‘Prosecutors needed faster,facilities can wait’

The court’s directive came on a earlier petition that had highlighted the inadequate number of prosecutors and their pitiable working conditions that led to the delay in trials.

A report on the matter had noted that while a prosecutor on an average handles more than 3,000 cases a year,around 10 prosecutors leave every year due to poor working conditions.

Following this,Standing Counsel for the Delhi government Najmi Waziri had submitted an affidavit in the court signalling an overhaul of its Directorate of Prosecution. The affidavit also stated the government had taken up with the UPSC the need for direct recruitment of additional public prosecutors.

On Wednesday,however,Waziri told the Bench that while they had informed the UPSC in July last year that at least 44 prosecutors were required,the agency was “dragging its feet”.

The Bench then said that while the issues pertaining to providing better facilities could wait,filling up the vacancies was the first and the foremost requirement.”Every court must have a prosecutor of its own for the proper justice delivery system,” said Justice Misra.

Radioactive matter detection: HC seeks Centre’s response
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday demanded a reply from the Centre about the mechanism being put in place to ensure no radioactive material made it to the city’s scrap markets. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan also asked the government to provide details of the mechanism adopted to regulate radioactive material in hospital waste by August 11. The Bench was hearing a PIL seeking the court’s directions to the Central government to install gamma radiation scanners in all scrap markets after the Mayapuri radiation exposure incident.