Special Courts are the courts established under specific legislations, with an intentfor fast and efficient disposal of the pending cases relating to a field of legislation.
- They mainly deal with 5 main sectors: economic & financial offences (Eg.: Prevention of Corruption Act); regulatory offences; law and order; social justice especially regarding scheduled castes and tribes. (Eg.: Prevention of Atrocities Act); national security. (Eg.: National Investigation Act)
- They can either be “set up” with fresh infrastructure and personnel; or its status can be “designated” upon an already existing court so that it discharges new responsibilities.
- They donot fall under Alternative Dispute Redressal mechanism like Quasi-Judicial bodies or Tribunals.
Unlike normal courts who have to look into all types of cases randomly, the special courts take lesser time as they are involved with particular type of cases.
- In Mumbai due to presence of four special courts in Mumbai that handle cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) cases are expedited judiciously than in any other part of Maharashtra.
- Also eight new special courts set up across the country deal with trial of offences under the Companies Act, 2013 are expected to ensure speedy trial.
However, analysis by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and think tanks raises several critical performance issues and hurdles on operation of Special Courts.
- Regulatory Quagmire:
No effective mechanism to ensure difference between set-up and designated Special Courts. Since some laws like National Investigation Act requires expert set-up courts, delegating them to designated courts defeats the purpose of Special Courts.
There is no uniform law to authoritatively govern over the functioning of special courts. Nor is there any time limit set for guaranteeing the disposal of cases.
- Bureaucratic bottleneck: Due to administrative complexity in constituting Special Courts
- Inefficiency and Non-Exclusivity:
In several States, the intent of speedy redressal and decreasing impact of litigation on mainstream Judiciary has not been answered by Special Courts. High rates of pendancy and absence of Special courts plagues several states. - Lack of Oversight and Data:
No concentrated effort by State Legislatures to monitor the health of Special Courts and collect data on their efficiency. Lack of oversight may cause further inefficiency and defeat the purpose of its operation. - Inadequate personnel and facilities:
Special courts have mostly been “designated upon” and not “set up” for acts like Negotiable Instruments Act, SC & ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, etc. These legislations attract extensive litigation and poor management has further increased the burden.
- Unbalanced Distribution:
Special courts should be constituted across all the states and especially in densely populated areas that have more litigants per court. Poor distribution of such courts in West Bengal and Maharashtra has resulted in slow process of justice delivery.
Special courts are an innovative tool to increase Judicial reach across sectors and locations, but there is need of a defined mechanism to make them truly effective.
