The Supreme Court has permitted the Himachal Pradesh government to withdraw prosecution in 63 criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs that were registered in connection with public demonstrations and dharnas during the Covid-19 period.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana allowed the State's plea to withdraw prosecution in the cases, observing that there was no reason to deny the request where the allegations did not involve heinous offences or bodily injury.

Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh High Court,h had permitted withdrawal of prosecution in 15 of the cases. The Supreme Court found no justification for restricting the withdrawal to those cases when the State had sought withdrawal in the remaining matters as well.

While allowing the withdrawal, the Supreme Court took into account the nature of the allegations. The Bench noted that none of the cases involved a heinous offence or an allegation of bodily injury. Also, the accused were not hardened criminals and were public representatives who were essentially raising public grievances.

The Bench observed that the prosecutions would consume court time at the cost of other serious or contentious cases that require expeditious adjudication.

The sections involved were 269 IPC (public negligence), 504/506 IPC and the provisions of the National Disaster Management Act for public assembly in violation of the COVID-19 pandemic regulations.

Finding no reason to restrict the State's request, the Court held that the request for withdrawal of prosecution should be accepted in its entirety.