The Telangana High Court today issued orders to abolish all the existing special magistrate courts in the state.
Speaking on the matter, Registrar General of the HC, A Venkateswara Reddy, said that the orders would come into effect in four days' time, from April 1. He also said that a total of 53 special magistrate courts that had been operating in Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts would cease to exist with the implementation of today's orders.
The high court reportedly felt that after the recent setting up of 15 new permanent courts in Hyderabad and Rangareddy, the services of the special courts will no longer be required.
The courts, which were set up ten years ago to deal with offences that called for imprisonment of less than two years and with cases relating to bad cheques, are run with the help of retired magistrates. However, all has not always been rosy for the litigants who visited these courts to avail themselves of speedy legal services. A
report published in Indian Express in 2017, for instance, highlighted the plight of litigants who would be forced to wait in long queues at the Special Magistrate Court Complex in Erramanzil Main Road without access to basic amenities like clean restrooms and drinking water.