The Bombay High Court on Friday appointed two special courts in Nagpur and Aurangabad to expedite trials in examination paper leakage cases in Maharashtra amid student protests demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over examination irregularities. The move came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to issue a new law and fast-track courts to address paper leaks.
Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Jog said the courts in Nagpur and Aurangabad were set up at the behest of the central government, which had sought to set up special courts in at least two major cities.
The special courts will conduct trials under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, 2023. The 2024 Act provides for completion of trials within three months.
Justice SV Pawar will preside over the court in Aurangabad and Justice Gulshan Kulte in Nagpur. The Union Government requested the appointment of experienced judicial officers to head the courts.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose forced removal from the Jantar Mantar protest site in Delhi last Saturday galvanized the movement, has ended his 26-day hunger strike after assurances from the government, even as a delegation from the Cockroach Janta Party, which is leading the agitation for education reforms, was scheduled to hold talks with Union ministers. Protest organizers said the unrest would continue.
