Andhra Cabinet clears special NIA court in Visakhapatnam

The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, has approved the establishment of a special NIA court in Visakhapatnam with state-wide jurisdiction to expedite pending cases under the National Investigation Agency Act.

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet on Friday approved the establishment of a special court in Visakhapatnam to try cases registered under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act. 

The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at the State Secretariat.

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Minister for Law and Minority Welfare NMD Farooq told the media that the Cabinet approved two key proposals concerning the Law Department.

According to him, the Registrar (Administration) of the Andhra Pradesh High Court had informed the government of the Supreme Court’s directive to all states to establish special NIA courts for the time-bound disposal of cases registered under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008.

He noted that two notified courts are currently functioning in the state, in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, to hear NIA cases. He further said that 20 NIA cases are currently pending in the state. Of these, 19 are pending before the Court of the 3rd Additional District and Sessions Judge in Visakhapatnam, while one is pending before the Court of the 2nd Additional District and Sessions Judge in Vijayawada.

Considering the volume of NIA cases in Visakhapatnam, the High Court had opined that it was necessary to establish a special NIA court at the District and Sessions Judge level in Visakhapatnam with jurisdiction over the entire state of Andhra Pradesh.

The Cabinet approved the proposal to establish the special NIA court in Visakhapatnam with state-wide jurisdiction and to sanction a total of 16 staff members, including a Special Judge, for its functioning.

The Cabinet also approved the creation of the post of Registrar (Court Case and Management), equivalent to the rank of a District Judge, on a regular basis in the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The Cabinet also approved the establishment of three Centres of Excellence under the Social Welfare Department.

Social Welfare Minister Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy said the Centres of Excellence are being established to provide corporate-standard education to underprivileged students.

The centres will be established from the current academic year at Madhurawada in Visakhapatnam district, Tadikonda in Guntur district and Kota in Tirupati district. Students at these centres will receive free coaching for competitive examinations such as IIT, NEET and JEE alongside their Intermediate studies. Each centre will accommodate 300 students across the first and second years of Intermediate education, comprising 150 boys and 150 girls, distributed across MPC and BiPC streams.

A 50 per cent reservation for girls will be implemented in admissions. Tenders will be invited to entrust the management of these centres to qualified entities, while the government will retain supervisory control.