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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