On Tuesday, the Supreme Court asked 17 states and Union Territories which are known to have established special courts to deal with the cases under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act to give their answers. This was a sua motu issue in direction regarding the establishment of special courts that would exclusively handle NIA cases.
The order was given by A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant as well as justices Joymalya Bagchi and N. V. Anjaria after the Centre had told the court that it had given a budgetary allocation of 1 crore per court in principle. They will be used to cover recurring and non-recurring costs of establishment and operation of such exclusive courts.
Each of the identified states and UTs has 10 or more pending trials under the NIA Act. These are Delhi (59), Jammu and Kashmir (38), Kerala (33), Assam (33), Gujarat (33), West Bengal (32), Punjab (32), Jharkhand (28), Karnataka (27), Tamil Nadu (23), Telangana (22), Maharashtra (21), Chhattisgarh (18), Bihar (17), Rajasthan (12), Andhra Pradesh (11) and Manipur (
The bench observed that the respective state governments and UT administrations would have to ensure that judicial officers and staff are appointed whereas the Centre would contribute financial assistance. The 17 jurisdictions have been given notices and the issue has been put up to hearing after two weeks. The court ordered the responsible advocate generals to be at the following hearing, both physically and remotely.
On behalf of the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati told the court that there were consultations with the state governments and high courts. Although some high courts have already authorized it, certain states are yet to respond.
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