April 15, 2009 2:49:43 am
Govt positive about having fast-track courts,waiting for apex court directives
The Gujarat government is not averse to having fast-track courts for speedy disposal of riot-related cases in the state if the Supreme Court issued directions to the government in this regard,said G C Murmu,Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.
He told Newsline on Tuesday: The government is positive about having fast track courts as suggested by the apex court,provided the Supreme Court issues directions in this regard.
Murmu said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had submitted its report to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover,and hence it was difficult for him to say anything about its contents.
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To a query,he said the SIT had handed over only a synopsis of its report to the state government,which contained mere information about how many additional witnesses were examined,and the arrests made by the SIT in riot-related cases.
There is no incident-specific information provided by the SIT in the synopsis,he added.
On Monday,Gujarat governments counsel Mukul Rohtagi had said that the SIT report was accepted by the state government,adding that allegations made against the government relating to the riots had all proved false.
A reading of the SIT report shows that horrendous allegations levelled against the state were found to have been made by a few NGOs,which have been found to be untrue,Rohtagi said.
On Monday,the Supreme Court had made a noteworthy suggestion and had asked the state government to explore the possibility of having fast-track courts for speedy disposal of cases related to the riots.
It would be like having a designated court which will give priority to such cases,and the high court could allocate one designated judge for trying these cases, Justice Arijit Pasayat had said on behalf of the three-member special bench headed by him.
The bench is looking into a batch of petitions filed by the NHRC and others seeking transfer of the riot cases outside the state.
The apex courts special bench has asked both amicus curiae,senior advocate Harish Salve and governments counsel Mukul Rohtagi to place within a week,those suggestions on which appropriate directions could be issued.
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