Indian
Express: Luchnow: Sunday, 03 January 2016.
In June 2014,
two months after a Supreme Court order sought completion of trial into cases
against legislators within a year’s time, the Centre issued an advisory to all
states to identify and fast-track cases against sitting MPs and MLAs, and
create a mechanism to monitor such cases. This prompted the Uttar Pradesh
government as it began looking into the progress of criminal cases registered
against its own legislators. A year and a half later, the Akhilesh Yadav regime
has a lot to boast in terms of the number of cases it has withdrawn, some of
which ended up over a “compromise”.
Records
obtained by The Sunday Express from the Prosecution Directorate under the Right
to Information Act show that only one legislator Samajwadi Party’s Charkhari
MLA Kaptan Singh Rajput was convicted and awarded sentence, whereas 65 other
cases, all involving ministers, MPs and MLAs, were either withdrawn by the
government or disposed of by the court. In at least three cases, involving an
MP, an MLA and a Union minister, the conviction was quashed by a higher court.
Significantly,
Rajput, serving a life sentence in a 2002 murder case, became the only one to
lose his membership. Three others, despite conviction (although these were
later quashed) continued to be members of the House. While Union minister Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi’s year-long sentence for poll code violation never could come into
effect, UP MoS Kailash Chaurasiya, awarded a three-year imprisonment and a fine
of Rs 9,000 for “voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation”, too,
walked free; former Congress MP Harsh Vardhan became the third legislator to
escape a year of rigorous imprisonment after his conviction in a case of
dacoity and rioting was quashed by a higher court. All three, meanwhile, never
faced disqualification from the House.
Of the 65
cases that got disposed of, as many as 20 against UP ministers and MLAs were
withdrawn by the Akhilesh government. Six of these cases ended with a
“compromise”, records say. There are 80 other cases against legislators that
are currently either awaiting verdict or in want of evidence. At least two of
these – one against SP’s Chitrakoot MLA Veer Singh (under Gangster Act) and
another against Sisamau MLA Irfan Solanki (involving charges of assault or use
of criminal force to deter public servant from discharging his duty) are shown
as being heard for “withdrawal”.
The
information under the RTI Act was first denied by the UP’s Prosecution
Directorate, which claimed that the disclosure would affect the outcome of the
cases. The details were made available only after State Information
Commissioner Arvind Singh Bisht, while hearing the second appeal under the RTI
Act, ordered the directorate to release the data.
The
directorate admitted to this correspondent that cases linger on, in some cases
for over a year, after the charges have been framed. The Prosecution
Directorate did not specify if any cases were being tried on daily basis.
Director
General, Prosecution, Surya Kumar said they depend on the reports from the
Superintendents of Police (SPs) informing them about the cases pending against
the MLAs and MPs. Much of the delay, he said, is caused by “defence lawyers who
try everything to ensure the case lingers on”.
The DG added
that fast-tracking of the cases is a “multi-agency” task, which involves the
courts and the police. “Our job is to bring the witnesses to the court, which
we do,” he said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
