Criminality and corruption in politics are long pending issues that deteriorate the public interest characteristic of administration. How far can special courts to try cases against politicians address this?
Refer – The Hindu
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
· The Supreme Court has recently asked the Centre to frame a central scheme for setting up of special criminal courts exclusively to deal with criminal cases involving political persons.
Need for speedy disposal
· In the present criminal justice system it takes years, probably decades, to complete the trial against a politician.
· By this time, he or she would have served as a minister or legislator several times over.
· In a landmark verdict in 2013, the court removed the statutory protection for convicted legislators from immediate disqualification.
· In 2014, it directed completion of trials involving elected representatives within a year.
Challenges
· There are special courts exist already to try various classes of offences including corruption, terrorism, sexual offences against children and drug trafficking.
· Moreover, creating special courts for a particular class of people such as politicians violates Right to Equality.
· Giving special treatment for offences under the Indian Penal Code solely because the accused is a politician seems discriminatory.
· Another major concern is to fund, infrastructure and staffing for the special courts.
Solutions
· Article 14 permits classification based on criteria and nexus.
· MPs and MLAs form a distinct class and their early trial is a democratic must. They thus deserve to be given priority treatment (as they get in so many other instances).
· A shortage of judges can be overcome by reappointment of retired High Court Judges as ad hoc judges by following the provisions of the Constitution, under Article 224A.
· Funding, infrastructure and staffing can be done with pubic bonds similar to recapitalisation bonds.
· Special courts could be a time-bound and exclusive judicial mechanism to expedite trials.
· Nevertheless, if enough courts, judges, prosecutors and investigators are available, the expediency of special courts may not be needed at all.
