Gujarat to get special courts for corruption cases

The special courts will have one special judge (additional district judge) along with staff. The courts will deal only with graft and other corruption cases.

Confirming this to Newsline,Pradeep Bhatt,Registrar General, Gujarat High Court,said the courts will start functioning in a few weeks time. “Initially,the principal judges of the district courts will deal with the corruption cases and later the special judges will be appointed. The principal district judges will then appoint their staff in both the cities. The appointment process of the special judges is going on. The courts may begin in June-July this year,” Bhatt said.

He added: “The state chief justice has sent out a clear message that all corruption cases will be given full justice and importance and will be dealt with utmost objectivity,so that citizens have full faith in the judiciary and its power to deal with the corrupt.”

The corruption cases are currently handled by the sessions courts in all districts. As per the notification of the Legal Department of the Government of Gujarat in August 1996,all sessions judges and additional sessions judges were empowered to handle corruption cases except for those investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.

The ACB has been keenly waiting for the special courts. ACB officials say many of their efforts go waste because of the huge number of pending cases at the sessions courts in the state.

Consider this: 1,128 cases are pending in the state sessions courts of which 91 are pending in Ahmedabad,136 in Surat,127 in Rajkot,98 in Junagadh,78 in Jamnagar and 66 in Surendranagar.

ACB director R M S Brar said: “Unfortunately,the trial of corruption cases takes long,delaying justice to victims. The number of pending cases in the courts is really high,especially in Ahmedabad and Surat. Currently,two courts in Ahmedabad and two in Surat deal with these cases,but since they do not function only for corruption cases,the work gets delayed. Setting up of exclusive courts to deal with corruption cases will make the system much faster.”

Brar said some cases in Surat are pending since as early as 1988 and some since 1993. He said in some cases,the witnesses and in some the accused,have passed away.

Considering the high number of cases pending in Rajkot,the ACB has also suggested the setting up of a special court in Rajkot.

After the special courts start functioning in Ahmedabad and Surat,other major cities in Gujarat are also expected to get special courts in the near future,sources said.