Lok Sabha Question No. 1866 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-30
Subject: Special Courts Under POCSO Act
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: M. Selvaraj, Feroze Varun Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1866

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2021

## SPECIAL COURTS UNDER POCSO ACT

1866.    SHRI M. SELVARAJ: SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI

:

will the minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) The  number  of  special  courts  formed  under  Protection  of  Children  against Sexual  Offences  (POCSO) Act,  2012,  along  with  the  names  of  States  where these courts are located;
- (b) The number of judges appointed in special courts formed under POCSO Act, 2012;
- (c) Whether there is a delay in the establishment of these special courts, if so, the reasons therefor;
- (d) The number of cases lodged & pending under POCSO Act during the last three years; and
- (e) The steps taken by the Government for early disposal of cases?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (e) The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 enacted by Govt of India provides safeguards for children against sexual abuse. The POCSO Act  2012  provides  for  establishment  of  Special  Courts  for  the  purpose  of  ensuring speedy trial. Further, as per the Act, the evidence of the child shall be recorded within a period  of  thirty  days  of  the  Special  Court  taking  cognizance  of  the  offence  and  the Special Court shall complete the trial, as far as possible, within a period of one year from the  date of  taking  cognizance  of  the  offence. The  Act  was  amended  in  2019  to introduce  more  stringent punishment including  death  penalty  for  committing  sexual crimes on children, with a view to deter the perpetrators & prevent such crimes against children.

A  centrally  sponsored  scheme  for  setting  up  of  1023  Fast  Track  Special Courts (FTSCs) including 389 Exclusive  POCSO Courts is implemented by the Department of Justice(DoJ), for expeditious trial and disposal of rape and POCSO cases. As informed by DoJ, 640 FTSCs including 338 exclusive POCSO Courts have become functional in 26  States/UTs  by  May,  2021,  which  disposed  50,  484  pending  cases  till  May,  2021. Goa  and  J&K  are  yet  to  operationalize  FTSCs.  West  Bengal,  Andaman  &  Nicobar island and Arunachal Pradesh have still not joined the Scheme. The list of States/UTs where  these  Courts  are  located  is  at  Annexure-I.  The  information  regarding  the appointment  of  Judges  in  special  courts  formed  under  POCSO  Act,  2012  is  not maintained centrally.

The  State/UT-wise  cases  registered  and  cases  pending  trial  at  the  end  of  the  year under POCSO Act, 2012 during 2017-2019 is at Annexure-II.

Annexure-I

THE STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART-(a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1866 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2021 BY SHRI M. SELVARAJ:  AND    SHRI  FEROZE  VARUN  GANDHI  REGARDING  NAME  OF STATES/UTS  WHERE  FTSCS  INCLUDING  POCSO  ARE  OPERATIONAL  (AS  ON 31ST MAY, 2021)

|   S.no | States/UTs        |
|--------|-------------------|
|      1 | Chhattisgarh      |
|      2 | Gujarat           |
|      3 | Mizoram           |
|      4 | Nagaland          |
|      5 | Jharkhand         |
|      6 | Madhya Pradesh    |
|      7 | Manipur           |
|      8 | Haryana           |
|      9 | Chandigarh        |
|     10 | Rajasthan         |
|     11 | Tamil Nadu        |
|     12 | Tripura           |
|     13 | Uttar Pradesh     |
|     14 | Uttarakhand       |
|     15 | Delhi             |
|     16 | Arunachal Pradesh |
|     17 | Bihar             |
|     18 | Assam             |
|     19 | Maharashtra       |
|     20 | Himachal Pradesh  |
|     21 | Karnataka         |
|     22 | Kerala            |
|     23 | Meghalaya         |
|     24 | Odisha            |
|     25 | Punjab            |
|     26 | Telangana         |

