Special courts for MPs and MLAs
Topic: Electoral Reforms: Money, Criminalisation and Simultaneous Elections · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Special courts for MPs and MLAs are courts set aside to hear criminal cases against legislators. They have been set up since 2017. Criminal cases against politicians often drag on for years. Because only a conviction disqualifies a person under the RPA 1951, slow trials let accused people keep contesting and winning. Fast-tracking these cases is meant to decide them one way or the other quickly.
Example
Under the Supreme Court's 2023 directions, each High Court monitors the pending cases against MPs and MLAs in its state and checks how quickly the special courts are deciding them.
Don't confuse with
- Fast-track courts in general: they speed up certain kinds of cases, such as crimes against women, for any accused. Special courts for MPs and MLAs are defined by who the accused is, not by the type of crime.
Related concepts
- Disqualification on conviction
- Lily Thomas case
- Law Commission 244th report
- Public Interest Foundation case