SC seeks details of criminal cases pending against MPs, MLAs
New Delhi, Sep 12 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Chief Secretaries of 19 states and six Union Territories, including Registrar Generals (RGs) of the High Courts, to furnish details of the criminal cases pending against MPs and MLAs.
The states that have to furnish details include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand.
Besides this, the UTs Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry too have to furnish the information.
It also asked whether the cases have been transferred to the special courts set up in pursuance to its December 2017 order to try them.
A bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Navin Sinha and Justice K.M. Joseph also sought information whether special courts set up in pursuance of its order were functional.
"We specifically direct the two authorities, namely, the Chief Secretaries of the states and the Registrar Generals of the High Courts to lay before us the precise number of cases which are presently pending and required to be transferred to the Special Courts", said the order passed by the court.
It further wanted to know "whether the 12 special courts set up are functional and whether in view of the volume of cases that would be required to be transferred to the special courts, there is the necessity of setting up of additional Courts."
It wanted to know whether in view of the volume of cases pending, there was need of additional special courts to try lawmakers facing criminal cases.
The court made it clear that if required it would monitor the compliance of its orders passed from time to time.
The court order binding the Chief Secretaries and RGs came as the bench was apparently not satisfied with the information furnished by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice in its affidavit filed on September 11.
The affidavit said that a total of 1,233 criminal cases were transferred to the special courts. Of these, 136 have been disposed of and remaining 1,097 were pending.
Appearing for petitioner Ashwini Upadhyaya, counsel Sajan Povvaya urged the court to see if Special Courts were actually working. He cited the example of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) courts that have been set up by the states were not functional as there were no presiding judges.
In a series of orders passed by the court on November 1, 2017, December 14, 2017, and August 21, 2018 the court had sought information on how many of 1,581 cases involving MLAs and MPs, as declared at the time of filing of the nomination papers to the 2014 Elections, have been disposed of within the time frame of one year.
The top court by its March 10, 2014 order had directed that in the cases involving lawmakers, the trial should be completed in one year.
The court also wanted to know how many of these cases which have been finally decided have ended in acquittal/conviction of MPs and MLAs.
It also sought information whether further criminal cases have been lodged against any present or former lawmaker between 2014 and 2017 (as on date).
Next hearing is on October 10.
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17,969 acres Wakf property encroached in Karnataka, mostly by Muslims: Minister Khan
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Wakf & Minority Welfare B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan told the Legislative Assembly on Monday that 17,969 acres of Wakf property have been encroached upon in the state, mostly by Muslims themselves.
The minister was responding to a question by Afzalpur Congress MLA M Y Patil during the Question Hour.
"Total Wakf property across the state is 1,12,860 acres, out of which only 20,054 acres is in our hands. As many as 17,969 acres have been encroached, 47,263 acres have gone under the Inam Abolition Act and 23,627 acres have gone under the Land Reforms Act," Khan said.
He said that after the Congress government came to power and he became the department's minister, Wakf Adalats were held across the state aimed at removing encroachments.
Noting that 1,12,860 acres of Wakf land were given not by the government, but by private individuals and organisations for the welfare of the community, the minister said encroachments on Wakf property are mostly by the Muslim community itself, not by temples or other communities.
"Encroachments on Wakf land are not by others, they are done by Muslims themselves. Wakf Adalats were held to remove those encroachments, but the BJP made it an issue," he said, adding that encroachment issues are being resolved.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka intervened and said the BJP's objections were not about removing encroachments by Muslims on Wakf land, but about farmers' land, land belonging to schools such as the one studied by Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvaraya, and in some cases land belonging to temples, among others, being claimed as Wakf land.
The BJP is in fact in favour of an investigation into the encroachment of Wakf properties, he said.
Responding to this, the minister clarified that the government is not laying hands on any temples or educational institutions by claiming them as Wakf property.
"To identify encroachments by private people, mostly Muslims, Wakf Adalats were held," he added.
