Lok Sabha Question No. 1476 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-27
Subject: Fast Track Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Naranbhai Bhikhabhai Kachhadiya, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, Shantanu Thakur, H. Vasanthakumar, Gitaben Vajesingbhai Rathva

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

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## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1476

TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 27 th   NOVEMBER, 2019

## Fast Track Courts

## 1476.  SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

## SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI: SHRI SHANTANU THAKUR: SHRI VASANTHAKUMAR  H SHRIMATI   RATHVA GITABEN  VAJESINGBHAI:

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

(a)   the aims and objectives envisaged under the scheme of Fast Track Courts along with its present status;

(b)  the criteria fixed for setting up of Fast Track Courts (FTCs) in the country along with the  number of FTCs constituted and the achievement made by these courts  including  number  of  cases  transferred  and  disposed  of  during  the  last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise;

(c)  the details of the specific facilities being provided  in these courts;

(d) the total funds allocated for such courts during the said period, State-wise;

(e)  whether  the  funds  being  provided  to  FTCs  are  not  adequate  to  meet  the recurring and non-recurring expenditure being incurred by such courts and if so, the steps taken by the Government in this regard; and

(f)  whether  some States have been providing support to FTCs from their own resources ever since the central support was discontinued and if so, the details thereof, State-wise?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (f): Setting up of subordinate courts including Fast Track Courts (FTCs) and its functioning  comes within the domain of the State Governments in consultation with the respective High Courts.  The 11 th Finance Commission had recommended a scheme for creation of 1734 FTCs in the Country for disposal of long pending cases.    The  criteria  adopted  for  creation  of  number  of  FTCs  was  based  on  the report of Sh.N.C.Jain, Member, 11 th Finance Commission that one such court can dispose of upto 168 number of cases per year. The Scheme continued up to 201011 and then it was decided to discontinue.  An amount of Rs. 870 Cr. was released to the State Government within the period of 11 years and central funding was not continued  beyond  31.03.2011.  However,  the  Central  Government  decided  to provide funds up to a maximum of Rs. 80 Cr. per annum on a matching basis up to 31.03.2015. Out of   38.99 Lakh cases transferred to FTCs since inception, 32.93 Lakh cases were disposed of as per the report received as on 31.03.2011.

In its judgment in Brij Mohan Lal & Others  V/s. UoI & Others on 19.04.2012 the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India had inter-alia directed the States that they shall not take a decision to continue FTCs on an ad-hoc and temporary basis. They will need to decide either to bring the FTCs Scheme to an end or to continue the same as  a  permanent  feature  in  the  State.  Number  of  States  opted  to  discontinue  the Scheme.

Considering the need for setting up of FTCs for specific nature of cases pending in Courts viz. cases of heinous nature, civil cases involving senior citizen women and children and other marginalized section     of society and civil disputes involving land acquisition etc. pending for more than five years, the Union of India proposed setting up of 1800 FTCs at a total cost of Rs. 4144 Cr. during the period of 20152020,  in  its  memorandum  to  the  14 th Finance  Commission.  The  Commission endorsed the proposal and urged the State Government to use the additional fiscal space provided by the Commission in the tax devolution to meet the requirements. Further the Union Government has also urged the State Governments to allocate funds for the activities mentioned in the 14 th FC recommendation including setting up of FTCs from their State budgets from the financial year 2015-16 onwards. The number of FTCs and fund proposed, State wise,  is given at Annexure-I.

The present status of number of Fast Track Courts functional, the information on the number of cases disposed of during the last three years including the current year, the number of cases presently pending in these courts as made available by the various High Courts is given at Annexure-II .

## ANNEXURE-I

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1476  TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11 2019

## STATUS OF  NO.  OF  FAST  TRACK  COURTs  &    FUND  PROPOSED  DURING  14 TH FINANCE COMMISSION  (2015-20) , STATE-WISE

(Rs. in Crore)

