Govt to set up 12 special courts for speedy trial of cases against MP, MLAs

New Delhi, December 13: Following the apex court’s direction, Centre government has decided to set up at least 12 special Courts on lines of fast track court for expeditious disposal of cases pending against parliamentarians and MLAs.

The Centre also sought more time to collect and collate data of pending cases against lawmakers across the country. The government said, the data as to in which courts these cases are pending is not available.

Last month, the apex court directed the Centre to place before it the details regarding 1,581 cases involving MPs and MLAs, as declared by them at the time of filing their nominations.

The court had asked the government to apprise it of how many among these cases have been disposed of within one year and how many ended either in conviction or acquittal.

During the hearing, the Centre told the bench that decriminalisation of politics has to be done and it was not averse to the setting up of special courts to deal with cases involving politicians and speedy disposal of these matters.

The top court was hearing petitions seeking to declare the provisions of the Representation of People (RP) Act, which bar convicted politician from contesting elections for six years after serving jail term, as ultra vires to the Constitution.

The petition has also sought a direction to the Centre and the EC to fix minimum educational qualification and a maximum age limit for persons contesting polls.