Nearly 100 murder cases withdrawn from Indian fast-track court

Nearly 100 murder cases withdrawn from Indian fast-track court

Nearly 100 murder cases pending before an Additional District and Sessions Judge in India’s Uttar Pradesh have been withdrawn from his court following an administrative order.

According to Indian media reports, the cases were being heard by Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar, whose fast-track court had handed down death sentences to 22 people in 10 cases over the past four months.

Indian government prosecutor Kuldeep Kumar said cases carrying the possibility of either a death sentence or life imprisonment have now been transferred from the fast-track court to the court of District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh.

The decision reportedly came after concerns emerged among lawyers and litigants that the fast-track court could issue more death sentences.

Pramod Tyagi, president of the district bar association, said lawyers and parties involved in the cases had become concerned about the possibility of further capital punishment verdicts from Judge Diwakar’s court.

He said the district judge issued an administrative order on Tuesday and directed that the cases be brought back to his own court.

Judge Diwakar’s court had decided 10 cases during the previous four months, with a total of 22 accused receiving death sentences. The unusually high number of capital punishment verdicts appears to have prompted scrutiny among members of the local legal community.

The transferred cases include serious criminal matters in which courts could impose either life imprisonment or the death penalty. The cases will now proceed under the jurisdiction of District and Sessions Judge Virendra Kumar Singh.