Narcotic courts should be set up in three months; HC tells government

KOCHI: The High Court has directed the state government to make five NDPS courts operational within three months, as per its earlier instructions to handle drug-related cases. The order was issued by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice C. Jayachandran.

The court rejected the government’s proposal to start the courts with contract staff. It said permanent staff are necessary as the courts deal with highly sensitive matters, including confidential information and witness protection. The court also directed that this practice should be followed for future vacancies. If a ranked list is not available, temporary appointments can be made through the employment exchange, but steps must also be taken for permanent recruitment.

The court further instructed the state government to apply for financial assistance from the central finance department under the scheme for setting up new courts. The interim order was issued in a suo motu case taken up to address the backlog of narcotics cases. The case will be considered again on June 24.

Earlier, the state had informed the court that due to financial constraints, it could only consider setting up courts in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. However, the division bench directed that courts be established in three more districts with a high number of cases.

Two courts at present
At present, despite Supreme Court guidelines to have NDPS courts in all districts, Kerala has only two such courts- one in Vadakara (Kozhikode) and another in Thodupuzha (Idukki). In other districts, Sessions Courts handle these cases as an additional responsibility. The new NDPS courts are to be set up soon in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, and Malappuram (Manjeri).