The court said that the time has come to set up new courts.
Bengaluru:
The High Court of Karnataka has recommended that three more special courts be set up for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases in three revenue divisions of Karnataka within the next six months.
“We recommend the State Government to constitute/set up three Special Courts for trial of NIA cases in Mysore Division, Belagavi Division and Kalaburagi Division within a period of six months from the date of receipt of the copy of the order.” B Veerappa and Justice Venkatesh Naik T in their judgment while dismissing the appeals filed by 41 accused in the Hubballi riot case.
The bench said it would “ensure speedy trial and disposal of NIA cases” so that the needy get justice and “fulfill the scope and purpose of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act”.
A special court had rejected the bail plea of the accused following which they approached the High Court in two separate petitions.
In its general order on the two petitions, the HC, in its judgment dated April 20, said, “On a re-review of the entire material on record, we respond to the point raised in holding in the negative in these criminal appeals that the appellants/accused In the particular facts and circumstances of the case, a case is made out for interference with the impugned order passed by the Special Court rejecting their applications for regular bail.”
While hearing the bail pleas, the High Court also noted that very old cases of NIA were also pending.
“Till date, for the entire State, the Government has set up only one Special Court at Bangalore to deal with cases under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008. From a careful perusal of the statistical data, it is clearly shown that NIA cases which are pending for more than 8 to 9 years,” it said.
The court said that the time has come to set up new courts.
“If the new proposed Special Courts are not constituted/established, one Special Court in the entire State will be overburdened and there will be inordinate delay in trial and disposal of NIA cases, which is against the constitutional mandate under Articles 14 and 21.” of the Constitution of India,” it said.
In Karnataka, the Bengaluru division consists of nine districts; Mysore division has eight districts, Belagavi division has seven districts and Kalaburagi division has six districts, the HC noted.
The High Court also listed the number of cases pending in the existing special court. It was found that one case is nine years old, two cases are eight and seven years old, six cases are five years old, three cases are six years old, eight cases are two years old and five cases are one year old.
“It is high time for the State Government to fulfill the scope and purpose of the UA(P) Act and ensure speedy trial and disposal by constituting/establishing three more Special Courts for trial of NIA cases in other Revenue Divisions of Karnataka. ” HC said.
On the night of April 16, 2022, the High Court was hearing the appeal of 41 accused in the Hubli riots.
A complaint was lodged against a person for showing the saffron flag on a mosque in a WhatsApp status.
Hundreds of people gathered in front of Hubli rural police station demanding action. They allegedly, with “intent to kill” the police personnel, “attacked with clubs, pelted stones and slippers at the police and caused injuries, destroyed vehicles of police and public and government properties.”
Police booked many people for rioting and later the case was handed over to NIA. The bail pleas of the accused were rejected by the special court on December 26, 2022, following which they approached the High Court.
Dismissing their plea, the HC said, “Though it was urged by the learned counsel for the appellants for grant of bail and the SPP for rejection of bail, the fact remains that there is no prima facie case for grant of bail to the accused.” has made. “
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)