Six more CBI courts coming up to dispose of cases faster

A senior IPS officer said,“There are several cases dating back to two decades that are pending in court. With the extra courts we hope for speedy disposal.”

“As per the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office,a letter was sent to all state governments last year and they were informed to set up special courts only to try CBI cases. Three courts will begin functioning soon at the Mumbai City civil and sessions court. One each will be set up in Amravati,Pune and Nagpur,” said Ejaz Khan,the nodal officer coordinating with the state government and the CBI for setting up the courts.

“The CBI does only quality cases and several procedures are required to be followed before filing the final report and since the accused most of the time are high-ranking officials of various departments,the investigation which is carried in-depth is always highly contested. In addition,when the cases come up in court for trial,we explain each and every aspect which takes time and also the defence lawyers seek adjournments to study the evidence in detail as these are specialised offences. This prolongs trial,” he said.

To ensure that the CBI doesn’t fall short of manpower in the special courts,which could delay the disposal of cases,six additional public prosecutors have been appointed to handle cases. At present there are five regular prosecutors.

Khan said,“We are ensuring that all steps are taken for speedy disposal of cases. Four prosecutors have been appointed for Mumbai,one each for Thane and Kalyan,thus at no point of time will there be any shortage of persons in the special courts.”

According to directions from the PMO,71 courts have been sanctioned in different states. The agency’s website states that the setting up of special courts is one of their top priorities for 2010 and they would work towards setting up of these courts within this year.