Ministry of Law and Justice
azadi ka amrit mahotsav

757 Fast Track Special Courts functional across the country


The courts have disposed of more than 2,14,000 cases as of December 31, 2023

Posted On: 09 FEB 2024 12:21PM by PIB Delhi

Pursuant to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018, the Central Government is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for setting up of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts since October, 2019 for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases pertaining to Rape and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in a time-bound manner.

The scheme was initially for one year, which was further extended up to March, 2023. The Union Cabinet has extended the Scheme for another three years, from 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2026, at a total outlay of Rs. 1952.23 cr. including Rs. 1207.24 cr. as Central Share to be incurred from Nirbhaya Fund.

As per data submitted by various High Courts, up to December 2023, 757 FTSCs including 411 exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts are functional in 30 States/UTs across the country which have disposed of more than 2,14,000 cases. State-wise details of the number of functional Fast Track Special Courts along with the number of cases disposed of as on 31.12.2023 is placed at Annexure-I.

Setting up Fast Track Special Courts demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the Government towards women security, combating sexual and gender-based violence, reducing the backlog of pending cases related to Rape & POCSO Act, and providing expeditious access to justice for survivors of sexual crimes. With professional and experienced judges and support staff specialized in handling sensitive sexual offense cases, these courts ensure consistent and expert-guided legal proceedings offering victims of sexual offences swift resolutions in mitigating the trauma and distress, and enabling them to move forward. Fast Track Special Courts have notably adopted the approach of setting up Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres within the courts to facilitate the victims and to make the courts into Child-friendly Courts for providing crucial support for a compassionate legal system. These courts have disposed of more than 2,14,000 cases as of December 31, 2023.

As per the information provided by the High Courts on the FTSCs dashboard, a total of 81,471 cases were newly instituted from January, 2023 to December, 2023, while 76,319 cases have been disposed of during the period, resulting in a disposal rate of 93.6%.

The State/UT-wise disposal of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) since the inception of the Scheme is given at Annexure-II.

A third-party evaluation of the Scheme was carried out by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in the year 2023 which has inter-alia recommended for continuation of the scheme. The recommendations given by IIPA, are as under:

  • IIPA strongly recommended the continuation of this scheme as its primary objective is to handle cases of sexual offences against women and children through a streamlined and expedited judicial process.
  • To expedite trials, States and High Courts must strengthen parameters, including appointing Special Judges experienced in POCSO cases, ensuring sensitization training, and appointing female public prosecutors.
  • The courtrooms need to be upgraded with modern technology, such as audio and video recording systems and LCD projectors. To be at par with the current evolving technologies, the court could enhance IT systems including electronic case filing and digitalization of court records.
  • Forensic Labs to increase and to train manpower to expedite the pending cases in courts and ensure timely submission of DNA Reports. It will not only help the skilled manpower to assist the scientist and reporting officers but moreover will help to give a fair and speedy justice.
  • Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centers (VWDCs) should be established in all districts to facilitate a better process of recording victim testimonies, thereby initiating a smoother court proceeding. The States should take initiative to conduct the trial in a way that is child-friendly, behind closed doors without disclosing the child's identity. Further, every FTSC should have a child psychologist to assist the child with rigorous pre-trial and trial procedures

 

This information was given by the MINISTER OF STATE(INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS; MINISTER OF STATE FOR THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE, SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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SS/AKS

 

Annexures as referred to in Reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *102 for 09.02.2024

Annexure-I

State/UT-wise number of functional FTSCs and cumulative disposal of cases

as of December, 2023

Sl.

No.

State/UT

Functional Courts

Cumulative Disposal since the inception of the Scheme

FTSCs including

e-POCSO

e-POCSO

1

Andhra Pradesh

16

16

4083

2

Assam

17

17

4979

3

Bihar

46

46

9939

4

Chandigarh

1

0

244

5

Chhattisgarh

15

11

4377

6

Delhi

16

11

1503

7

Goa

1

0

44

8

Gujarat

35

24

10295

9

Haryana

16

12

5342

10

Himachal Pradesh

6

3

1282

11

J&K

4

2

151

12

Jharkhand

22

16

5822

13

Karnataka

31

17

8897

14

Kerala

54

14

16878

15

Madhya Pradesh

67

57

23613

16

Maharashtra

19

10

16907

17

Manipur

2

0

127

18

Meghalaya

5

5

382

19

Mizoram

3

1

169

20

Nagaland

1

0

57

21

Odisha

44

23

11960

22

Puducherry

1

1

44

23

Punjab

12

3

3565

24

Rajasthan

45

30

13003

25

Tamil Nadu

14

14

6228

26

Telangana

36

0

7799

27

Tripura

3

1

349

28

Uttarakhand

4

0

1355

29

Uttar Pradesh

218

74

55021

30

West Bengal

3

3

48

 

TOTAL

757

411

214463

Annexure-II

State/UT-wise Disposal of cases in FTSCs as of December, 2023

Sl.

No.

State/UT

Total cases instituted since inception of the Scheme

Cumulative disposal since inception of the Scheme

Cumulative pendency

1

Andhra Pradesh

11314

4083

7231

2

Assam

10186

4979

5207

3

Bihar

27655

9939

17716

4

Chandigarh

447

244

203

5

Chhattisgarh

6641

4377

2264

6

Delhi

5313

1503

3810

7

Goa

200

44

156

8

Gujarat

16633

10295

6338

9

Haryana

9541

5342

4199

10

Himachal Pradesh

2116

1282

834

11

J&K

604

151

453

12

Jharkhand

10308

5822

4486

13

Karnataka

14311

8897

5414

14

Kerala

24279

16878

7401

15

Madhya Pradesh

33806

23613

10193

16

Maharashtra

21262

16907

4355

17

Manipur

221

127

94

18

Meghalaya

1443

382

1061

19

Mizoram

258

169

89

20

Nagaland

108

57

51

21

Odisha

23020

11960

11060

22

Puducherry

265

44

221

23

Punjab

5003

3565

1438

24

Rajasthan

19125

13003

6122

25

Tamil Nadu

10668

6228

4440

26

Telangana

16262

7799

8463

27

Tripura

591

349

242

28

Uttarakhand

2263

1355

908

29

Uttar Pradesh

139799

55021

84778

30

West Bengal

2996

48

2948

 

TOTAL

416638

214463

202175

 



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