Lok Sabha Question No. 6090 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-04-04
Subject: Functioning of FTCs
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE, BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB, SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.6090 TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 4 th  APRIL, 2018

Functioning of FTCs

## 6090.  SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE: SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB: SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE:

Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Supreme Court has requested the Chief Justices of the High Courts to create Fast Track Courts (FTCs) in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government is satisfied with the performance of the FTCs with respect to disposal of the cases filed or referred therein during each of the last three years and the current  year,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  number  of  cases  filed/referred, disposed of and pending in FTCs during the said period, State/UT-wise;
- (c) the number of additional positions of judges created and filled in subordinate judiciary across the country along with the funds provided by the Government for the purpose during the said period; and
- (d) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the  functioning  of  FTCs  in  the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a): As per information received from the Hon'ble Supreme Court, Hon'ble the then Chief Justice of India had requested the Chief Justices of High Courts vide his letters dated 05.01.2013 and  10.07.2014  to take  up  the  matter  with  the  State  Government/UT  concerned,  with promptitude to increase the number of courts, not only of Judicial Officers, but also of support staff and infrastructure, so that fast tracking of matters relating to offences against women can be taken up and to set up adequate number of Fast Track Courts (FTCs) to deal with cases relating to offences against women, children, differently-abled persons, senior citizens and marginalized sections of society respectively.
- (b): Setting  up  of  subordinate  courts  including  FTCs  and  their  monitoring  fall  within  the domain of  the  State  Governments  who  set  up  such  courts  as  per  their  need  and  resources,  in consultation  with  the  respective  High  Courts.      Data  in  respect  of  disposal  of  cases  filed  and

pending therein of the last three  years and the  current  year are  not  maintained  by  the  Central Government. However, as per information received from the respective High Courts, at present, 727 FTCs are functional across the country and 570224 cases are pending in these FTCs, as on 31.12.2017 (Annexure-I).

(c): The number of sanctioned strength and working strength of Judges in subordinate courts, as on 31.12.2017, is given at Annexure-II.

(d): The  14 th Finance  Commission  (14 th FC)  endorsed  the  proposal  of  the  Government  to strengthen the judicial system in States which includes establishing 1800 FTCs for a period of five years for cases of heinous crimes; cases involving senior citizens, women, children etc. at a cost  of  Rs.4144  crore  and  urged  the  State  Governments  to  use  the  additional  fiscal  space provided by the Commission in the form of enhanced tax devolution (from 32% to 42%) to meet such requirements.

The  Central  Government  has  urged  the  State  Governments  to  allocate  funds  for  the activities  mentioned  in  the  14 th FC  recommendations  from  their  State  budgets  from  2015-16 onwards. The Minister  of  Law  &  Justice  has  also  written  letters  to  all  the  Chief  Ministers  of States  and  the  Chief  Justices  of  High  Courts  to  implement  the  resolution  of  the  Chief Ministers/Chief  Justices  Conference  including  the  recommendations  of  the  14 th FC  related  to FTCs.

……

## ANNEXURE-I

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.6090  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  THE  4TH  APRIL,  2018  REGARDING FUNCTIONING OF FTCs.

| Name of the States/UTs     | No of Fast Track Courts functional as on 31.12.2017   | No. of Cases Pending in the Fast Track Courts (As on 31.12.2017)   |
|----------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh , Telangana | 72                                                    | 9085                                                               |
| Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,  | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Nagaland, Mizoram          |                                                       |                                                                    |
| Bihar                      | 55                                                    | 22616                                                              |
| Chhattisgarh               | 21                                                    | 4292                                                               |
| Delhi                      | 14                                                    | 6729                                                               |
| Goa                        | 4                                                     | 4719                                                               |
| Gujarat                    | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Haryana                    | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Himachal Pradesh           | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Jammu &Kashmir             | 5                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Jharkhand                  | 14                                                    | 2136                                                               |
| Karnataka                  | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Kerala                     | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Madhya Pradesh             | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Maharashtra                | 100                                                   | 105301                                                             |
| Manipur                    | 3                                                     | 114                                                                |
| Meghalaya                  | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Odisha                     | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Punjab                     | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Puducherry                 |                                                       |                                                                    |
| Rajasthan                  | 0                                                     | 0                                                                  |
| Sikkim                     | 2                                                     | 13                                                                 |
| Tamil Nadu                 | 69                                                    | 50641                                                              |
| Tripura                    | 3                                                     | 891                                                                |
| Uttar Pradesh              | 273                                                   | 323854                                                             |
| Uttarakhand                | 4                                                     | 671                                                                |
| West Bengal                | 88                                                    | 39162                                                              |
| Total                      | 727                                                   | 570224                                                             |

