Ahmedabad: The central govt has designated two more courts at the city civil court exclusively to hear the cases being prosecuted by the National Investigation Agency. With this, there will be three exclusive NIA courts in the city having jurisdiction over the entire state of Gujarat.The Centre in March created an exclusive NIA court in Ahmedabad. At present, additional principal sessions judge M P Purohit’s court has been working as an exclusive NIA court.On July 16, the Centre came up with a notification stating, “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 11 of the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, the central govt — in consultation with the Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court and the Govt of Gujarat — hereby designates the NIA Court No. 2 (Exclusive) and NIA Court No. 3 (Exclusive) in City Civil Court, Ahmedabad, as the special courts for the purpose of sub-section (1) of Section 11 of the Act, exclusively for the trial of the scheduled offences investigated by the National Investigation Agency.”The notification also conferred on these courts jurisdiction over the entire state.Since the enactment of the NIA Act, the central agency has registered 34 cases in Gujarat. They mainly included cases involving terrorism, narco-terrorism, and counterfeiting. Before March 2026, there was a special NIA court. However, it was not exclusive.Sources said that, considering the sluggish pace of trials in the special NIA court owing to the burden of too many cases involving charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the govt felt the need for more exclusive courts. Out of 34 cases registered to date, only two cases have been disposed of.Among important cases pending before the special NIA court are the Mundra port heroin haul and the double murder involving BJP leader Shirish Bangali in Bharuch.
