State of W. B. v. Anwar Ali Sarkar

FACTS

The current case involved a Bengal law permitting the setting up of special courts for the 'speedier trial' of such 'offences' or 'classes of offences' or 'cases', or 'classes of cases', as the State Government might direct by a general or special order. These courts were to follow a procedure less advantageous to the accused in defending himself than the procedure followed by the ordinary criminal courts.

JUDGEMENT AND ANALYSIS

• The Act was held invalid as it made no reasonable classification, laid down "no yardstick or measure for the grouping either of persons or of cases or of offences" so as to distinguish them from others outside the purview of the Act.

• The government had the power to pick out a case of a person and hand it over to the special tribunal while leaving the case of another person similarly situated to be tried by the ordinary criminal courts. It gave uncontrolled authority to the executive 'to discriminate'.

• The necessity of 'speedier trial' was held to be too vague, uncertain and indefinite criterion to form the basis of a valid and reasonable classification, thus violating Article 14 (Equality before law).

{pg 1257, Indian Constitutional Law by MP Jain 6th ed}