The Supreme Court has asked various States to give an estimate of the staffing requirements needed to ensure that special NIA courts finish criminal trials in cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) within one year [In Re: Creation of Special Exclusive Courts].
The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi passed the order while hearing a suo motu case registered last month to oversee the creation of special courts to tackle the pendency of criminal trials under special laws such as the UAPA.
"The State Governments must identify how many supporting staff are required to assist the exclusive NIA courts for conducting trials in relation to such matters on a day-to-day basis. There shall be a categorical commitment that each trial shall be completed within one year," the Court said.
The Court sought this information from 17 States that had been served notice of the suo motu case last month.
These States were issued notice after the Court noted that they had 10 or more pending criminal trials in cases probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
These States are Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana.
In an earlier order, the Court had also noted that the Central government has issued an official memo dated January 7. This memo laid out the manner in which States may be reimbursed the expenses incurred for earmarking one existing court as a special NIA court to deal exclusively with UAPA cases.
"Should we now proceed on the basis that government is dedicated to allocate a specific portion of funds to set up exclusive NIA courts?" observed CJI Kant during today's hearing.
"Yes," assured Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Central government.
The Court proceeded to request the Centre to follow through on its funding commitments.
The Bench observed that there is also a need to ensure that the funds allocated are not diverted. At the same time, it also remarked that some administrative officers pose unnecessary hurdles when it comes to extending funds for courts.
"These are not matters for us on judicial side. Centre should release funds for infrastructure purpose with a condition that it be used only for building it. When 60 percent was given.. Even then, thanks to some bureaucrats the money never lands with the judiciary," CJI Kant said.
In its order, the Court proceeded to request the Centre to extend the necessarily financial assistance to eligible States in line with its January memorandum.
Among other concerns, the Court also flagged a recurring concern that judges presiding over special NIA courts dealing with UAPA cases are often burdened with hearing other kinds of cases as well.
"As a result, they are not able to devote proper time for conclusion of trials under UAPA, etc. where a large number of witnesses are to be examined by the prosecution," the Bench noted.
The Court underscored that judges presiding over NIA courts must not be burdened with additional other work. A similar concern was expressed last year as well.
"This Court, after taking cognizance of the situation, has indicated that NIA courts should exclusively deal with UAPA and other related trials, and such presiding officers shall not be entrusted with any other cases. That will facilitate and ensure that the presiding officers are able to take up UAPA trials on a day-to-day basis," the Court recorded in its order today.
It proceeded to order State governments, along with their respective High Courts, to take steps to appoint NIA court judges who shall not be assigned any cases except UAPA or NIA cases.
The Court added that the States should also examine the staff numbers required to assist such NIA judges so that they can complete UAPA trials within a year.
"After such evaluation, the proposal, along with the review from the State Governments, shall be placed before this Court within four weeks," the Court added.
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