Gauhati High Court seeks status report on pending cases against MPs, MLAs from Assam, Arunachal, Mizoram and Nagaland

Guwahati: In a significant proceeding, the Gauhati High Court has directed the Registrar General of the High Court to present a status report with regard to the number of pending cases along with status and stay orders in cases involving MPs and MLAs in the four states under its jurisdiction — Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.

The order stated that the report should contain the number of pending cases in Gauhati High Court and its outlying benches and stay orders in force, not allowing for faster disposal of pending cases against MPs and MLAs.

The said order was passed by the special bench of Justice Suman Shyam and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury in connection with a suo-moto proceeding (WP-C 3/2020), which has been registered in terms of the judgment and order dated November 9, 2023, passed by the Supreme Court in WP(C) 699/2016, laying down certain guidelines for expeditious disposal of cases pending against MPs and MLAs.

The Gauhati High Court bench said it found that cases pending against the MPs and MLAs in the four states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh, coming within the jurisdiction of this High Court, have been reflected in the table furnished in the order dated November 9, 2023.

However, they did not find any updated status report on record for passing any fresh order by the Monitoring Bench.

Under the circumstances, the Court opined that a report from the Registry would be necessary to facilitate further orders that can be passed in the case. The report called for by the bench is sought to be placed on record before the next date of hearing on May 31, 2024.