Ending the long wait for the third CBI Special Court here, the building for the court premises has been finalised at Sadanam Road near South Railway Station. Similarly, a decision has also been taken regarding the appointment of the new judge for the CBI Special Court II and he is expected to take charge by the end of this month or early next month.
According to sources, the building at Sadanam Road has all the necessary facility for the functioning of the court.
“The new court would be set up in the building where the office of the Civil Supplies Department had been operating. There is enough space on the premises for the proper functioning of the court. If required, the two CBI courts in Kaloor can also be transferred to the new building. However, since the new building has been taken for rent and the building of two CBI courts in Kaloor is owned by the government, the decision in this regard would be taken later,” sources said.
The setting up of the new CBI court will take the total number of CBI courts in the state to four- three in Kochi and one at Thiruvananthapuram. The new court would deal with cases reported in the northern districts of state, between Ernakulam and Kasargod.
The High Court has also directed the state to immediately provide necessary staff and infrastructure for the court, given that the time limit granted by the Supreme Court has already been bypassed in March.
Sources said that the coming of new court will certainly prove to a big relief for other CBI courts. “As per the guidelines, pending cases in each CBI court should not exceed 50. But all the three CBI courts in the state have more than 50 cases pending presently,” sources said.
The Centre had decided to set up 71 additional special courts, exclusively for trial of CBI cases in various states, following a Supreme Court directive in the Malik Mazar Sultan case in 2009.
The Apex Court had also observed that the delay in trial of cases involving serious offences was a blot on the judicial system. It was based on this observation that the state government decided to establish one more court.
Meanwhile, the new judge for CBI/NIA Special Court has also been finalised. The new judge appointed to the special court was earlier serving at a Tribunal in Thiruvananthapuram. Earlier, S Vijayakumar, who passed judgement in the Kozhikode twin blast case and the Kashmir Recruitment case retired from service last month.