419 courts, 449 courts: The numbers need court
The Supreme Court is monitoring exclusive NDPS courts nationwide. The latest figures remain unverified and internally inconsistent.
Conflicting figures have emerged in the Supreme Court’s monitoring of exclusive NDPS courts.
The Supreme Court is monitoring the creation of exclusive courts for narcotics cases across India. Its July 20 order recorded that states and Union territories had assessed a requirement of 394 exclusive NDPS courts, of which 113 had been set up. The Court sought an updated status report for the September 7 hearing. (Supreme Court order)
A report on the September 7 hearing said the requirement had risen to 449 courts, with 176 functional, while quoting the Court as referring to 419 courts and directing their establishment at the earliest. The written September 7 order and the Union government’s status report could not be located in the accessible court records. The arithmetic is not decorative here: 449 minus 176 is 273, not 419.
The Court’s May 8 order shows that the proceedings cover NDPS cases handled by the NCB, state police and other agencies, and asks the Union government to explain the funding model, calculation method and operational timeline. (Supreme Court order) Telangana’s allocation and current NDPS-court position are not established in the material reviewed. For now, the only confirmed national figures are the earlier ones: 394 required, 113 established. (Supreme Court order)