Panda moves bills to reform politics

BHUBANESWAR: BijuJanataDal MP Baijayant Panda on Tuesday submitted three private member's bills in Parliament seeking decriminalization of politics. These are 'Representation of People (Amendment) Bill', 'Fast Track Courts for Elected Representatives Bill' and 'Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill'.
"India is infamous for its understaffed and overworked judiciary, high pendency of cases in courts, abysmally low number of judges and an ineffective public prosecution system.Even though setting the system right will require significant investment and political will in the long term, lasting changes can be effected if the roots of the problem are attacked in the short term," Panda said in an official release.
In order to ensure free and fair trials, the reform of the public prosecution system must be undertaken at the earliest. "This trend is highly demoralizing for the public and it reduces their trust in the system. To convince the public of the pursuit of justice, judicial reforms must begin with the decriminalization of politics," Panda was cited as saying.