Provide judicial infra, courts will work day-night to complete trial in 6 months: SC to Centre

New Delhi, Nov 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to provide necessary judicial infrastructure, and it will ensure that the courts work day and night to ensure the trial of accused, who commit crimes against the nation and those involved in heinous offences, is completed in six months.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh batted for expeditious trial of hardened criminals, saying if the trial is completed in six months, the accused would not be able to get bail on the ground of a protracted trial.

"You just commit the necessary infrastructure, and that the trial is completed expeditiously, so that bail is not granted to those who commit crimes against the nation or are involved in heinous offences. We will ensure that the courts work day and night to complete the trial in six months," the bench told Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre.

The ASG submitted that the Union home secretary is seized of the matter, and a meeting has been held with different state governments on the issue of setting up special NIA courts and other dedicated courts for special statutes.

The bench said that nowadays litigation costs are very high, and it will be beneficial for all parties if the trial is completed in six months.

The top court said the NIA should avail the online facility of courts for witness testimony, so that they can depose freely from faraway places and ensure that a trial can be expedited.

"You have to ensure their security under the witness protection scheme, and they don’t need to travel to Delhi from Srinagar or other faraway places," the bench remarked.

On the issue of a large number of witnesses being arrayed in NIA cases, the bench said that the prosecution should prune the large list and rely on those who are most credible.

Bhati assured that the home ministry is already deliberating on these issues, and soon a road map will be submitted before the court.

Earlier, while hearing an NIA case involving a Maoist sympathiser, Kailash Ramchandani, and a hardcore criminal, Mahesh Khatri -- booked under the UAPA -- the top court had pulled up the Centre and the Maharashtra government for not creating courts for cases under special statutes and expressed concern that courts will be forced to grant bail to the accused.

It had said, "If the authority fails to establish courts with requisite infrastructure for conducting speedy trial under the NIA Act and other special statutes, the court would invariably be forced to release the accused on bail, as there is no effective mechanism to conclude the trial in a time-bound manner." The top court had passed the order on the bail plea of Ramchandani, a resident of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, who was booked after 15 police personnel of a quick response team of the state police were killed in an IED blast in 2019.

The top court recalled its earlier order of March 17, which rejected his bail plea filed on the ground of inordinate delay in the conclusion of the trial and said if the Centre and the state government failed to establish a special court for trial of the NIA cases, his plea for relief should be considered on the next hearing.

On May 23, the top court underlined the need for dedicated courts for NIA cases while calling for a "judicial audit" of laws enacted by the Centre and the prospective ones by the states.

It said the cases entrusted to the NIA were heinous cases, having pan-India ramifications, and each such case contained hundreds of witnesses, and the trial did not progress with the required pace, as the presiding officers of the court were busy with other cases.

On May 9, the top court said it was imperative for the Centre and states to establish courts for the speedy trial of cases under special laws and sought to know their stand on the issue.

The top court had previously noted that due to the delay in the completion of the trial, those accused of heinous offences took advantage of bail as trials couldn't go on indefinitely.

Ramchandani has challenged the Bombay High Court order rejecting the bail plea on March 5, 2024.

He contended he had been in jail since 2019, and while charges hadn't been framed in the case so far, the co-accused had been granted bail. PTI MNL RHL