CHENNAI: Ever since its inception in 2018, the Special Court in Chennai trying MLAs/MPs has been giving politicians sleepless nights. However, its fine run will come to an end as the cases against several of the elected as well as former politicians are being transferred to their respective districts from where they originated. The special court will now hear cases falling only under the Chennai jurisdiction.
According to sources, the process of transferring cases began after the Madras High Court issued an administrative order on June 7. The documents of the cases against MPs and MLAs pending here and other related copies are already on their way to the respective districts.
The Special Court here was enjoying the privileged status of a principal court trying cases against MLAs and MPs. Any case registered against an elected representative across the State gets transferred from the respective district court to this Special Court.
Based on the data obtained from the official sources, there are a total of 50 cases from the districts alone and they are being transferred now. Only cases registered under the Indian Penal Code are being tried in the Special Court here.
Tamil Nadu stands third among in the country with a total of 321 cases pending against MLAs and MPs. Uttar Pradesh stands first with 992 cases followed by Odisha with 332 cases.
As per the data tabulated prior to the Lok Sabha elections, a total of 15 cases were pending against sitting MPs and 122 cases against MLAs in the State. Forty-seven cases were pending against former MPs and 129 cases against former MLAs.
Sources in the Special Court said that there are cases against Vaiko in various districts, AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran in Tiruchy and there are over 10 cases against DMK leader KN Nehru. Most of the cases are related to defamation and criminal charges, said sources.
Within a few months, one of the significant convictions pronounced on December 28, 2018 was against former DMK MLA M Rajkumar sentenced to 10 years’ jail for rape and murder.
Similar was the conviction of Balakrishna Reddy on January 7 who lost his position as an MLA despite being accused number 72 in the case. Judge J Shanthi convicted the MLA and sentenced him to three-year rigorous imprisonment in the 20-year-old rioting case.
A senior official said, “The Supreme Court recently ruled that cases pending in the special courts should be completed within six months and also powers are now being given to the respective district Principal District Judges to try such cases”.
The official also said that two more special courts are to be constituted here exclusively for trying cases of CBI, ED, POCSO, FERA, SC/ST and CCB cases.