Prosecutors to protest ‘stepmotherly’ treatment

Disgruntled over the lack of adequate office space for public prosecutors posted at the newly inaugurated Saket court complex,the prosecutors’ body —Delhi Prosecutors’ Welfare Association (DPWA) — has decided to wear the band as a sign of “peaceful protest”.

What has irked the prosecutors most is that while amenities for litigants,lawyers and other support staff have been taken care of,they remain the ignored lot. “The stepmotherly behaviour towards the prosecution agency is not new,but the recent hurt is most painful specially when due care has been taken for the convenience of litigants,undertrials,defence lawyers,court staff and judicial officers,” an official release endorsed by Dr Anju Rathi Rana,DPWA secretary,stated.

An appeal was made to all prosecutors functioning at the six city district courts after a meeting was held by the association in Tis Hazari on Monday evening. The call is also to abstain from participating in the trials at Saket where police files are not available with them for lack of an earmarked space for the documents. The officers of the courts have also been asked to adhere strictly to court proceedings and not provide any other assistance,which they generally do in cases of shortage of staff and for expediting trials.

“That those public prosecutors of the government of NCT of Delhi,irrespective of their place of posting,who are giving dictations of the depositions of the witnesses,framing charges and examining or recording statements of the accused in violation of the procedure prescribed under law,shall abstain from doing so,” the communication read.

Saket,the sixth court complex of the city,was inaugurated on Saturday and 32 courts in the premises were made functional the same day. The seven-storey centrally air-conditioned building has 80 courtrooms,92 chambers for the judges,separate towers with 666 lawyers’ chambers and 128 houses for judges. Only one and a half rooms have been,meanwhile,allotted for the persecutors,according to Rana.

“Of this,half the space was filled with construction debris,” she told Newsline,adding that prosecutors have been told to work by shuttling between the Patiala House and Saket complexes everyday,an implausible option.