Centre Plans Special Courts for NIA, UAPA Cases

• By Thetripurapost Desk, Delhi
• Sep 13, 2025
• 790

The Union government on Friday informed the Supreme Court that a high-level meeting will soon be convened with top representatives of Central law enforcement agencies and the Chief and Home Secretaries of States to discuss the establishment of exclusive special courts for cases under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi underscored that proceedings under such special statutes cannot be indefinitely delayed due to the burden of pendency in regular courts.

The development comes in the backdrop of a July observation, where the apex court had cautioned the Centre that it would be left with “no other choice but to release undertrials in NIA cases on bail” if enough exclusive courts were not established for timely completion of trials.

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the Bench that while 52 designated courts exist, only three are currently functioning as exclusive NIA courts.

The court had earlier highlighted that most delays stemmed from regular courts being asked to “double up” as NIA and Special Courts, thereby stretching already overburdened judicial infrastructure.

Justice Kant pointedly remarked:

“If authorities fail to establish the exclusive special courts with the pre-requisite infrastructure for time-bound trials under the NIA Act, courts would have no alternative but to release the undertrials on bail. After all, how long can individuals be kept in indefinite custody when no effective mechanism exists to ensure timely conclusion of their trials?”

The upcoming high-level meeting is expected to lay out a roadmap for setting up dedicated infrastructure, ensuring time-bound trials, and tackling the growing pendency of terror-related and special statute cases.