A day after the Union government announced the setting up of special fast-track courts to deal with cases of malpractice in public examinations, including NEET, the Bombay High Court has designated two special courts in Maharashtra's Aurangabad and Nagpur districts.
The move follows a request from the Centre to designate special courts for the trial of offences under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 in at least two major districts.
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The government had also requested the High Court to appoint the "best judicial officers" to preside over these courts.
Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge has accordingly designated two courts, with Judge S.V. Pawar appointed to preside over the special court in Aurangabad and Judge Gulshan Kolte appointed to the special court in Nagpur.
Under the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, trials in such cases must be completed within three months.
The development comes a day after the Central Government announced the establishment of special fast-track courts to handle paper leak cases.
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The decision followed widespread protests by various student groups across the country, particularly at Delhi's Jantar Mantar.
Separately, the Delhi High Court has designated Judge Anu Grover Baliga as the Special Judge at the Rouse Avenue Courts to exclusively hear criminal cases related to paper leaks and the use of unfair means in public examinations.
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