A ruling given by Supreme Court on Tuesday that the state governments cannot withdraw criminal cases against sitting MPs and MLAs without prior sanctions from the respective high courts has landed the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh in a tight spot.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana and comprising Justices Vineet Saran and Surya Kant gave the ruling while hearing a 2016 plea by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay on fast-tracking of criminal trials against lawmakers besides seeking a life ban on convicted politicians from contesting polls.
The Supreme Court bench made the statement based on a report laid by Amicus Curiae Vijay Hansaria on the status of trials against MP and MLAs.
"There is an issue of withdrawal of cases against MPs and MLAs by the state government. The government of Karnataka gave orders to withdraw cases against 61 such leaders. No withdrawal of cases should be allowed without orders from the HC," Vijay Hansaria stated in the report.
The Supreme Court bench also ordered that special courts judges, hearing cases against MPs and MLAs, should not be transferred until further orders.
The ruling comes at a time when the Andhra Pradesh government is facing a legal battle in the high court over withdrawal of 11 criminal cases against Jagan Mohan Reddy.
In June, the high court took suo motu cognizance of the withdrawal of the criminal complaints by different magistrates in the state against the chief minister.
All 11 cases were linked to protests led by Reddy when he was the leader of the Opposition in the state and the TDP was in power.
They included charges like mischief, causing loss or damage through mischief, offence in a place of worship, obstructing a public servant from discharging his duties, armed rioting and criminal conspiracy.
State advocate general Subrahmanyam Sriram questioned the high court’s decision stating that it was an unprecedented move and the registrar general took up the case on administrative side without even placing it before the judge.
Now, with the latest Supreme Court order, the issue of withdrawing cases against not only Jagan but also other YSRC MLAs will come up for fresh hearing in the high court.
