Supreme Court tells states to finish the remaining NDPS courts

The Supreme Court on 7 September told the Union, the states and the Union Territories to put up the rest of the exclusive courts needed for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act trials. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was sitting on a suo motu file about special-statute courts.

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati put the requirement at 449 NDPS courts, revised up from 394. One hundred and seventy-six of those are working, up from 113 in July. The bench said the rise in NDPS cases and the pending stock make it necessary to build the rest soon. LiveLaw recorded a preference for six weeks. Bar and Bench recorded a six-month outer frame in its first write-up. The order language that matters is the court's own: infrastructure and staff so that the missing courts can open.

On National Investigation Agency trials, Bhati said eight new exclusive courts have been added, taking the national total to 22. The bench said its earlier formula of at least one special court for every 10 to 15 pending NIA cases has been largely met. Assam was told to make two proposed NIA courts work within four weeks. West Bengal was told to add three courts to the two it already has. Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana still lacked a working exclusive NIA court on the Union's own list.

Special courts do not create judges from nothing. Each one needs a notified courtroom, a judge pulled from the regular cadre or appointed, and staff. The 273 NDPS courts that do not yet exist are a buildings-and-people problem. The 176 that do exist are the baseline against which the next status report will be read.

The same bench has been asking states for pending counts under NDPS, UAPA and NIA. Monday's order turns those counts into a construction list. Assam's four-week clock is the first date that can be checked without waiting for a new hearing.