Special Courts Act to ensure quick trial

Hyderabad: The Special Courts Act was first enacted in 2006 by Odisha and then by Bihar. When Acts of both the states came before the Apex Court for judicial review, while upholding them in December 2015, it advised all the states make their Acts on the lines of what prevailed in Bihar and Odisha. Many of states including AP followed the advice and enacted similar laws.

The Special Courts Act would ensure time-bound trial of economic offences and pave way for the state to recover properties earned illegally and utilise them for the development of the state.

While moving the Special Courts Bill in the AP Assembly in September 2015, finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu stated that as of now properties that belonged to the state were attached by the ED and remained under the control of Union government for years.

After passing the Bill, the TD leaders claimed that it would enable the state to recover wealth amassed by corrupt public servants, people’s representatives or government officers through exploitation of public property or in a benami manner.

Mr Ramakrishnudu claimed that under Prevention of Corruption Act, the state had no power to attach properties. In the 11 chargesheets filed against Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and others in economic offences in the state, '43,000 crore corruption money was involved and government would recover these properties under the Special Courts Bill.

Mr Naidu, in his thanksgiving speech to the Governor’s address in the recently concluded Budget Session, said his government will soon take over the properties attached by the ED in the state.

According to the lawyers at the Hyderabad High Court, in the Special Courts Acts in Bihar and Odisha there is no provision for the state government to take over or to attach properties which were already attached by Central agencies either in corruption cases or economic offences. In the event of absence of such provision it would not be possible for the AP government to take over properties in the case of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Even if such provision was incorporated in the AP Act it would be difficult to take over as long as trial is pending before the special courts of the ED and the CBI, they added.

The draft copy of the Bill available with this newspaper also does not show any such specific provision to take over properties already attached by the Central agencies.

The AP government notified the Act on May 20, after receiving the assent from the President and now the government has to notify the Special Courts to deal with the cases coming under the purview of the Act.