The new Vigilance Court in Muvattupuzha will soon become one of the busiest courts in the State, with a number of cases being transferred there from Kottayam and Thrissur Vigilance Courts.
Apart from the number of the cases, the nature of cases to be handled there will also make Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court a prime judicial centre in the State.
Recently, the Thrissur Vigilance Court had ordered the Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau (VACB) to register case against Minister K Babu in the bar bribery case, which will soon be transferred to the Muvattupuzha Court.
The dispute over land acquisition from Seematti Textiles for the Metro Rail and alleged land encroachment by actor Jayasurya have also come under the jurisdiction of the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court. The court will also be dealing with several other land encroachment and bribery incidents. “Initially, 150 cases from Thrissur and 70 cases from Kottayam will be transferred to the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court, which will also be having territorial jurisdiction over Vigilance cases registered in Ernakulam and Thiruvuananthapuram districts,” said an official of the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court. Until Saturday, four cases were transferred from Thrissur to Muvattupuzha, since its inauguration in the first week of February. In addition, the Kochi unit of the VACB recently registered two FIRs in the court.
Currently, the Muvattupuzha Court has three employees, including one Bench clerk. The Public Service Commission will be filling the eight vacant posts at the court soon. P Madhavan is the Special Judge and Enquiry Commissioner at the court.
“Vigilance Courts come directly under the Vigilance Department, while the other special courts like the Sessions Court, Magistrate court, Munsiff Court and Family Court come under the Subordinate Judiciary Wing of the Home Department. Vigilance Courts do not have any connection with the other courts that come under the Subordinate Judiciary,” added the official.
Cases galore
*Several important cases, including the bar bribery case, row over Seematti Textiles’ land acquisition and the alleged land encroachment by actor Jayasurya will be handled by the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court
*Vigilance cases registered in Ernakulam and Idukki districts, which are pending before the Thrissur and Kottayam Vigilance Courts, will be transferred to the Muvattupuzha Vigilance Court
*Vigilance Courts operate as separate entities under the Vigilance Department, without any connection with the Subordinate Judiciary Wing that looks after operation of lower courts in the State
*Secretariat assistants in the Vigilance Department are appointed in Vigilance Courts