Additional special trial courts will make judicial system robust: SC

The Supreme Court emphasized that additional trial courts will strengthen the judicial system, ensuring accused need not approach the apex court for relief. The bench reviewed progress on a special court for a 2021 ISIS-related NIA case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said setting up of additional trial courts will make the judicial system “robust” as the accused will not be needed to come to the apex court for reliefs like bail or expeditious hearing in criminal cases.

The top court on January 6 had asked the Centre and the Delhi government to consider setting up a special court to conduct a day-to-day trial in a 2021 case probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) related to the ISIS links of a person.

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On Wednesday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, about the progress made in setting up of a special court in the national capital.

“The idea is how do you make a robust mechanism that none of them are required to come to the courts? And that will happen when additional courts are set up,” the CJI said.

The bench asked the law officer to apprise it by February 10 of the development in setting up of a special court here. The matter will be now taken up on that day.

The bench was hearing the bail plea of Md Heydaitullah, who allegedly used Telegram groups to propagate the ideology of the terrorist group in India and recruit other persons.

The CJI earlier said that inordinate delay in trial gives to legitimate submissions on behalf of the accused that he cannot be kept in custody for a longer period of time, that too without the trial.

The bench had asked Bhati to apprise it within a week about the setting up of the special court here to conduct a day-to-day trial in the case in which 125 witnesses are to be examined.

In the ISIS-related case, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant bail to Heydaitullah, an alleged member of the terror outfit, in the case related to radicalisation of youths using cyberspace.

The accused had challenged a trial court order declining any relief on the ground that mere association or support to a terrorist organisation would not constitute an offence under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The high court had rejected the contention, and said Heydaitullah, a qualified MBA graduate working at an IT company in Gurugram, was not a “passive” supporter as material showed that he advocated “Jihad in order to establish Khilafat” even through violent means.

“The appellant admittedly in 2018 had taken an oath (Bayath) in the name of Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is admittedly a well-known leader of ISIS and as per the chargesheet had declared formation of ‘caliphate’ in June 2014,” the high court had said.

“ISIS had been declared to be a terrorist organisation and judicial notice can be taken of the fact that the world at large knows about the activities of ISIS.. Appellant is an educated person and was well aware of the nature of activities of ISIS,” it added.

Dismissing the plea, the high court said the bar on grant of bail under the UAPA was clearly applicable in the case. Following an FIR registered in 2021, the NIA arrested the accused on October 22, 2022.

The prosecution alleged that he disseminated the ISIS ideology through the cyber space and spread hatred against the government by promoting enmity against Hindus on social media.

It was further alleged that he had transferred funds for the cause of ISIS from his bank account and various materials, including the oath of allegiance, methods for preparation of explosive material, etc. were recovered from him during the investigation.