Nainital, Feb 18 (PTI) The Nainital High Court has asked the Uttarakhand government to provide a list of criminal cases pending against members of parliament and the legislative assembly.

Taking cognizance of cases pending before various courts in the country in which criminal cases against law makers had been withdrawn by state governments, a division bench of the High Court comprising acting chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra and Justice N S Dhanik asked the state government to provide by March 3 a list of criminal cases pending against MLAs and MPs.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Air India to Operate 3 Flights to Help Indians Fly Out Amid Tensions.

In August 2021, the Supreme Court had directed all the high courts to fast-track hearing of criminal cases pending against the MLAs and MPs of each state. The top court had expressed its concern over state governments misusing IPC section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) by taking back these pending cases.

The SC had further said that without the permission of the High Court, state government should not take back or finish off such cases.

Also Read | Hijab Row: Karnataka High Court Directs Govt Not to Violate Interim Order.

It had also directed that a special court be assigned the job of fast tracking the hearings of such matters. The next hearing of the matter will take place on March 3.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)