Two special MCOCA courts, including the one hearing cases registered against deported gangster Rajendra Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan, situated inside the high-security Arthur Road jail, have been shifted to a sessions court building situated at Kala Ghoda in South Mumbai.

The registrar general of Bombay high court has confirmed the news and said that the decision to shift these courts from Arthur Road jail to Kala Ghoda has been taken for administrative convenience.

“There (in Arthur Road premises) they were having very little cases and their services could not be utilised to its fullest and hence it was decided to shift them to the headquarters so that other cases could also be given to them,” said Mangesh Patil, registrar general.

The first court was shifted to Arthur Road jail considering the security aspect of Abu Jundal because he is an accused in the Mumbai terror attacks case. The second MCOCA court was shifted to Arthur Road jail after Afzal Usmani, an alleged Indian Mujahideen operative, had escaped from the sessions court premises.

Though the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had arrested Usmani again, in its inquiry report it had recommended various steps to avoid such incidents again. One of the suggestions was that hardened under-trial prisoners in sensitive cases ought not to be brought to court at all, for the risk posed in such daily transfers from jail to court.