Annexure-II THE STATEMENT REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART-(a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1866 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2021 BY SHRI M. SELVARAJ: AND  SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI REGARDING STATE/UT-WISE CASES REGISTERED (CR) AND CASES PENDING TRIAL AT THE END OF THE YEAR (CPTEY) UNDER PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM SEXUAL OFFENCES ACT (POCSO) DURING 2017-2019

|    |                   | 2017   | 2017   | 2018   | 2018   | 2019   | 2019        |
|----|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-------------|
| SL | State/UT          | CR     | CPTEY  | CR     | CPTEY  | CR     | CPTEY       |
| 1  | Andhra Pradesh    | 378    | 1100   | 361    | 1343   | 502    | 1542        |
| 2  | Arunachal Pradesh | 14     | 7      | 24     | 28     | 36     | 52          |
| 3  | Assam             | 1149   | 1506   | 1721   | 2664   | 1779   | 3750        |
| 4  | Bihar             | 1356   | 1431   | 2094   | 2558   | 1540   | 3575        |
| 5  | Chhattisgarh      | 1676   | 3122   | 1812   | 3861   | 2027   | 4799        |
| 6  | Goa               | 0      | 0      | 2      | 2      | 0      | 2           |
| 7  | Gujarat           | 1697   | 5130   | 2154   | 6947   | 2253   | 8604        |
| 8  | Haryana           | 1139   | 1592   | 1924   | 2361   | 2074   | 2962        |
| 9  | Himachal Pradesh  | 8      | 27     | 28     | 47     | 12     | 54          |
| 10 | Jammu & Kashmir   | 0      | 0      | 32     | 24     | 109    | 96          |
| 11 | Jharkhand         | 385    | 495    | 615    | 757    | 654    | 1024        |
| 12 | Karnataka         | 1956   | 4891   | 2036   | 6150   | 2160   | 7137        |
| 13 | Kerala            | 1169   | 2718   | 1153   | 3462   | 1283   | 4216        |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh    | 1569   | 5428   | 2445   | 6808   | 6123   | 9677        |
| 15 | Maharashtra       | 5248   | 18691  | 6233   | 22070  | 6558   | 25807       |
| 16 | Manipur           | 29     | 113    | 43     | 135    | 58     | 189         |
| 17 | Meghalaya         | 242    | 702    | 266    | 847    | 219    | 987         |
| 18 | Mizoram           | 194    | 248    | 138    | 387    | 79     | 398         |
| 19 | Nagaland          | 41     | 49     | 9      | 51     | 12     | 61          |
| 20 | Odisha            | 249    | 1808   | 1887   | 3148   | 2036   | 4798        |
| 21 | Punjab            | 489    | 444    | 411    | 566    | 389    | 606         |
| 22 | Rajasthan         | 1180   | 2860   | 488    | 3032   | 596    | 3152        |
| 23 | Sikkim            | 87     | 107    | 118    | 154    | 91     | 212         |
| 24 | Tamil Nadu        | 1587   | 3547   | 2039   | 4531   | 2396   | 5599        |
| 25 | Telangana         | 1632   | 2484   | 1665   | 3284   | 1998   | 3806        |
| 26 | Tripura           | 139    | 481    | 127    | 569    | 176    | 649         |
| 27 | Uttar Pradesh     | 4895   | 14000  | 5401   | 17161  | 7594   | 23187       |
| 28 | Uttarakhand       | 191    | 409    | 337    | 586    | 369    | 868         |
| 29 | West Bengal       | 2131   | 4159   | 2267   | 6251   | 2267   | 6251        |
|    | TOTAL STATE(S)    | 30830  | 77549  | 37830  | 99784  | 45390  | 124060      |
| 30 | A&N Islands       | 65     | 164    | 69     | 235    | 94     | 291         |
| 31 | Chandigarh        | 3      | 1      | 2      | 2      | 5      | 8           |
| 32 | D&N Haveli        | 12     | 16     | 21     | 21     | 39     | 38          |
| 33 | Daman & Diu       | 5      | 20     | 3      | 23     | 15     | 30          |
| 34 | Delhi             | 1623   | 6255   | 1839   | 7870   | 1719   | 8406        |
| 35 | Lakshadweep       | 4      | 10     | 7      | 17     | 25     | 26          |
|    | Puducherry        | 66     | 128    | 56     | 177    | 48     | 209         |
| 36 |                   |        | 6594   |        |        |        |             |
|    | TOTAL UT(S)       | 1778   |        | 1997   | 8345   | 1945   | 9008 133068 |
|    | TOTAL (ALL INDIA) | 32608  | 84143  | 39827  | 108129 | 47335  |             |

Source: Crime in India

Note : Due to non-receipt of data from West Bengal in time for 2019, Data furnished for 2018 has been used