Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has expressed displeasure over the delayed progress of trials against MLAs and MPs in the state, stressing the need to expedite these cases in line with Supreme Court directives.
In a review hearing, a bench led by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe sought details from the state government on the summons issued to accused legislators and witnesses examined in the past month. The matter was posted for further hearing on July 23.
The High Court is monitoring the progress of these trials as a suo motu case, following the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay case. A status report submitted by the High Court Registrar revealed that out of 115 cases registered against MPs and MLAs, summons are yet to be issued in 46 cases.
The High Court has emphasized the need to accord priority to these cases and ensure their expeditious disposal, given the Supreme Court’s directives and the direct bearing of such cases on political democracy.
The court expressed concern over the slow progress in the prosecution of the case, pointing out that only nine summons were issued in the previous month. The bench questioned why summons had not been issued to the Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) involved, given their availability and public presence.
Additionally, the court sought an explanation for the delay in summoning witnesses. In response, the Additional Advocate General sought more time to provide the necessary details to the court. The case has been scheduled for further hearing on July 23.
