The Allahabad High Court reviewed delays in criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs. Its directions seek faster hearings and stronger compliance with Supreme Court timelines.
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Prayagraj,Oct 14, 2026 22:32 IST
The Allahabad High Court has expressed concern that priority criminal cases involving members of Parliament and state legislatures are not being heard because they are either listed before courts not designated to handle them or placed too low on the day's hearing list.
The court also directed upgrades to the online portal used to monitor cases involving MPs and MLAs, including colour-coded tracking, reasons for delays and automated audit reports.
A bench of Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Indrajeet Shukla raised the issue while hearing a public interest litigation initiated by the court on its own.
The bench noted that several priority cases were being placed before non-designated courts and consequently marked as “wrongly listed”. Other cases were placed low on hearing lists and could not be taken up because of the heavy workload before the courts.
“Listing a matter before a non-designated court prevents hearing Further, listing the case low down in the cause list effectively prevents hearing of such cases,” the bench observed. It said proper listing would allow the state prosecution to seek the early disposal of these cases effectively.
The court called for the monitoring portal to generate information according to the stage of each case and use colour-coded tracking to ensure compliance with timelines set by the Supreme Court. It also sought drop-down menus allowing trial judges to state reasons for delays and the automated generation of periodic audit reports.
Regarding original trial court records pending before the high court, the bench directed the Registrar (Judicial), Criminal, to submit a revised and comprehensive chart within three weeks, clearly stating the trial stage of each case. It also sought inputs from prosecution authorities and judicial officers to improve supervision. The matter will next be heard on November 6, 2026, when the court will continue examining the listing and monitoring of criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs.
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