West Bengal only state sitting on Supreme Court's diktat on new CBI courts

New Delhi: The Centre has asked the Mamata Banerjee administration to take urgent steps to set up three new special CBI courts to comply with a Supreme Court diktat that had set an April 2014 deadline for them.

The apex court had directed the creation of 22 special CBI courts last December, just half of which have become operational so far. West Bengal is the only state that has virtually taken no action on setting up such additional courts, according to a status report on the remaining 11 courts that was discussed at a meeting led by Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh with personnel ministry and state government officials last Tuesday.

The development assumes significance amid the face-off between the state and the Centre over the Central Bureau of Investigation’s probe into the Saradha chit fund scam that is circling in on top Trinamool leaders.

On September 11, West Bengal Law Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya said that the state had had “full respect for the Supreme Court” which had ordered a CBI probe into the scandal, but added that the investigating agency is being used by the Narendra Modi government to malign Banerjee.

“We have requested state governments several times to hasten the setting up of these courts, which requires a notification from the state and the provision of infrastructure and manpower to make them operational,” said a senior government official aware of the development.

Seven of the eleven CBI courts that are yet to be functional, are expected to start hearing cases soon, as they are awaiting last-mile clearances such as appointments of staff by the state government and presiding officers by state high courts. These include 5 courts in Gujarat and one each in Punjab and Andhra Pradesh.

However, the West Bengal government, which was to set up two new courts in Alipore and one in Asansol, has not even notified the creation of these courts, for which the SC had set an April 10, 2014 deadline.

“In West Bengal, no notification has been issued for the creation of these courts and no posts have been sanctioned for manning them,” said the official.

“No building has been identified to house the two courts in Alipore either,” he added. In 2009, the Centre had decided to set up 71 additional special courts across the country to focus on trials of cases probed by the CBI.