Maharashtra's fast track courts: Not as effective as hoped

As crimes against women rise in Mumbai as well as Maharashtra, there is a growing clamour for carrying out the trial of more cases in fast track courts. But how quickly have existing fast track courts helped dispense justice in crucial cases in Maharashtra? An RTI filed by CNN-IBN  revealed that there Maharashtra’s fast track courts may not be dispensing justice as fast as was hoped. [caption id=“attachment_1104061” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Shocking details revealed about fast track courts in Maharashtra. IBNLive.[/caption] As of 30 June 2013, 63 fast track courts have been set up. As of 31 December 2012, 3800 cases were referred to the fast track courts from which 1001 trials were completed. This was a significant increase over the 747 cases that were disposed off in the fast track courts in the year 2009. However, the number of pending cases have also increased to 2332 as of December 2012, a 98 percent increase over the 1172 cases that were pending in the fast track courts in the year 2009. In 2012, the Union Ministry allotted 180 dedicated  judges for these courts. In the same year, fast track courts also appointed all women staff for cases of crimes against women. But unfortunately that has done very little to ensure that these cases are dispensed faster than existing courts. Among the several cases that are currently in the fast track courts is the murder of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes when they protested against sexual harassment of a girl outside a pub in Andheri. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Valerian Santos, father of Keenan Santos, said, “By saying that we have set up fast track courts doesn’t solve the problem. The infrastructure for the court to run smoothly has to be there.” Not just the Keenan and Reuben case, the progress in the trial for the murder of lawyer Pallavi Purakayastha is only halfway through. Experts however caution that a fast track courts only mean that there are fewer adjournments and there are dedicated judicial staff. The process of conducting a fair trial cannot be rushed. “It is not a magical solution if the rest of the matters are going to take hundred days this will be done in ten days. This is going to take ninety-eight days,” Varsha Rokade, women’s rights lawyer, said.