Question : Special Courts for Lawmakers

(a) whether special provisions have been made for the disposal of criminal cases pending against Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies;

(b) if so, whether Special Courts have been constituted to dispose off such cases in a fixed period of one year and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government maintains details of lawmakers who have criminal cases pending against them and if so, the details thereof, State-wise and years of pendency of such cases; and

(d) the other steps taken by the Government in this regard in consultation with judiciary?

A N S W E R

MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW & JUSTICE AND
CORPORATE AFFAIRS
(SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d): Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in its Order dated the 01st November, 2017 had directed the Union Government to prepare a scheme for setting up of Courts exclusively to deal with criminal cases involving political persons on the lines of Fast Track Courts (FTCs) which were set up by the Central Government for a period of five years and extended further, which Scheme has now been discontinued. A draft Scheme for setting up Special Courts to dispose of all the criminal cases involving political persons in a period of one year was submitted before the Hon’ble Supreme Court for implementation. The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India vide its Order dated 14.12.2017 has directed the Union Government to proportionately allocate the amount to be incurred to the different states in which the proposed Special Courts are planned to be located forthwith and thereafter the State Governments will make necessary arrangements of judicial officers, staff and infrastructure in consultation with the High Courts to ensure that the said Courts start functioning from 01.03.2018. At present, the matter is sub judice.