By Satyabrat Borah
India’s justice system is often described as slow, painfully slow. When ordinary people talk about courts, they usually sigh and say, “It will take years.” Most of us have accepted this as a sad fact of life. But when the cases involve terrorism, that slowness stops being just inconvenient. It becomes dangerous. A terrorist who walks free because his trial drags on for a decade is a threat to every one of us. An innocent person who rots in jail for years waiting for a hearing loses faith in the country itself. That is why the Supreme Court has once again told the central government to wake up and speed up trials in National Investigation Agency cases. This time the court has even suggested a clear deadline: six months. Six months to finish a terror trial. It sounds almost impossible in India, but the court says it has to be done.
Everyone knows the main reason for delays in our courts: there are not enough judges. In July this year more than one third of the judge posts in high courts were lying vacant. That is hundreds of empty chairs where judges should be sitting and deciding cases. Yet the picture becomes even darker when we look at the special NIA courts meant only for terrorism cases. Out of fifty courts that are supposed to handle NIA matters, only three judges were working exclusively on terror cases. The rest of the judges have to share their time between ordinary crimes like theft or murder and high profile terror trials. Imagine a judge who has to listen to a local robbery case in the morning and then switch to a case about bombs and terror funding in the afternoon. It is too much for anyone. The result is that both kinds of cases move at a snail’s pace.
Hundreds of undertrials, people who have not yet been proved guilty, are simply stuck in jail. Many of them are old, many are poor, many belong to marginalised communities. They wait and wait while life passes by outside the prison walls. Take the example of Abdul Rashid Sheikh, the Member of Parliament from Baramulla. He has been in jail for years on terror funding charges. Every time Parliament is in session he has to ask for special custody parole just to attend. A sitting MP needs permission like a common prisoner to do his constitutional duty. It is hard to believe this happens in the world’s largest democracy.
Back in July the Supreme Court lost patience. It warned the government that if trials in terror cases drag on for too long the accused will have to be released on bail. That warning lit a small fire under the government. Since then some talks have started with states to set up ten to twelve exclusive NIA courts that will hear only terror cases. Discussions are going on with eleven states, but progress is slow because there is no space. Buildings, courtrooms, staff quarters, security arrangements, everything is in short supply. Finding land and money for new courts always takes time in India.
The NIA itself is struggling with its own problems. It is supposed to be our frontline agency against terrorism, but almost thirty percent of its posts are vacant. Out of roughly nineteen hundred sanctioned jobs more than five hundred seats are empty. These are not just desk jobs. These are constables, inspectors, investigators who go out in the field, collect evidence, chase leads, and build cases that can stand up in court. When so many posts are empty investigations naturally slow down. After the recent blast near the Israeli embassy in Delhi on November 10 people started asking questions again. If the NIA is understaffed and the courts are overloaded how will we ever keep the country safe?
Terrorism is not something that happens only in movies. It is real and it keeps finding new ways to hurt us. From Kashmir to the northeast, from Delhi to Mumbai, bombs still go off, people still die, fear still spreads. The only thing that can stop terrorists from feeling invincible is the certainty of quick and sure punishment. When a terrorist knows that he will be caught, tried, and punished within months he thinks twice. When he knows the case will drag on for fifteen years he laughs and plans the next attack. Speedy justice is not just about fairness; it is also the strongest weapon against terror.
The Supreme Court understands this better than anyone. That is why it has now set a firm deadline. By December 16 the government has to come back with a clear plan on how it will make sure terror trials finish within six months. The court wants dedicated courts, enough judges, proper buildings, and full staff. It is not asking for the moon. It is asking for the basic machinery that any modern nation fighting terrorism must have.
This is not only the central government’s job. State governments have to help too. Land for new courts has to come from the states. Security arrangements are handled by state police. Many of the vacant judge posts are also under the control of high courts and state governments. Everyone has to work together. Terrorism does not care which party is in power in Delhi or in the states. It attacks everyone. So the fight against it should not become a political football.
We keep saying that justice delayed is justice denied, but in terror cases justice delayed can mean fresh graves. Every month that a dangerous person stays out of jail because his trial is stuck is a month in which he can plan something worse. Every year that an innocent undertrial spends behind bars destroys another family and creates more anger against the system.
The Delhi blast was a reminder we cannot afford to ignore. The Supreme Court’s six month target is not just a suggestion; it is a lifeline. If the government meets the December 16 deadline and starts building proper NIA courts, fills the vacant posts, and appoints enough judges, something will change. Terrorists will realise the game has become riskier. Victims will see that the country cares. And ordinary citizens will feel that the system, for once, is on their side.
Six months is not a long time. In many countries terror trials are over even faster. We have the laws, we have the agency, we have the judges somewhere in the pipeline. What we need now is the will to put everything in place quickly. The Supreme Court has drawn a line in the sand. December 16 is coming fast. This time the government cannot afford to miss the bus. Too many lives depend on it.
When justice moves quickly it does not only punish the guilty or free the innocent. It sends a message to the whole country that the system still works, that the rule of law is alive. In the fight against terror that message is priceless. Let us hope that by the end of this year we start hearing a new phrase in India: terror trial over in six months. It will be one of the best pieces of news we have heard in a long time.
