[Cites 9, Cited by 0]
Gauhati High Court
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GAHC010227852025
2025:GAU-AS:16936
THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT
(HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)
Case No. : Bail Appln./3392/2025
GANGA GANJU
W/O- MONTU KARMOKAR.
R/O- VILL. MOINATILLA, BATULMARA TEA ESTATE, P.O.- JALALPUR, P.S-
KALAIN, DIST.-CACHAR, ASSAM
VERSUS
THE STATE OF ASSAM
REPRESENTED BY THE PP, ASSAM
Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. A M S MAZUMDER, A W BARBHUIYA
Advocate for the Respondent : PP, ASSAM, MR. S C KEYAL,SC, NIA
BEFORE
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PRANJAL DAS
ORDER
Date : 08.12.2025
Heard Mr. A.M.S. Mazumder, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard
Mr. R.J. Baruah, learned Additional Public Prosecutor for the State.
2. This application has been filed under section 483 of the Bharatiya Nagarik
Suraskha Sanhita, 2023, whereby the accused petitioner namely, Ganga
Ganju, has prayed for bail in connection with Special NIA Case No. 26/2025
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(arising out of Kalain P.S. Case No. 15/2025) under Section 143(5) of BNS, 2023
pending in the court of learned Special Judge, Cachar at Silchar.
3. The case is stated to have been charge sheeted already and pending
before the Special judge, Cachar as the aforesaid mentioned Special NIA case.
The petitioner was arrested on 27.04.2025 itself.
4. The learned Additional Public Prosecutor has drawn my attention to earlier
order dated 28.11.2025 regarding maintainability of this petition. The order
dated 05.12.2025 passed by the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court in BA. No.
1727/2025, has been placed in which the Co-ordinate Bench has held that such
bail application would be only by way of an appeal and would be maintainable
before the Division Bench in terms of Section 21 of NIA Act. However, as per
Section 21(5) of the NIA Act, such an appeal has to be filed within 30 days and
on the question of limitation, the matter has been directed to be placed before
the Division Bench.
5. In the instant case, the petitioner has fairly submitted that he preferred a
bail application before the Special judge, which came to be rejected on
30.07.2025 and thereafter, he filed the instant bail application before this Court
on 13.10.2025.
6. In terms of the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in Bikramjit Singh
vs. State of Punjab, reported in (2020) 10 SCC 616, all offences appearing
in the schedule of the NIA Act have to be tried by the Special Court under
Section 11 or Section 22 of the Act. Section 11 pertains to Special Court set up
to try the cases investigated by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) and
Section 22 pertains to cases investigated by the State police, pertaining to
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offences of the NIA Act schedule. It was held in the judgment in Bikramjit
Singh (supra) that till Special Courts are set up by the State Government, the
jurisdictional Sessions Courts will be the deemed Special Court for this purpose.
However, in the mean time, vide notification dated 31.05.2023, the Government
of Assam has designated the Courts of Sessions Judge as Special Courts under
Section 22 of NIA Act for investigation of cases investigated by the State
agencies.
7. Section 21 sub-section 2 of the NIA Act provides that any person aggrieved
by judgment and order of the learned Special Court except interlocutory orders,
shall prefer an appeal to the High Courts to be heard by the Division Bench.
Section 21 of NIA Act is reproduced herein below- -
21. Appeals. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code, an appeal
shall lie from any judgment, sentence or order, not being an interlocutory order,
of a Special Court to the High Court both on facts and on law.
(2) Every appeal under sub-section (1) shall be heard by a Bench of two Judges
of the High Court and shall, as far as possible, be disposed of within a period of
three months from the date of admission of the appeal.
(3) Except as aforesaid, no appeal or revision shall lie to any court from any
judgment, sentence or order including an interlocutory order of a Special Court.
(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (3) of section 378 of the
Code, an appeal shall lie to the High Court against an order of the Special Court
granting or refusing bail.
(5) Every appeal under this section shall be preferred within a period of thirty
days from the date of the judgment, sentence or order appealed from:
Provided that the High Court may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the
said period of thirty days if it is satisfied that the appellant had sufficient cause
for not preferring the appeal within the period of thirty days:
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Provided further that no appeal shall be entertained after the expiry of period of
ninety days.
8. Thus, clearly jurisdictional Sessions Courts now designated as Special
Court by the State Government notification will fall within the ambit of Special
Court under Section 21(2) of NIA Act. Thus, in terms of the decision of the Co-
ordinate Bench and also in terms of section 21(2) r/w Section 2(1)(h) of the NIA
act - concurrent jurisdiction under Section 483 BNSS cannot be exercised by
this Court along with the Special court and that, initially the aggrieved petitioner
shall have to move the Special Court for bail and any party aggrieved by the
order of such bail, has to prefer an appeal to this Court under Section 21 and
such appeal is to be heard by the Division Bench.
9. Section 21(5) provides that - the appeal has to be filed within 30 days and
any delay beyond that can be condoned for sufficient reasons, subject, however,
to an outer limit of 90 days.
10. In the given facts and circumstances, the instant bail petition is dismissed
as not maintainable. However, the petitioner is at liberty to prefer an appeal
under Section 21 of NIA Act and in any appeal, he can also contend the issue of
delay condonation.
11. The bail application stands disposed of on the aforesaid terms.
JUDGE
Comparing Assistant
