The Supreme Court has favoured establishment of special fast track courts to handle cases linked to various scams in implementation of the rural job guarantee scheme under MNREGA in different states. A bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and Madan B Lokur said such courts are operating in Andhra Pradesh and asked the state of Odisha to consider establishing similar ones.

The bench said it would take up the cases linked to the alleged irregularities in implementation of the rural employment scheme in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha on November 27. The court had earlier on September 14 issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea for CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in implementing the rural job guarantee scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).

Last year on May 12, it had ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in enforcing the scheme in Odisha.

The bench was hearing an application by the Centre for Environment and Food Security which had alleged that despite receiving investigation reports and intimations from the Rural Development Ministry about the alleged irregularities, there is an apparent indifference on part of the state government of UP.