A letter sent by the Bombay High Court early last year asking district judges to apply their minds and transfer cases under the Prevention of Food Adulteration and Drugs and Cosmetics Act to chief judicial magistrates has been misconstrued,owing to which CJMs are flooded with thousands of such cases. The matter came to light recently,when a group of petitioners from Karad in Satara moved the High Court,grieving that all their cases have been transferred to the Satara CJM court following the letter. The development has not only brought inconvenience to petitioners but also overburdened the magistrates. High Court counsel SR Nargolkar said thousands of cases had been transferred to CJMs across the state as all cases were transferred though the High Court had wanted district judges to apply their minds and preferably refer and assign cases. Nargolkar told the court on Friday that the letter,dated January 21,2009,had been misconstrued by the district judges. The Karad matter is a test case since the aggrieved have moved court. Thousands of cases have been transferred to districts. The petitioners contended that the object of the letter had not been served as there were at least 2,500 cases pending. Besides,they stated that the litigants and witnesses are finding it difficult to go to Satara on every hearing and since they have already engaged a lawyer in Karad,they were not in a position to do the same in Satara. They also said none of the cases has been disposed of after they were transfered last year. Nargolkar quoted from a report submitted by the Satara sessions judge,stating that only two of the 134 cases had been disposed of. He also suggested that the cases could be assigned to senior civil judges and senior magistrates within whose jurisdiction they arise. The court said the principal district judge should assign cases after proper application of mind.
