Title - 28 dormant cases disposed of in fortnight at Railway court

In a record disposal of dormant cases pending for the last 15 to 30 years in Pune railway court, 28 cases of petty thefts ranging between Rs 50 to Rs 2000 in which the accused went untraceable were disposed of within a fortnight.Judicial magistrate first class R R Ahir heard 30 cases between July 16 and July 30, of which 28 were dormant cases. These included four cases pending from 1984, six from 1999, others between 1995 and 1998 and a few registered between 2000 and 2005. Thefts of cash and property worth less than Rs 2,000 were reported in these case.These cases were pending as the police report stated that the accused persons were not found at the given address and were untraceable. Disposing of the cases, Ahir stated in the order ‘The value of the stolen property is not more than Rs 2,000...Left with no hope of progress in the near future, the proceeding (court proceeding) is stopped under section 258 of the Code of Criminal procedure (CrPC). The warrant of the accused is cancelled.’ However, the court has also directed the police to retain the original papers for their use in the event of reopening the case as per provisions of section 300 (5) of the CrPC. “The thefts usually by pickpockets have taken place either in trains, on platform or on railway station premises. In many of these cases, the complainants are from outside Maharashtra, making it difficult for them to follow-up the cases with police. Since these cases remain pending for years, with no headway, it is best to dispose them of, thus reducing the pendency of courts,” said a official of the railway court.These cases were raked up from the old files after the state law and justice department issued a circular in November last year to all district courts in the state asking them to withdraw all stale and ineffective cases that are pending before December 31, 2005 in order to cut down pendency. The decision was taken in a meeting of Chief Justice and Chief Minister on June 3, 2011.As per the circular, there are around 40 lakh pending cases in trial courts. Most of these cases are summary triable cases under the Bombay Police Act, Bombay prevention of Gambling Act, Bombay Shops and Establishment Act and Motor Vehicle Act. In a number of these cases, the police machinery fails to secure the presence of the accused and/ or the witnesses and they clog the docket of the court.The withdrawal / disposal to cases was not applicable for cases of corruption, misappropriation of public funds, Prevention of Corruption Act, foreign exchange and smuggling, Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Act,Essential Commodities Act, Food Adulteration Act, Explosive Substances Act, cases of terrorism and disruptive activities, false evidence and domestic violence.