GUWAHATI: The Assam Government has decided to close more than 3 lakh petty crime cases that are creating a judicial burden in the state, Jayanta Malla Baruah, Minister of Public Health Engineering and Tourism said in a statement.
Baruah, after attending a cabinet meeting on Sunday, said, "We have decided to withdraw around three lakh of the 4.19 lakh petty crime cases, invoking Section 321 of the CrPC. This will reduce the backlog of cases and decongest jails".
In the budget session this year, it was reported that more than 159 crores would be borne by the State Government of Assam to maintain the expenses of the Jails across the state.
The move to shut down 3 lakh petty crime cases will go a long way to reduce the cost of maintaining the jails as food expenses will go down with the inmates gone and many such expenses incurred for maintenance will also go down.
The government will soon issue instructions and detailed standard operating procedures to the public prosecutor for filing appropriate petitions on the following dates of the respective cases, a Cabinet notification stated.
According to an official notification, petty criminal cases, which are increasing the burden of subordinate courts throughout Assam, will be withdrawn within 6 months.
This move will also give relief to the witnesses who have spent their time and energy and have shelled out their hard-earned money to attend the hearings of the court.
Many important decisions like the approval of Assam state policy for transfer of development rights which would streamline the process of land acquisition for the redevelopment of inner-city zones, Assam Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap 2030, was also approved in the meeting as a vision document to reduce losses and damages and also to strengthen the communities against disasters and climate change risks were taken in the cabinet meeting on Sunday.
The Assam Government has also given its green signal to establish two private universities, Girjananda Choudhury University in Azara and Pragjyotishpur University at Chandrapur, Guwahati.
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