & Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.
The Court also talked about enhancing the scope of the witness protection scheme for people deposing in cases against lawmakers. Court said that keeping in mind the vulnerability in the case the trial court may consider granting protection under the said scheme to witnesses without making any specific application in this regard.
