The Supreme Court has chided the states for failing to set up special CBI courts to tackle corruption despite the Prime Minister's directive to this effect.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and S D Mukhopdhyaya said unless courts in this country assert, nothing moves at the executive and bureaucratic level in the country.

It warned that if defaulting states failed to file proper replies and take steps for notifying CBI courts, their chief secretaries would have to appear in person in the courts at the next date of hearing at their own costs.

The apex court passed the direction after Additional Solicitor General P P Malhotra presented in the court data relating to functioning of the special courts in pursuant to the advice of the Prime Minister in July 2009 to the states for setting up special CBI courts to deal with increasing graft cases.