Fast track court can decide civil cases?

BANGALORE: In a decision of far-reaching consequences, the Karnataka High Court has held that Principal District Judges have no jurisdiction to refer civil cases to Fast Track Courts (FTC).

The FTCs are special courts set up for expeditious disposal of cases. They mainly hear criminal and special cases and there are FTCs in all the districts. The Principal District Judges, who head the judiciary in the district, till recently used to allot civil cases for FTCs. Their reason was that FTCs were not dealing with many cases and that they could take up civil cases and thus lessens the burden on regular courts. Justice Anand Byrareddy, in his judgment, pointed out that Principal District Judges have no jurisdiction to refer civil cases to FTCs.