Acting on a petition filed by the Indian Council of Legal Aid and Advice (ICLAA), a division bench comprising Justices Y.K. Sabharwal and K.S. Gupta today directed the government to provide the necessary staff and facilities to six metropolitan magistrates at the Shahdra Court Complex. The first six traffic courts are to come up here.

The government should also make sure that the remaining 16 courts are set up within a month, the judges said.

The Supreme Court had passed an order in March last year asking the city government to set up 22 special courts in Delhi to exclusively deal with traffic-related matters. ICLAA, in its petition, had alleged that the government was unnecessarily delaying the matter despite the Supreme Court order.

Government counsel Arvind Nigam said that the magistrates who are to head these courts had already been appointed and rooms had been made available for six courts at the Shahdra Court Complex. In addition, he said, three mobile courts had been set up and the court staff had been appointed for the same. ``Court rooms on Parliament Street and some other places will be provided soon,'' the counsel said.