Govt nudges UP to form special courts for trial of MPs and MLAs

The law ministry is pushing Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh to set up special courts to speedily try elected representatives facing criminal charges, according to an official document seen by Hindustan Times.

Of the 12 special courts in designated states proposed last year to exclusively try state legislators and members of Parliament with criminal cases, only two, in these two states, are yet to be established. Following the late June note from the law ministry, UP has notified the setting up of a special court, but work has yet to start on it.

State governments are primarily responsible for setting up special and fast-track courts in consultation with the judiciary, but the central government part funds them under a scheme that was framed following a Supreme Court order, a government official said, requesting anonymity.

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms nearly 36% of all MLAs and MPs currently face criminal charges. Lawmakers from UP top the list. To be sure, some of the cases are politically motivated.

On June 21, the justice department wrote to the chief secretaries of UP and Tamil Nadu, with so-called “departmental order reminders” to speedily set up these courts. To keep track of the progress of the trials in these cases, the justice department has also written to high courts for updated data on the number of cases transferred to these courts. The justice department sent an “updated status on the matter to Prime Minister’s Office and the Cabinet Secretariat on June 29”, the document states.

NEW DELHI: OF THE 12 SPECIAL COURTS IN DESIGNATED STATES PROPOSED LAST YEAR ONLY TWO, IN UP AND TAMIL NADU, ARE YET TO BE ESTABLISHED