New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the Centre and Maharashtra government for designating existing courts as special courts as it asked for the creation of newer ones meant for special cases.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi informed Additional Solicitor General Rajkumar Bhaskar Thakre, appearing for the Centre and Maharashtra government, if existing courts were designated as special courts for trials under the NIA Act, cases of undertrials languishing in jail for years, senior citizens, people from marginalised sections and matrimonial disputes would be delayed.

The top court underscored the need of the hour to be the creation of more infrastructure, appointment of judges and staff and the government sanctioning the posts.

"If additional courts are not created then courts will be forced to grant the accused booked under special statutes bail as there is no effective mechanism for speedy conclusion of trials," the bench observed.

The Centre and Maharashtra government were offered a last opportunity to formulate a proper proposal for setting up of special courts under special statutes such as the NIA, MCOCA and UAPA among other sand.

They will have to respond to the court's directions after four weeks.

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.

The top court further said the only appropriate course meant setting up special courts where trial of cases only related to special statutes could be carried out with a day-to-day hearing.

The top court was hearing a bail plea of Kailash Ramchandani, a Naxal sympathiser from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra.

He was booked after 15 policemen of a quick response team were killed in a IED blast in 2019. PTI MNL MNL AMK AMK

Special courts needed to prevent trial delays and forced bail for accused under special statutes. Creation of special courts is required to ensure speedy trial of offences under specialised criminal statutes; designating existing courts as special without new infrastructure, judges and staff will prolong trials and impede timely justice. Absence of dedicated courts with sanctioned posts and case-management capacity risks adjournments and may compel courts to grant bail to accused under special statutes for lack of a mechanism to conclude trials expeditiously.