Lok Sabha Question No. 1467 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-10
Subject: Time Limit for Disposal of Cases of Offence against Children and Women
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Chandeshwar Prasad, Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt, Gopal Chinayya Shetty

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1467 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 10 th FEBRUARY, 2023

Time Limit for Disposal of Cases of Offence against Children and Women

## 1467.  SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD: SHRIMATI RANJANBEN DHANANJAY BHATT: SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

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

- (a) whether many cases of sexual offences/harassments against children and women are pending in various courts of the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  fix  any  time-limit  to  ensure speedy/early disposal of cases such as rapes, sexual offences and harassments etc. against women and children;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the time by which it is likely to be enforced;
- (d) if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether in view of the increasing number of courts cases, the Government proposes to take any steps to categorise the cases to be disposed of early or in a fixed time period; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a): As per information made available by High Courts, 3,56,491 cases related to  rape  and  offences  under  POCSO  (Protection  of  Children  from  Sexual Offences) Act, were pending as on 31 st December 2022 in various courts of the country. Details of such cases pending in various courts of the country is given at Annexure -I.

(b) to (f): To ensure speedy/early disposal of cases related to sexual offences against women & children, a time limit of 2 months each for investigation and trial  is  prescribed  through  the  Criminal  Law  (Amendment)  Act,  2018  vide Sections  173(1A)  and  Section  309  of  Cr  PC.  Though  investigation  and  trial comes under the domain of State Governments and Judiciary, efforts are made to ensure compliance of these provisions through regular review meetings taken by Department of Justice with functionaries of States and High Courts and also through Inter-State Council Secretariat Meetings held on regular basis. Further, in pursuance to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018, and the direction of Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Suo Moto 1/2019 dated 25.7.2019, Union of India started a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in October, 2019 for setting up of 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) in 31 States/UTs for expeditious trial and disposal of cases related to rape and POCSO Act. Initially, the Scheme was for  1  year  which  has  been  continued  up  to  31.03.2023.    As  per  information received  from  the  High  Courts,  768 FTSCs  including  418  exclusive  POCSO Courts  are  operationalized  in  28  States/UTs  as  on  31.12.2022  which  have disposed  more  than  1,37,000  Cases.  For  FTSCs,  Central  Government  has released an amount of Rs.140 Cr. in FY 2019-20, Rs.160.00 Cr in FY 2020-21, Rs.134.56  Cr.,  in  FY  2021-22  and  Rs.186.93  Cr.  during  the  current  financial year  up  to  31/1/2023  to  various  States/UTs.  The  details  of  functional  FTSCs, State/UT-wise, is placed at Annexure-II.

As per the Scheme of FTSCs, each such Court is expected to dispose 165 cases in a year for which State/UT Governments have been kept informed.

***

## Annexure-I

## Annexure for Lok Sabha Unstarred Question Number 1467 to be replied on 10/2/2023

## Details of cases related to sexual offences of rape and POCSO Act, pending in various courts of the country (As on 31 st December, 2022)

| S.No   | Name of the States/UTs   |   No. of Cases pending as on December -2022 |
|--------|--------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh           |                                        9081 |
| 2      | A&N Island               |                                           0 |
| 3      | Arunachal Pradesh        |                                         490 |
| 4      | Assam                    |                                       10939 |
| 5      | Bihar                    |                                       22592 |
| 6      | Chandigarh               |                                         233 |
| 7      | Chhattisgarh             |                                        7637 |
| 8      | Dadra & Nagar Haveli     |                                          58 |
| 9      | Delhi                    |                                       11570 |
| 10     | Diu & Daman              |                                          59 |
| 11     | Goa                      |                                         177 |
| 12     | Gujarat                  |                                       12043 |
| 13     | Haryana                  |                                        6807 |
| 14     | Himachal Pradesh         |                                        1729 |
| 15     | Jammu & Kashmir          |                                        2171 |
| 16     | Jharkhand                |                                        6797 |
| 17     | Karnataka                |                                        8008 |
| 18     | Kerala                   |                                       13806 |
| 19     | Ladakh                   |                                           3 |
| 20     | Lakshadweep              |                                          44 |
| 21     | Madhya Pradesh           |                                       17115 |
| 22     | Maharashtra              |                                       44741 |
| 23     | Manipur                  |                                         130 |
| 24     | Meghalaya                |                                        2305 |
| 25     | Mizoram                  |                                         354 |
| 26     | Nagaland                 |                                           0 |
| 27     | Odisha                   |                                       18791 |
| 28     | Puducherry               |                                         353 |
| 29     | Punjab                   |                                        2982 |
| 30     | Rajasthan                |                                       18383 |
| 31     | Sikkim                   |                                          15 |
| 32     | Tamil Nadu               |                                       22153 |
| 33     | Telangana                |                                       12587 |
| 34     | Tripura                  |                                         757 |
| 35     | Uttar Pradesh            |                                       62010 |
| 36     | Uttarakhand              |                                        2625 |
| 37     | West Bengal              |                                       36946 |
|        | Total                    |                                      356491 |

## Annexure-II

## Annexure for Lok Sabha Unstarred Question Number 1467 to be replied on 10/2/2023

## Status of Functional FTSCs (As on 31/12/2022)

| S.NO.   | State/UT         | FTSCs including ePOCSO   | Exclusive POCSO Courts (Out of Col. 3)   |
|---------|------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| (1) 1   | (2) Chhattisgarh | (3) 15                   | (4) 11                                   |
| 2       | Gujarat          | 35                       |                                          |
| 3       | Mizoram          | 3                        | 24                                       |
| 4       |                  |                          | 1                                        |
|         | Nagaland         | 1                        | 0                                        |
| 5       | Jharkhand        | 22                       | 16                                       |
| 6       | Madhya Pradesh   | 67                       | 57                                       |
| 7       | Manipur          | 2                        | 0                                        |
| 8       | Haryana          | 16                       | 12                                       |
| 9       | Chandigarh       | 1                        | 0                                        |
| 10      | Rajasthan        | 45                       | 30                                       |
| 11      | Tamil Nadu       | 14                       | 14                                       |
| 12      | Tripura          | 3                        | 1                                        |
| 13      | Uttar Pradesh    | 218                      | 74                                       |
| 14      | Uttarakhand      | 4                        | 0                                        |
| 15      | Delhi            | 16                       | 11                                       |
| 16      | Meghalaya        | 5                        | 5                                        |
| 17      | J&K              | 4                        | 2                                        |
| 18      | Punjab           | 12                       | 3                                        |
| 19      | Himachal P       | 6                        | 3                                        |
| 20      | Telangana        | 34                       | 0                                        |
| 21      | Andhra Pradesh   | 14                       | 14                                       |
| 22      | Bihar            | 48                       | 48                                       |
| 23      | Assam            | 17                       | 17                                       |
| 24      | Maharashtra      | 39                       | 20                                       |
| 25      | Karnataka        | 30                       | 17                                       |
| 26      | Kerala           | 52                       | 14                                       |
| 27      | Odisha           | 44                       | 23                                       |
| 28      | Goa              | 1                        | 1                                        |
|         | TOTAL            | 768                      | 418                                      |