Lok Sabha Question No. 3915 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-17
Subject: Special District Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Riti Pathak

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3915

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, THE 17 th  JULY, 2019

## Special District Courts

## 3915.  SHRIMATI RITI PATHAK:

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

(a) the State-wise status of setting up of special district courts to dispose of cases as per provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act;

- (b) the State-wise reasons for delay in setting up of such special courts; and
- (c) the concrete steps taken by the Government to ensure setting up of such courts in a time-bound manner?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a)-(c): Setting up of Special Courts and their functioning falls within the domain of the  State  and  Union  Territory  Governments  and  respective  High  Courts  who  set  up such courts as per their need and resources, in accordance with Section 8 of the 'The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (PoA) Amendment Act, 2015'. The Act further empowers a State Government to specify for each  district,  a  Court  of  Session  to  be  a  Special  Court  for  the  purpose,  in  those Districts  where  less  number  of  cases  under  this  Act  are  filed.  However  as  per information  received  from  High  Courts,  the  State/UT-wise  status  of  special  district courts set up is as per Annexure .

The 14 th Finance Commission endorsed the proposal of the Union Government to strengthen the judicial system in States which included, inter-alia, establishing 1800 Fast  Track  Courts  at  a  cost  of  Rs.  4144  crore  for  cases  involving  vulnerable  and marginalized sections  of  the  society.  The  State  Governments  were  urged  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.

## ANNEXURE

| Sl. No.   | Name of the State/UT             |   No. of Special District Courts functional as per the provisions of the Prevention of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (PoA) Act (as on 31.03.2019) |
|-----------|----------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh                   |                                                                                                                                                        13 |
| 2.        | Assam                            |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 3.        | Arunachal Pradesh                |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 4.        | Mizoram                          |                                                                                                                                                        02 |
| 5.        | Nagaland                         |                                                                                                                                                        08 |
| 6.        | Bihar                            |                                                                                                                                                        37 |
| 7.        | Chhattisgarh                     |                                                                                                                                                        23 |
| 8.        | Delhi                            |                                                                                                                                                        11 |
| 9.        | Goa                              |                                                                                                                                                        02 |
| 10.       | Maharashtra                      |                                                                                                                                                       170 |
| 11.       | Gujarat                          |                                                                                                                                                        63 |
| 12.       | Haryana                          |                                                                                                                                                        21 |
| 13.       | Punjab                           |                                                                                                                                                        22 |
| 14.       | Chandigarh                       |                                                                                                                                                        01 |
| 15.       | Himachal Pradesh                 |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 16.       | Jammu &Kashmir                   |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 17.       | Jharkhand                        |                                                                                                                                                        24 |
| 18.       | Karnataka                        |                                                                                                                                                        32 |
| 19.       | Kerala &Lakshadweep              |                                                                                                                                                        14 |
| 20.       | Madhya Pradesh                   |                                                                                                                                                        50 |
| 21.       | Manipur                          |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 22.       | Meghalaya                        |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 23.       | Odisha                           |                                                                                                                                                        94 |
| 24.       | Rajasthan                        |                                                                                                                                                        35 |
| 25.       | Sikkim                           |                                                                                                                                                        04 |
| 26.       | Tamil Nadu                       |                                                                                                                                                        06 |
| 27.       | Puducherry                       |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 28.       | Tripura                          |                                                                                                                                                        05 |
| 29.       | Uttar Pradesh                    |                                                                                                                                                        40 |
| 30.       | Uttarakhand                      |                                                                                                                                                        13 |
| 31.       | West Bengal &Andaman and Nicobar |                                                                                                                                                         0 |
| 32.       | Telangana                        |                                                                                                                                                        10 |
| 33.       | Daman &Diu                       |                                                                                                                                                        01 |
| 34.       | Dadra &Nagar Haveli              |                                                                                                                                                        01 |
|           | Total                            |                                                                                                                                                       702 |