The Supreme Court has urged the Centre to provide adequate judicial infrastructure, saying it is ready to ensure that courts work ‘day and night’ to finish trials in heinous and national-security cases within six months.

A bench led by Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N. Kotiswar Singh said swift trials would prevent accused persons from securing bail due to prolonged proceedings. The bench said, nowadays litigation costs are very high, and it will be beneficial for all parties if the trial is completed in six months. The court asked the government to set up dedicated NIA and special-statute courts, and to use online testimony to speed up cases while protecting witnesses.

The Centre told the court that discussions with states are already underway and a roadmap will soon be presented. The observations came while the court was hearing the bail plea of Kailash Ramchandani, who was arrested in a 2019 IED blast in Maharashtra in which 15 police personnel were killed. The trial in the case has not moved forward for years. The Supreme Court warned that without proper courts and infrastructure, delays may force it to grant bail even in serious cases.