National
Supreme Court Steps In Asks Centre, States To Expedite Special Courts for NDPS, NIA Cases
“It seems to us that owing to the present pendency of cases and the unfortunate, alarming increase in the cases under the NDPS Act, it is expedient and in the interest of justice that all required 449 courts are established at the earliest,” the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said.
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The Supreme Court directed the Centre, state governments and the Union territories to expeditiously set up dedicated courts to deal with an “alarming rise” in cases under the anti-drug law.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant that 449 special courts were required to effectively deal with cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, out of which 176 were already functional.
“It seems to us that owing to the present pendency of cases and the unfortunate, alarming increase in the cases under the NDPS Act, it is expedient and in the interest of justice that all required 449 courts are established at the earliest,” the bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said.
The apex court was hearing a suo motu case titled ‘In Re: creation of special exclusive courts’.
Besides the NDPS courts, Bhati said eight new courts have been set up across the country to exclusively deal with cases probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), taking the total to twenty-two.
The bench, which had on May 8 directed that at least one special court be established to deal with 10 to 15 pending trials in cases probed by the NIA, observed that “the objective of the order has been largely achieved” on account of the support of the government authorities and the high courts.