“It is not possible to lay an outer limit for cases under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act”: Karnataka HC
Last Updated on June 7, 2021 by Administrator
An accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Acts (UAPA) filed a petition in the Court, demanding expeditious hearing of cases under the act.
He urged the Karnataka High Court to issue orders to trial courts asking them to hear the cases daily and dispose them off in a period of six months.
He asserted that not doing so would violate his Fundamental Rights guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution. He also drew the court’s attention to section 19 of the NIA act and Section 309 of CrPC which demand that the trial under this Act of any offence by a Special Court shall be held on day-to-day basis on all working days.
Court, however, denied the request to issue mandamus for the same. It said that the court cannot lay an outer limit on the disposal of cases, as Covid has a significant effect on productivity, but they have directed the concerned judges to give priority to UAPA cases.
The bench also ruled that 33 UAPA cases pending before different courts should be transferred to the court of 49 Additional City Civil and Sessions Court (CCH-50), in order to speed up the process and lessen the burden of pending cases.
However, the bench was adamant about the fact that it would be impossible to lay down an outer limit to complete trial cases under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
