The Supreme Court has set March 1, 2018, as the deadline for setting up 12 special courts to try and dispose criminal cases against political persons. The decision follows a scheme submitted to the court by the Centre under which 12 special courts will be constituted to dispose of cases pending against 1,581 Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of legislative Assemblies (MlAs) within one year.
Giving the Centre two months to allocate necessary funds to States in this regard, the Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha further directed the concerned States to ensure that the designated courts are made operational by March 1. Meanwhile, the Centre will gather authentic data on the number of criminal cases pending against elected MPs and MlAs and present it to court before the next date of hearing on March 7.
The court was dealing with a PIl requesting the court to fast-track criminal trials pending for years against elected representatives of Parliament and State legislatures. Although the petitioners were unhappy that the number of courts was few and far, the Bench said, “Setting up 12 courts is not the end. It is a tentative measure and the scheme will be modified once further information is collected. let it be first set up and begin to function. It is very easy to find fault but let the Courts begin to function.”
Also, the Bench was of the opinion that the scheme was framed relying on data provided by NGO Association for Democratic Rights (ADR). There is no agency with the Centre that has details of criminal cases against elected representatives at State or Central level. The Election Commission's help was sought in this regard but it refused. The Centre has now decided to compile the data by writing to all High Courts and State Governments to provide details in this regard.
Taking note of this submission, the Bench felt it appropriate to extend time for gathering the details by another two months. Two special courts out of 12 will exclusively deal with cases pertaining to MPs, besides one each in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. A total of Rs 7.8 crore has been approved by the Union Finance Ministry for helping states to set up these courts. The Centre expects a single court to dispose 165 cases every year.