| S.No   | Name of the State            |   No. of FTCs proposed |   Funds proposed |
|--------|------------------------------|------------------------|------------------|
| 1.     | Andhra Pradesh               |                     47 |           108.21 |
| 2.     | Telangana                    |                     37 |            85.18 |
| 3.     | Assam                        |                     36 |            82.88 |
| 4.     | Arunachal Pradesh            |                      0 |             0    |
| 5.     | Mizoram                      |                     07 |            16.12 |
| 6.     | Nagaland                     |                     03 |             6.91 |
| 7.     | Bihar                        |                    147 |           338.43 |
| 8.     | Chhattisgarh                 |                     28 |            64.46 |
| 9.     | Gujarat                      |                    174 |           400.59 |
| 10.    | Himachal Pradesh             |                     13 |            29.93 |
| 11.    | Jammu &Kashmir               |                     21 |            48.35 |
| 12.    | Jharkhand                    |                     50 |           115.11 |
| 13.    | Karnataka                    |                     95 |           218.72 |
| 14.    | Kerala, Lakshadweep          |                     41 |            94.39 |
| 15.    | Madhya Pradesh               |                    133 |           306.2  |
| 16.    | Maharashtra, D&N, Daman &Diu |                    204 |           469.67 |
| 17.    | Goa                          |                     05 |            11.51 |
| 18.    | Manipur                      |                     03 |             6.91 |
| 19.    | Meghalaya                    |                     04 |             9.21 |
| 20.    | Orissa                       |                     63 |           145.04 |
| 21.    | Punjab                       |                     50 |           115.11 |
| 22.    | Chandigarh                   |                     02 |             4.61 |
| 22.    | Haryana                      |                     48 |           110.51 |
| 23.    | Rajasthan                    |                     93 |           214.11 |
| 24.    | Sikkim                       |                     01 |             2.3  |
| 25.    | Tamil Nadu, Puducherry       |                     89 |           204.91 |
| 26.    | Tripura                      |                     09 |            20.72 |
| 27.    | Uttar Pradesh                |                    212 |           488.08 |
| 28.    | Uttarakhand                  |                     28 |            64.46 |
| 29.    | West Bengal, A&N Islands     |                     94 |           216.42 |
| 30.    | Delhi                        |                     63 |           145.05 |
| Total  | Total                        |                   1800 |          4144.11 |

ANNEXURE-II

## THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1476 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2019

## STATUS OF STATE-WISE NO. OF FAST TRACK COURTs, FUNCTIONAL,  CASES DISPOSED  DURING  LAST  THREE  YEARS  INCLUDING  CURRENT  YEAR  AND CASES PENDING AS ON 30.09.2019.

|   Sl. No. | Name of the State/UT             |   No. of FTCs functional (as on 30.09. 2019) | Cases disposed off in FTCs during 2016     | Cases disposed off in FTCs during 2017     | Cases disposed off in FTCs during 2018     |   Cases disposed of in FTCs during 2019 (upto30.09.2019) |   Cases pending in FTCs (as on 30.09.2019 |
|-----------|----------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh                   |                                           21 | 1861                                       | 2615                                       | 2504                                       |                                                     2252 |                                      6555 |
|         2 | Assam                            |                                           26 | -                                          | 2990                                       | 2314                                       |                                                     4370 |                                     16320 |
|         3 | Maharashtra                      |                                           74 | 30153                                      | 35046                                      | 32807                                      |                                                    68394 |                                     91118 |
|         4 | West Bengal &Andaman and Nicobar |                                           88 | 12351                                      | 15482                                      | 16358                                      |                                                    12456 |                                     48580 |
|         5 | Chhattisgarh                     |                                           23 | -                                          | 3840                                       | 3862                                       |                                                     3526 |                                      5030 |
|         6 | Manipur                          |                                           04 | 675 cases disposed during last three years | 675 cases disposed during last three years | 675 cases disposed during last three years |                                                      195 |                                       213 |
|         7 | Bihar                            |                                           59 | -                                          | 5889                                       | 11525                                      |                                                     5423 |                                     21483 |
|         8 | Delhi                            |                                           10 | 1295                                       | 1487                                       | 1559                                       |                                                     1075 |                                      6555 |
|         9 | Haryana                          |                                           06 | -                                          | -                                          | 166                                        |                                                     3071 |                                       863 |
|        10 | Sikkim                           |                                           02 | -                                          | 03                                         | 09                                         |                                                       15 |                                         9 |
|        11 | Tripura                          |                                           09 | 897 cases disposed during last three years | 897 cases disposed during last three years | 897 cases disposed during last three years |                                                      374 |                                       849 |
|        12 | Uttar Pradesh                    |                                          286 | -                                          | 456477 cases disposed of during            | 456477 cases disposed of during            |                                                   247955 |                                    417744 |
|        13 | Mizoram                          |                                           02 |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                                      197 |                                       161 |
|        14 | Jammu& Kashmir                   |                                           05 |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                                       27 |                                       851 |
|        15 | Tamilnadu                        |                                           51 |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                                    11153 |                                     73921 |
|        16 | Telangana                        |                                           38 |                                            |                                            |                                            |                                                     2054 |                                     11226 |

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