Special Courts: Why are they unique?

The Delhi government has appointed a Special Court to judge the cases relating to the Delhi riots that happened earlier this year. The government has the power to do this because some of the offences in the Delhi riot cases fall under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008 (NIA Act). The NIA Act allows both Central and State governments to set up special courts.

What is a special court?

Certain laws or Acts allow special courts to be set up or appointed to deal with offences covered under that law. There is no specific reason for why a special court might be set up or appointed, but these courts can be used for speeding up the legal process and to deal with cases in a more efficient manner.

Apart from the NIA Act, some other legislations that provide for special courts are: the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989; and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

Special courts can be set up by both Central and State governments, as specified by the legislation. The government can either establish a new special court, or it can order an existing court like a District Court to act as a special court for judging certain cases.

The special court’s functioning and the scope of its power depends on the law that provides for the special court. Since there is no fixed structure or uniform law regulating special courts, the operation of different special courts can vary.