The Union law ministry has invited proposals from top institutes, including IIMs, IITs, law universities and judicial academies, to carry out a "comprehensive evaluation" of special courts set up to hold expeditious trial of criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs to assess their functionality, efficacy and overall impact. The proposals have been invited under 'Scheme for Action Research and Studies on Judicial Reforms' of the Department of Justice which functions under the law ministry. Following the directions of the Supreme Court in 2017, the central government had facilitated setting up of 12 special courts in states for expeditious trial of criminal cases involving MPs and MLAs. Accordingly, 12 special courts -- two in Delhi and one each in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala -- were constituted. Ten such courts are currently functional in nine states. The special courts of Bihar and Kerala