Mandatory Division Bench hearing under the NIA Act upheld; Single Judge orders set aside and matters restored for merits

Section 21(2) of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 was treated as mandating that the High Court hear the matters by a Division Bench, not a Single Judge. Because the statutory bench-strength requirement was obligatory, the Single Judge orders could not be sustained. The Supreme Court set aside the impugned orders and restored the proceedings to the respective Division Benches of the High Courts for decision on merits, with a request for expeditious disposal.

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Issues: Whether, under Section 21(2) of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, matters before the High Court were required to be heard by a Division Bench and not by a Single Judge.

Analysis: The sole question was whether the statutory scheme in Section 21(2) required intra-court hearing of the matters by a Division Bench. The provision was treated as mandatory, and the orders passed by the High Courts by a Single Judge could not stand in the face of that requirement. The proceedings were therefore directed to be restored to the Division Benches of the respective High Courts for decision on merits.

Conclusion: The issue was answered in favour of the appellant, and the impugned orders were set aside with a direction to place the matters before the appropriate Division Benches.

Final Conclusion: The proceedings were sent back for fresh consideration by the proper Bench strength, with a request for expeditious disposal.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute expressly mandates hearing by a particular Bench composition, compliance is obligatory and an order made by a Bench not satisfying that requirement is liable to be set aside and the matter restored to the proper Bench.

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