Govt To Set Up 12 Courts For Cases Against Tainted Netas

In a landmark decision which shall have far reaching consequences in ending the inordinate delay in the prosecution of politicians in criminal cases, the Centre has decided to set up special courts to deal exclusively with cases against 1,581 MPs and MLAs with the coveted objective of disposing them of in a year. There will be 12 special courts in the country to exclusively dispose of criminal cases against members of Parliament and State Assemblies within a period of one year. No doubt, the Centre’s major push in fast-tracking trial against politicians came as a result of prodding by the Supreme Court in a PIL pertaining to this!

While craving for the exclusive indulgence of my esteemed readers, let me also inform them that it is beyond a straw of doubt that the Centre’s decision which has been conveyed to the Supreme Court on December 12 could be a serious setback to politicians who, despite facing serious charges, have remained Members of Parliament and State Assemblies due to time consumed in trials. They could now soon face the axe! Such cases will fall in the purview of special courts and their fate will be decided expeditiously and not hang on for many years and decades!

For my esteemed readers exclusive indulgence, let me also inform them that the petitioner had sought to know from the Centre on the steps taken to expedite cases involving heinous charges against MPs and MLAs. It is noteworthy that the data provided by the petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay showed that a total of 1,581 MPs and MLAs were facing criminal cases as per details collected till 2014. The Apex Court on November 1, 2017 had directed the Centre to outline a scheme to fast-track cases against political persons.

To say the least, this was considered imperative as the apex court said it took years, probably decades to complete the trial against a politician. By this time, he or she would have served as a Minister or Legislator several times over! To stop this and in a determined effort to clean politics of criminality and corruption, the court proposed to fast track it to complete within one-year period!

Be it noted, while complying with the Supreme Court direction to the Centre to set up special courts for lawmakers facing criminal charges, the government said 12 courts would be constituted. Two special courts would handle cases against 228 MPs and other 10 would be set up in 10 States – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, UP and West Bengal – where the number of MLAs booked for criminal acts is more than 65. This will certainly help in weeding out criminals from the political stream of our society!

As it turned out, the Ministry of Law and Justice filed an affidavit claiming that though the data presented by the PIL petitioner is in the process of being verified, the Centre has decided to frame a scheme to fast-track the available list of 1,581 tainted MPs/MLAs prepared by NGO, Association of Democratic Rights. The affidavit filed by Additional Director Reeta Vashishta in the Law Ministry said, “The scheme for special courts currently envisages setting up of 12 special courts for a period of one year to dispose of cases against political persons at an expenditure of Rs 7.80 crore.” On December 8, the Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance gave in principle approval for the same!

In hindsight, it may well be said that there are several high profile cases against leaders from almost all political parties both regional and national where investigations have dragged on for many years at a stretch and those facing trial have evaded prison but now no longer this will happen! The CBI has filed several cases against RJD leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi and Tejashwi Yadav as also against Trinamool MPs in the Narada case. Also, ousted AIADMK leader Sasikala was convicted earlier this year in a 21-year-old case and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran has been charged with allegedly trying to influence an Election Commission decision.

We all know fully well that BJP’s Maharashtra leader Eknath Khadse is being investigated in a land deal case. Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan has been booked in an environment clearance case while DMK leaders Kanimozhi and A Raja await verdict in the 2G scam case. Congress leader and former MoS for coal Santosh Bagrodia faces in a coal allocation case. NCP leader Ajit Pawar is facing an investigation in irregular irrigation contracts. There are many more senior leaders from different parties who are facing various charges.

To be sure, the government placed the scheme framed by it before the court and said Rs 7.80 crore had been ear marked for its execution. It said the number of special courts to be constituted was decided on the presumption that each court could dispose of 165 cases annually and 12 courts would bring long-pending cases against MPs and MLAs to zero. The government said in its affidavit that, “Disposing of 1,581 criminal cases involving political persons within a time fame of one year as directed by the Supreme Court is the aim as well as the objective of the scheme. On December 8, [the] department of expenditure in [the] ministry of finance gave in principle approval.” The total number of cases against 1,581 tainted politicians is around 13,680.

Truth be told, the Centre said that in other states, where the number of cases against MLAs was less than 65, these could be tried by existing fast-track courts and no special courts were needed. Centre filed its affidavit in compliance with a Supreme Court order which directed it to frame a scheme while hearing a PIL filed by Ashwani Upadhyay seeking a lifetime ban on convicted lawmakers. Even the Election Commission also favoured a lifetime ban on convicted MPs and MLAs from contesting elections.

It cannot be lost on us that the break-up of the list of 1,581 cases indicates that as many as 184 Lok Sabha MPs are facing criminal cases and Rajya Sabha has 44 such MPs. The top five states with the highest number of MLAs facing criminal cases are Maharashtra (160), Uttar Pradesh (143), Bihar (141), West Bengal (101) and Kerala (87). The Centre has written to all State Governments to supply details of MLAs facing criminal cases. The affidavit added that the special courts scheme will be modified based on the additional inputs provided by the respective States.

To put things in perspective, there will be no special judicial forum to hear cases of 44 Rajya Sabha MPs and the government affidavit is silent on which court will hear them. The Centre failed to provide information the court had sought on how many of the 1,581 cases have been disposed of within a one-year time frame. Also, it did not furnish data on any new criminal case being lodged against current or former MPs and MLAs between 2014 and 2017.

Truly speaking, the government said it tried to get the information from the poll panel but it too could not provide any. The Centre sought time from the court, saying it will collect details from state governments. The suggestion for a central scheme to set up special courts was made after the Election Commission supported the idea, saying the move would go a long way in “cleansing Indian politics”.

It must also be reminded here that a Bench of Apex Court headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi had recently remarked while asking the government to meet its promise to decriminalise politics that, “In the interests of the nation, trials in such cases must end within a year.” Very rightly said! This will ensure that politicians having criminal cases pending against them are barred from politics if cases are decided against them within a year!

It must be added here that the Bench said very specifically that the Supreme Court would directly interact with the State governments on issues like the appointment of judicial officers, public prosecutors, court staff and other requirements of manpower and infrastructure for the special courts. Countering the Centre’s argument that setting up such courts would depend on the availability of funds with the States, the Apex Court said that, “The problem can be resolved by having a Central scheme for setting up of courts exclusively to deal with criminal cases involving political persons on the lines of the fast track courts…”

All said and done, a good beginning has been made. But a lot more needs to be done. All MPs and MLAs facing criminal trials must be debarred from becoming MP or MLA until and unless their name is not cleared. It will ensure that bad apples are kept out just like we see in other professions.

Needless to say, all tainted politicians must be shown the door and they should not be allowed to contest elections under any circumstances! This is imperative! This cannot be allowed to dilly-dally under any circumstances!

On a concluding note, the cases of politicians must be decided at the earliest so that criminals are unable to misuse the political offices for spreading crime further in society! This is possible only if more courts are set up as Centre has done now by setting up 12 courts! All steps must be taken to oust criminals and corrupt politicians permanently from politics!