757 Fast Track Special Courts functional across the country
757 Fast Track Special Courts functional across the country
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:
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