Special court for NRHM scam?
The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to set up a special court to ensure speedy trial in the cases related to the multi-crore NRHM scam.
The modalities for this have been worked out and a formal notification in the official gazette will be issued as soon as the Allahabad high court gives the mandatory consent. The union home ministry had cleared the proposal last fortnight.
According to sources, the CBI which is probing the NRHM scam has sought constitution of a special court in view of the magnitude of cases, extent of public money involved and the profile of the accused persons.
The CBI has also sought some additional help from the UP police to assist in the investigations into the scam. The UP government has agreed, in principal, to provide a team of 12 experienced investigating officers to the agency.
The CBI special courts, according to sources, are already overburdened and the pendency of cases is mounting by the day.
There has been a sharp increase in the number of cases being referred to the CBI for investigation by state governments. While states sent 36 referrals to the CBI for probe in 2010, the figures jumped to 79 in 2011.
According to records, there are 848 cases pending before the two special CBI courts in UP and in such a situation, cases of as serious a nature as the NRHM scam ought to be handled separately.
The CBI is probing the NRHM scam and the three murders of medical officers on the directives of the Allahabad High Court. The scam came to light when two CMOs were killed in Lucknow and the murders were linked to anomalies in the NRHM funds. A deputy CMO, accused of masterminding the CMO killings, was also found dead inside Lucknow jail.
A number of PILs were filed in the High Court seeking CBI probe in these cases after which the court handed over the probe in the NRHM scam and three murders to the agency.
The CBI has already registered as many as 13 FIRs in connection with the NRHM scam and several persons including former minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, former MLA R P Jaiswal, former principal home secretary Pradeep Shukla and a number of drug suppliers and contractors have already been arrested.
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