In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police has proposed the establishment of court complexes within jail premises for the trial of organised crime syndicates, citing the need to prevent accused gangsters from leveraging courtroom commutes for public spectacle and social media popularity.
The proposal emerges against the backdrop of a dismal conviction rate in gang-related cases, only 3 out of 108 cases where charges have been framed have ended in conviction, with 10 resulting in acquittals or discharges. Notably, over 80% of these cases remain pending at the stage of prosecution evidence, while 180 out of 288 total cases have yet to progress beyond the charge-framing stage.
The affidavit, filed by DCP Hareshwar V Swami, highlights a growing concern over how “gang-related criminals are transported from jails to court complexes,” during which time “opportunities for generation of reels and other social media content glamourising lives of criminals” arise. The Delhi Police has therefore sought judicial consideration for conducting such trials within prisons to curtail this trend and reinforce security protocols.
Appearing for the Delhi Police, Additional Solicitor General S D Sanjay submitted that a dedicated judicial infrastructure within prisons would also mitigate grounds often invoked by accused persons for seeking bail, particularly delays in proceedings, and facilitate timely application of special statutes such as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and the National Security Act (NSA).
The Police pointed to the existing burden on designated trial courts, which simultaneously handle matters under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), among others. This, the affidavit contends, results in inordinate delays in the conduct of trials concerning organised crime syndicates.
Further, the Police highlighted a legislative gap. While most of these trials are being conducted under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the recently enacted Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which incorporates specific provisions for expeditious trial, remains inapplicable to a majority of pending cases.
The Supreme Court had earlier, in a March 2024 order, emphasised the necessity of day-to-day trials for such offences, stating, “In the larger interest of society, it is imperative upon authorities to evolve a mechanism to provide a speedy and time-bound trial. One of the effective recourses could be to establish special courts to conclude trials on a day-to-day basis.”
The Court further directed that such special courts should proceed with matters notwithstanding delays caused by defence counsel and conclude trials within a pre-fixed timeline.
The affidavit also draws attention to the broader scale of the issue, as of April, 95 organised criminal gangs comprising 1,109 individuals had been identified in Delhi. All are currently facing trial. The average time taken to dispose of cases that have reached a conclusion, whether by conviction, acquittal, or discharge, stands at two years from the date of framing of charges.
The proposal assumes further relevance in light of the Supreme Court’s earlier observations in November 2023, when it flagged the concern of repeat offences being committed by hardened criminals while out on bail, which is often granted on grounds of trial delays. This concern was voiced during the bail hearing of gangster Mahesh Khatri alias Bholi, whose oldest pending case dates back to 2013.
The matter is presently under consideration by the Apex court.
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