A 68-year-old title suit filed on Nov 18, 1951, in a Hooghly senior division civil court & a police charge of theft against a person named Ajit Pramanik back in July 1, 1967 now being heard by a Baruipur magistrate are the oldest civil & criminal cases still being heard in Bengal. Earmarked for quick closure, both these cases will be heard again early next year.
These facts came to fore as all 22.8 lakh pending court cases in Bengal are now migrated to the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG). According to National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), there are 2045 civil cases & 8353 criminal cases in Bengal courts which are more than three decades old. They comprise less than 0.4% of the 22.8 lakh pending cases in Bengal. The case pendency country-wide is around 3.2 crore. Across India, there are 71,788 cases which are over three decades old.
The Hooghly civil case is being heard regularly since Jan 24, 2013 & will be heard again on Jan 9, 2020. The title suit Manika Dutta versus Rulin Sen has had multiple hearings. According to court records, the case is now marked as “hearing of petition” & is assigned to the 9th civil judge senior division II, Hooghly. Lawyers, who had seen the court records, say the case has been disposed in the past but has been reinstituted.
The oldest criminal cases being heard in Bengal trial courts have all been lodged in 1967. Two among them are being heard in Baruipur additional chief judicial magistrate courts & the other in the courts of chief judicial magistrate Malda. A source said the Bengal govt was analysing if the state would invoke Section 321 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) & ask the public prosecutor to file case withdrawal petitions in the respective stage because neither of these cases have reached a charge framing stage.
The 1st of these cases is now being heard by the additional chief judicial magistrate, Baruipur in court number three. The case was filed on July 1, 1967 by police in a theft complaint against Ajit Pramanik. Lodged under 379 Indian Penal Code (IPC), this penal section only has a maximum three-year penal term. Dug up from the court’s general record section (GR case filing number 1450/1967) it was heard on May 11 this year & is still in an arrest warrant execution stage. The magistrate will hear the case again on July 15, 2020.
The 2nd case being heard by the 8th judicial magistrate, Baruipur, relates to a criminal trespass charge against a person named Narendra Purkait. Ironically, this 52-year-old case — even if it ends in conviction — carries a three-month prison sentence. This will be heard again on Apr 3, 2020.
The final case lodged that year on Nov 16, 1967 is now being heard by the 11th judicial magistrate, Malda. Last heard on Mar 12, 2018, this case will be heard again on Mar 12, 2020.
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