Centre urges States to set up Special NDPS Courts as backlog hits 3.9 lakh

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs directed state governments across India to immediately establish dedicated Special Courts to expedite trial proceedings under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The central directive comes as nationwide judicial pendency in drug-related offences reached an unprecedented high of nearly 3.9 lakh cases across various state judiciaries.

Section 36 of the NDPS Act explicitly empowers state governments to constitute Special Courts through official gazette notifications, subject to concurrence from the Chief Justice of the respective High Court. The primary structural objective behind setting up these specialized judicial tribunals is providing speedy trials for severe offenses involving commercial quantities of illicit substances and organized drug cartels.

Official data revealed severe regional disparities in judicial infrastructure, with Punjab holding nearly 60,000 pending drug cases without a single functioning Special NDPS Court. Similarly, Kerala accumulated over 50,000 pending cases while maintaining only two functional special courts. Under Section 36A of the law, offenses punishable with imprisonment exceeding three years are exclusively triable by these designated Special Courts.

Fast-tracking drug trials is vital for criminal deterrence, reducing undertrial overcrowding, and upholding the fundamental right to a speedy trial guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. Examiners frequently frame Prelims questions on statutory provisions of the NDPS Act, while Mains topics focus on judicial administration, court pendency, and rule of law reforms.