Chief Justice of India to give Bihar more CBI courts

The Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishan, today hinted that Bihar may have three to four more special CBI courts. He was speaking on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Patna Law College, in Patna on July 11. Also present on the occasion was Governor of Bihar, Devender Konawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Acting Chief Justice of Patna High Court, BK Singh. While laying the foundation stone of the auditorium-cum-seminar hall in the college, Nitish Kumar reiterated his commitment to fight corruption in Bihar. He enlisted his government's initiatives vis-à-vis his tirade against corruption. He also highlighted his government’s ‘speedy trial experiment’ which has earned nation-wide appreciation among legal luminaries.

The Bihar government recently enacted a law that would ensure the confiscation of properties of public servants found having disproportionate assets. The state vigilance board has so far arrested more than 1,000 public servants for accepting bribes. Thousands of cases have already been filed; the enacted law has now enabled the government to confiscate their assets. In fact the government’s vow against corruption has shown encouraging results and governance has improved perceptibly – a development that has earned nation-wide appreciation.

Highlighting the problem of high number of cases pending in different courts, the CJI said that the Prime Minister had responded positively to his letter in which he had requested the setting up of more courts.

He said that in Delhi alone, 350 murder cases were filed every year but only 250 of these could be disposed off, leaving 100 cases. Such a rate has resulted in a huge number of pending cases over time.

The governor said that the economic disparities among poor and rich have to be bridged otherwise the violence and Naxalism would go unabated. Hopefully, the setting up of new CBI courts (at present the state has only two) will increase the pace of disposal of cases, drastically reducing the scope for corruption.

Interestingly, judicial reforms have become a priority for the newly-elected UPA and many bills aimed at weeding out corruption in the judiciary, are on the anvil. The judiciary has also sensed the mood of the government and the public, and has responded positively with this move. Recent cases of corruption in the higher judiciary have taken a heavy toll on the image of the judiciary. Recent judgements in courts sound critical of the judicial system itself; it has even rebuffed judges against whom serious charges of corruption have been levelled. The CJI also hinted that he would get tougher on cases of corruption in the judiciary as well.link