Three courts in Delhi will be notified this week to exclusively try cases under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday, paving the way for faster trials in cases investigated by NIA.
Event Context
The assurance came during the hearing of a suo motu case on the establishment of exclusive courts under the NIA Act and other special laws. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant noted that the Delhi high court had approved the proposal on May 29 and that the Delhi lieutenant governor cleared it on July 16. A formal notification from the Union home ministry is now awaited.
The Delhi high court, in a separate affidavit, informed the Supreme Court that it has begun making arrangements for prosecutors and court staff. It said the NIA informed it on June 4 that it had an “adequate number of public prosecutors” for exclusive deployment before the new courts.
On July 17, the high court wrote to the Delhi government’s directorate of prosecution seeking details on the availability of dedicated public prosecutors. It told the apex court that a response is still awaited.
On staffing, the high court said the new courts would initially function with existing district judiciary personnel. “However, having regard to the creation of additional courts, augmentation of the sanctioned staff strength would be required in due course,” it said.
“The special exclusive courts proposed under Section 11 of the NIA Act, 2008, shall be made functional immediately upon issuance of the requisite notification by the central government,” the high court added.
Match Outlook
Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati said around 50 NIA trials are pending in Delhi. “Within a week, the three exclusive NIA courts will be notified,” she told the court.
Bhati told the bench that coordinated efforts by the Centre and state governments have led to the establishment of 14 exclusive NIA courts across the country, with more expected within a month. Such courts have already been set up in Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Bihar, Gujarat, Assam and Manipur.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the pace of implementation, the bench, which also comprised justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohan, observed: “We find in some states, no effective steps have been taken.”
The court pointed out, for instance, that Jammu and Kashmir has only one exclusive NIA court despite having 47 pending NIA trials, describing the arrangement as “inadequate”. The matter was posted for hearing after four weeks as the Centre assured the court that more exclusive courts would be established in states, including West Bengal and Bihar.
On May 8, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to consult chief justices of high courts on establishing exclusive NIA courts. It laid down that states with 10-15 pending NIA trials should have one exclusive court, those with 15-25 cases should have two, and states with more than 25 pending cases should have three.
The court also asked chief justices to coordinate with state governments to identify infrastructure within a month. It said judges posted to these courts would hear only NIA cases on a day-to-day basis and endeavour to complete at least one trial every month.
The Centre had earlier informed the court that some states have NIA designated courts that are insufficient to handle the caseload because they also handle cases under other penal statutes. About 17 states and Union Territories having a pendency of over 10 NIA cases and these included Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and states of Kerala, Assam, Gujarat, West Bengal, Punjab, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur.
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According to a status report filed by the Centre, the three courts will function from the Rouse Avenue Courts complex.