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.6090  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  THE  4 TH   APRIL,  2018  REGARDING FUNCTIONING OF FTCs

| Sanctioned Strength / Working Strength and vacancies in Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2017   | Sanctioned Strength / Working Strength and vacancies in Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2017   | Sanctioned Strength / Working Strength and vacancies in Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2017   | Sanctioned Strength / Working Strength and vacancies in Subordinate Courts as on 31.12.2017   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No                                                                                        | Name of States/Uts                                                                            | Sanctioned Strength as on 31.12.2017                                                          | Working Strength as on 31.12.2017                                                             |
| 1                                                                                             | Andhra Pradesh &Telangana                                                                     | 986                                                                                           | 920                                                                                           |
| 2                                                                                             | Arunachal Pradesh                                                                             | 28                                                                                            | 17                                                                                            |
| 3                                                                                             | Assam                                                                                         | 429                                                                                           | 352                                                                                           |
| 4                                                                                             | Bihar                                                                                         | 1828                                                                                          | 993                                                                                           |
| 5                                                                                             | Chhattisgarh                                                                                  | 398                                                                                           | 335                                                                                           |
| 6                                                                                             | Goa                                                                                           | 55                                                                                            | 43                                                                                            |
| 7                                                                                             | Gujarat                                                                                       | 1496                                                                                          | 1121                                                                                          |
| 8                                                                                             | Haryana                                                                                       | 645                                                                                           | 496                                                                                           |
| 9                                                                                             | Himachal Pradesh                                                                              | 159                                                                                           | 148                                                                                           |
| 10                                                                                            | Jammu &Kashmir                                                                                | 253                                                                                           | 224                                                                                           |
| 11                                                                                            | Jharkhand                                                                                     | 672                                                                                           | 419                                                                                           |
| 12                                                                                            | Karnataka                                                                                     | 1303                                                                                          | 976                                                                                           |
| 13                                                                                            | Kerala                                                                                        | 535                                                                                           | 450                                                                                           |
| 14                                                                                            | Madhya Pradesh                                                                                | 2021                                                                                          | 1293                                                                                          |
| 15                                                                                            | Maharashtra                                                                                   | 2097                                                                                          | 1930                                                                                          |
| 16                                                                                            | Manipur                                                                                       | 49                                                                                            | 40                                                                                            |
| 17                                                                                            | Meghalaya                                                                                     | 97                                                                                            | 39                                                                                            |
| 18                                                                                            | Mizoram                                                                                       | 63                                                                                            | 46                                                                                            |
| 19                                                                                            | Nagaland                                                                                      | 34                                                                                            | 22                                                                                            |
| 20                                                                                            | Orissa                                                                                        | 862                                                                                           | 656                                                                                           |
| 21                                                                                            | Punjab                                                                                        | 674                                                                                           | 538                                                                                           |
| 22                                                                                            | Rajasthan                                                                                     | 1225                                                                                          | 1122                                                                                          |
| 23                                                                                            | Sikkim                                                                                        | 23                                                                                            | 18                                                                                            |
| 24                                                                                            | Tamil Nadu                                                                                    | 1108                                                                                          | 908                                                                                           |
| 25                                                                                            | Tripura                                                                                       | 107                                                                                           | 76                                                                                            |
| 26                                                                                            | Uttar Pradesh                                                                                 | 3204                                                                                          | 1856                                                                                          |
| 27                                                                                            | Uttarakhand                                                                                   | 291                                                                                           | 230                                                                                           |
| 28                                                                                            | West Bengal and                                                                               | 956                                                                                           | 916                                                                                           |
| 29                                                                                            | A &NIsland                                                                                    | 11                                                                                            | 11                                                                                            |
| 30                                                                                            | Chandigarh                                                                                    | 30                                                                                            | 30                                                                                            |
| 31                                                                                            | D &NHaveli AND Daman &Diu                                                                     | 7                                                                                             | 7                                                                                             |
| 32                                                                                            | Delhi                                                                                         | 799                                                                                           | 482                                                                                           |
| 33                                                                                            | Lakshadweep                                                                                   | 3                                                                                             | 2                                                                                             |
| 34                                                                                            | Pondicherry*                                                                                  | 26                                                                                            | 12                                                                                            |
|                                                                                               | Total                                                                                         | 22474                                                                                         | 16728                                                                                         |