Lok Sabha Question No. 5177 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-24
Subject: Special Courts for SC/ST
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Umesh G. Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE (DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE)

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.5177

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 24 th  JULY, 2019

## Special Courts for SC/ST

## 5177.  DR. UMESH G. JADHAV:

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

(a) the  total  number  of  special  courts  set  up  throughout  the  country  for  hearing cases registered under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as amended in the year 2016, including Karnataka;

(b) the  number of cases disposed  of within  a period of sixty  days along with the number of cases lying pending till date; and

(c) the  steps  being  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  prevent  the atrocities taking place against the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and to provide them speedy justice?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)-(b): The constitution of Special Courts for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and their functioning/monitoring falls within the domain of the State and Union Territory Governments, who set up such courts as per their need and resources, in  consultation  with  the  High  Courts  in  accordance  with  Section  14  of  the  'The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (PoA) Amendment Act,  2015',  the  Gazette  Notification  of  which  was  published  on  01.01.2016.  State Governments and Union Territory Administrations either establish Exclusive Special Courts for one or more districts or designate for such districts where less number of cases under this Act are recorded, the Court of Session to be a Special Court to try offences under the Act. As per available information, a majority of State Governments and  Union  Territory  Administrations  have  designated  District  Session  Courts  as Special Courts.

As  per  information  received  from  the  High  Courts,  total  number  of  Special Courts set up throughout the country along with number of cases disposed of within a period of sixty days and the number of cases lying pending in such Courts till date, State/UT-wise is provided as per Annexure

(c): In  order  to  prevent  the  commission  of  offences  of  atrocities  against  the members of the SCs and the STs and to deliver speedy justice to members of SCs and STs,  The Scheduled  Castes  and  the  Scheduled  Tribes  (Prevention  of  Atrocities) {PoA}  Act,  1989,  the  Scheduled  Castes  and  the  Scheduled  Tribes  (Prevention  of Atrocities)  {PoA} Amendment Act, 2015(No. 1 of 2016) and the Scheduled Castes and  the  Scheduled  Tribes  (Prevention  of  Atrocities)  Amendment  Act,  2018  were enacted. The provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities){PoA}Rules, 1995 are implemented by the respective State Governments  and  Union  Territory  Administrations  under  a    Centrally  Sponsored Scheme and admissible Central assistance is provided to them mainly for strengthening of the enforcement and judicial machinery.

|   Sl. No. | Name of the State/UT   |   No. of Special Courts set up as per the provisions of The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (PoA) Amendment Act, 2015 (as on 31.03.2019) | Number of cases disposed off in Special Courts within a period of sixty days   | Number of cases pending in Special Courts of the State/UT   |
|-----------|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh         |                                                                                                                                                 13 | -                                                                              | 3698 as on 31.03.2019                                       |
|         2 | Mizoram                |                                                                                                                                                 02 | -                                                                              | 0 as on 31.03.2019                                          |
|         3 | Nagaland               |                                                                                                                                                 08 | -                                                                              | 0 as on 31.03.2019                                          |
|         4 | Bihar                  |                                                                                                                                                 37 | -                                                                              | 46951 as on 30.06.2019                                      |
|         5 | Chhattisgarh           |                                                                                                                                                 23 | 90                                                                             | 975 as on 31.03.2019                                        |
|         6 | Delhi                  |                                                                                                                                                 11 | -                                                                              | 271 as on 31.03.2019                                        |
|         7 | Goa                    |                                                                                                                                                 02 | 0*                                                                             | 27 as on 31.03.2019                                         |
|         8 | Maharashtra            |                                                                                                                                                170 | 5*                                                                             | 6435 as on 31.03.2019                                       |
|         9 | Gujarat                |                                                                                                                                                 63 | 154**                                                                          | 4462 as on 15.07.2019                                       |
|        10 | Haryana                |                                                                                                                                                 21 | 47                                                                             | 982 as on 30.06.2019                                        |
|        11 | Punjab                 |                                                                                                                                                 22 | 14                                                                             | 267 as on 30.06.2019                                        |
|        12 | Chandigarh             |                                                                                                                                                 01 | 0                                                                              | 02 as on 30.06.2019                                         |
|        13 | Jharkhand              |                                                                                                                                                 24 | -                                                                              | 1952 as on 31.03.2019                                       |
|        14 | Karnataka              |                                                                                                                                                 32 | 02***                                                                          | 5373 as on 01.07.2019                                       |
|        15 | Kerala & Lakshadweep   |                                                                                                                                                 14 | -                                                                              | 2174 as on 31.03.2019                                       |
|        16 | Madhya Pradesh         |                                                                                                                                                 50 | -                                                                              | 18042 as on 30.06.2019                                      |
|        17 | Odisha                 |                                                                                                                                                 94 | -                                                                              | 11495 as on 31.03.2019                                      |
|        18 | Rajasthan              |                                                                                                                                                 35 | -                                                                              | 10773                                                       |
|        19 | Sikkim                 |                                                                                                                                                 04 | -                                                                              | as on 31.03.2019 03                                         |
|        20 | Tamil Nadu             |                                                                                                                                                 06 | -                                                                              | as on 31.03.2019 1356 as on 31.03.2019                      |
|        21 | Tripura                |                                                                                                                                                 05 | -                                                                              | 03                                                          |
|        22 | Uttar Pradesh          |                                                                                                                                                 40 | -                                                                              | as on 31.03.2019 70266                                      |

|    |                     |    |    | as on 31.03.2019      |
|----|---------------------|----|----|-----------------------|
| 23 | Uttarakhand         | 13 | -  | 251 as on 31.03.2019  |
| 24 | Telangana           | 10 | -  | 3115 as on 31.03.2019 |
| 25 | Daman &Diu          | 01 | 0  | 01 as on 31.03.2019   |
| 26 | Dadra &Nagar Haveli | 01 | -  | 06 as on 31.03.2019   |

*cases disposed off within a period of two months from the date of filing of the Charge Sheet till 31.01.2019 ** cases disposed off within  a period of 15.05.2019 to 15.07.2019

*** cases disposed off within a period of sixty days from the date of charge sheet as during the year 2018