555 pending cases against sitting and former MPs, MLAs in Kerala

As many as 555 cases are pending as of June 30, according to a report filed by the High Court Administration in the Kerala High Court on Thursday (July 23).

The statement was made before a bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice VM Syama Kumar, which was considering a suo motu petition initiated under Supreme Court directions to monitor the progress of pending criminal cases against sitting/former MPs or MLAs.

The court found that the figures provided by the High Court administration contradicted the state police chief’s report, which cited 256 pending cases, and ordered the state police chief to correct the statistics.

The court noted that the details of the pending cases were shared by the Chief Secretary of the Supreme Court with the Chief of the State Police. The bench directed the registry to submit a list of cases along with its compliance report to ensure that in future the state police chief is more diligent in reporting such cases.

In addition, the assessment of the district judiciary showed that there are 12 cases more than five years old, in which a summons or arrest warrant is pending due to its non-execution, and 31 cases postponed for similar reasons for more than two years.

The court found that a large number of arrest warrants were not executed in cases registered in Thiruvananthapuram city. The Assistant General of Police was directed to report after examining the District Magistrate’s report on the statistics.

In an earlier report, the secretary had pointed out that there was a delay in processing the summons despite the appointment of nodal police officers in the police department for the purpose. It was also suggested that trial courts should be directed to effectively deal with such matters deferred for a period of three years, along with cases flagged in reports with a delay of five and two years.

The suo motu petition was taken up after the Supreme Court issued directions to courts to ensure speedy completion of investigation, trial and closure of cases. The High Courts were also directed to first hear criminal cases against MPs and MLAs punishable by death or life imprisonment, then cases with imprisonment and then other cases. They were also asked to create an independent tab on the website providing district information on these matters.

Meanwhile, the District Judiciary was tasked with providing sufficient infrastructure for speedy disposal of pending cases.

Published – 23 Jul 2026 21:31 IST