CJI expresses need for more CBI courts

The Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan Thursday stressed on to set up at least 60 new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) courts across the country in order to meet the rising number of pending cases.

Nearly 9000 cases pertaining to CBI are pending in several courts, and to solve all those pending cases; here is need to establish 60 new CBI courts across the country, said Balakrishnan in his speech at the 10th D P Kohli Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.

Speaking on the subject ‘Criminal Justice System- Growing Responsibility in the face of Challenges in modern Society’, Balakrishnan highlighted the fact that 60 percent of the arrests made in the country were ‘needless’ since the detained persons did not prove to be useful for the purpose of investigation or trial.

To ease those extra burdens from the Indian law system, an amendment has been made in Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that scraped the mandatory provision of arresting an accused in offences punishable with jail terms of up to seven years. But on the contrary, some bar associations have opposed that move.

Supporting the latest amendment in CrPC, Balakrishnan said, “The amendment bill seeks to give investigating officers a certain degree of discretion in the matter of arresting persons while investigating offences that are punishable with imprisonment of less than seven years. The division between cognizable and non-cognizable, between bailable and non-bailable offences as well as the nature and the quantum of punishment for the respective offences need to be thoroughly re-evaluated.”

‘I am quite optimistic that the proposed changes will definitely improve the role and status of victims in the criminal justice system. The larger agenda of criminal justice reform touches on many more issues -- such as better training for police personnel, a clear separation between the investigation and prosecution functions and continuous education for lawyers and judges,’ he added.

For better implementation of this, he emphasized the need of the government and political support by saying that it is a big task and it can only be performed if the necessary political will exists for the same.