The Madras High Court has expressed concern about the difficulties that would be caused by sending all cases prescribed under the National Investigation Agency Act to the ‘Special Courts’ notified under the NIA Act as ‘Special Courts’.
Since the Explosive Substances Act is also a prescribed offense under the NIA Act, every case involving offenses under the Explosive Substances Act will have to go to special courts NIA Act.
The High Court noted that the Explosive Substances Act regularly brings up gangster offenses in Tamil Nadu because “ordinary rowdy gangs have now graduated from using country bombs with knives, which they call conventional weapons.”
The court further pointed out that in the year 2019, 139 FIRs were registered with offenses under the Explosive Substances Act.
A full division bench comprising Justices PN Prakash, V Sivagnam, RN Manjula was considering a referred question that the denial of bail by a sessions court under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) was challenged through an appeal.
If the state police were to go by the strict mandates of the NIA Act, all FIRs under the Explosive Substances Act should have been reported to the central government.
Lawcutor 