SC orders setting up of special courts for speedy NIA trials

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a series of directions aimed at expediting trials pending before special courts in cases under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered that there shall be at least one special NIA court for every 10 to 15 pending trials.

The directions were passed during the resumed hearing of a suo motu case registered in February to oversee the creation of special courts to tackle the pendency of criminal trials under special laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). "If there are more than 15 trials pending within the jurisdiction of a particular high court, then in that case two courts will be set up. Whereas, where trials exceed 25, three courts will be set up," the bench ordered. The bench directed the Centre and the NIA to approach the jurisdictional high courts for setting up exclusive courts for hearing such matters.


It further ordered that pending cases before these courts will be taken up on a day-to-day basis. "However, the Presiding Officers shall be at liberty to list matters in the manner they want, while ensuring that at least one trial is concluded within a month," the bench added. The top court also directed the concerned authorities to ensure compliance with its directions regarding the availability of requisite space to establish these courts, subject to the government releasing the necessary funds. "Before issuing any direction for releasing proposed grants, we impress upon the central government that the requisite assistance shall be directed towards releasing the necessary funds to build only those additional structures which are important for implementation of these directions and for conducting those trials, especially with respect to the high courts and setting up special courts for conducting those trials, including metropolitan and civil court complexes," the bench added.

The SC had earlier underlined that judges presiding over NIA courts must not be burdened with additional work.