Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Amar Satpathy Thursday welcomed the Orissa High Court’s order in favour of special courts for early disposal of criminal cases against politicians.
The leader said that such a provision will affect all the parties equally and could help in reducing the time limit for pendency of the cases against the politicians.
“The administration and others are unable to function properly due to this issue. The High Court has said that through special courts and other means such cases could be heard and settled early. Of course, this is a good step,” Satpathy said.
He also added, “Often there are allegations against politicians. Whenever such allegations come, like in Lokayukta office, the parties put their views in front of them. Watching everything from suspicion would not be a good idea. Allegations are made multiple times. Laws are equal to all and applicable to all. The judicial bodies can take against all those who are culprit.”
Earlier, there was a PIL filed in this regard in the Supreme Court which observed that there were pendency of cases against politicians in the country and had details of the same from all the Indian states. The apex court had opined that such cases should be disposed of expeditiously.
The High Court recently asked the Advocate General of Odisha to furnish the list of pending criminal cases against politicians. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), out of the 146 MLAs studied by them (out of 147), 46 per cent had self-declared criminal cases, while 34 per cent has serious criminal cases against them.