CBI finally gets 6 new courts in Maharashtra

Almost two years after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to all the states and Union territories to create special Central Bureau of Investigation courts, six special CBI courts have finally been constituted in Maharashtra, one of the first states to do so.

In his letter dated July 24, 2007, the prime minister had decided to up 71 additional special CBI courts with the aim of reducing the pendency of CBI cases. Six of the 71 courts were allotted to Maharashtra. However, it was only on November 16, 2010, that the Maharashtra government issued a notification to create six CBI courts.

CBI officials told rediff.com on the condition of anonymity that even though the Centre had deposited the requisite money with the state, the appointment of judges for these special courts was taking time. However, a final decision was taken a couple of weeks ago, with the chief justice of Bombay high court clearing the appointment of six judges.

"These newly created courts are expected to drastically reduce the pendency of CBI cases. Due to the creation of six courts and the induction of special public prosecutors, the charges against the accused can be framed regularly so that the trial can reach the logical conclusion at the earliest," says CBI joint director Rishi Raj Singh.

Presently, the CBI's anti corruption wing has 406 cases, all pending trials in the courts of special judges, and city civil &

sessions court of Mumbai. Of the six new courts, three have been constituted in Mumbai while one each has been set up in Amravati, Pune and Nagpur.

As many as 258 cases are pending trial in the Nagpur (Vidarbha) belt of Maharashtra. These cases will now be distributed between the two new exclusive CBI courts at Nagpur and Amravati respective, while all the 55 cases pending trial in Pune will now be shifted to the exclusive CBI court established there.

Expenses for the functioning of these exclusive CBI courts, which have been created under the prime minister's scheme, will be completely borne by the central government. As part of the plan to reduce pendency of trials, the CBI has also inducted seven special public prosecutors on contract basis in addition to the regular law officers, and special counsels who will be paid on per day basis.

In the recent past, the Mumbai unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation has been handling high profile cases like that of the Adarsh Co-operative Society scam, bribe for loan scam, Pawanraje Nimbalkar murder case etc. The Mumbai team was also instrumental in tracing and arresting 2G scam accused Shahid Balwa.

CBI officers of the Mumbai unit, who are looking into the Sohrabuddin encounter killing, have also lobbied from time to time for transfer of the case to a Mumbai court for trial purposes. Officials feel the new courts will help them in the speedy delivery of justice.