Noting that there is a “demand” to fast-track criminal trials of MPs, the Supreme Court on Friday said the need of the hour was a comprehensive policy to evolve and fast-track the criminal justice delivery system rather than be “case-specific”.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by senior lawyer Bhim Singh on the continued incarceration of Pakistani prisoners here even after completion of sentence.
Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha said criminal cases involving women and senior citizens also deserved quick delivery of justice. “There is a demand that when MPs are involved, criminal trials should be fast-tracked. If you fast-track certain cases, it will be at the cost of other pending cases ... What is important is the evolution of the criminal justice delivery system. Instead of being case-specific, evolve a system,” Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha told Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi, whom he called the “face of the executive before us.”
“The criminal justice system is not going at the pace that, as the head of the judiciary, I want it to go,” Mr. Justice Lodha said. He said criminal cases had been pending for decades in trial courts crippled by lack of infrastructure.
“Fast-tracking of criminal cases without additions in courts’ infrastructure leads to overburden,” the CJI observed in his order.
The Bench recorded in its order the Attorney-General’s assurance to take a comprehensive look into ways to evolve the criminal justice delivery system and come up with a proposal in four weeks.
In his election campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to ask the Supreme Court to devise a mechanism to expedite pending criminal cases against elected MPs and other elected representatives. He called it a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and a step in the right direction to cleanse politics of criminality.