Lok Sabha Question No. 3144 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-09
Subject: Fast Track Special Court for POCSO
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Ms Sayani Ghosh

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3144 ANSWERED ON - 09/08/2024

## FAST TRACK SPECIAL COURT FOR POCSO

## 3144 . MS. SAYANI GHOSH:

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

(a) the funds allocated and utilized by the Government under Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) Scheme since its inception, year-wise;

(b)  the  total  number  of  FTSCs  including  exclusive  POCSO Courts  functional across the country, State-wise; and

(c) the number of cases disposed by FTSCs and exclusive POCSO Courts since its inception?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a)  to  (c): Pursuant  to  the  Criminal  Law  Amendment  Act,  2018,  the  Central Government has been implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for setting up of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO Courts since October, 2019 for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases pertaining to Rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, in a time-bound manner.

The Scheme was initially implemented for one year, which was extended upto March, 2023.  The Scheme has now been extended till 31.03.2026, at an outlay of Rs. 1952.23 cr. with Rs. 1207.24 cr. as Central Share to be incurred from Nirbhaya

Fund. The funds are released on CSS pattern (60:40, 90:10) to cover the salaries of 1 Judicial Officer along with 7 support Staff and a Flexi Grant for meeting the dayto-day expenses. Under the FTSCs Scheme, funds are released to the States/UTs on a reimbursement basis, determined by the number of functional courts in State/UT concerned. Since the inception of the scheme, year-wise funds allocated and released by the Central Government under FTSCs Scheme are as below:

(Rs. in crore)

| Financial Year   |   Budget Allocated | Central share of funds released   |
|------------------|--------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2019-20          |                140 | 140.00                            |
| 2020-21          |                160 | 160.00                            |
| 2021-22          |                180 | 134.55*                           |
| 2022-23          |                200 | 200.00                            |
| 2023-24          |                200 | 200.00                            |
| 2024-25          |                200 | 82.78 (Till date)                 |
| TOTAL            |               1080 | 917.33                            |

*Less funds were released against Budget Allocated in 2021-22 due to COVID and States taking time to on-board the new PFMS System.

As per the information received from the High Courts up to May, 2024, 755 FTSCs including 410 exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts are functional in 30 States/UTs across the country, which have disposed of over 2,53,000 cases. The State-wise details of number of functional Fast Track Special Courts along with the number of cases disposed of as on 31.05.2024 is at Annexure.

## Annexure as referred to in Reply to the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3144 for 09 th  August, 2024

State/UT-wise details of number of functional Fast Track Special Courts along with the number of cases disposed as of May, 2024

| Sl.   |                  | Functional Courts               | Functional Courts   | Cumulative Disposal since the inception of the Scheme   | Cumulative Disposal since the inception of the Scheme   | Cumulative Disposal since the inception of the Scheme   |
|-------|------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| No.   | State/UT         | FTSCs including exclusive POCSO | exclusive POCSO     | FTSCs                                                   | exclusive POCSO                                         | Total                                                   |
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh   | 16                              | 16                  | 0                                                       | 4899                                                    | 4899                                                    |
| 2     | Assam            | 17                              | 17                  | 0                                                       | 5893                                                    | 5893                                                    |
| 3     | Bihar            | 46                              | 46                  | 0                                                       | 11798                                                   | 11798                                                   |
| 4     | Chandigarh       | 1                               | 0                   | 265                                                     | 0                                                       | 265                                                     |
| 5     | Chhattisgarh     | 15                              | 11                  | 924                                                     | 4044                                                    | 4968                                                    |
| 6     | Delhi            | 16                              | 11                  | 555                                                     | 1262                                                    | 1817                                                    |
| 7     | Goa              | 1                               | 0                   | 32                                                      | 34                                                      | 66                                                      |
| 8     | Gujarat          | 35                              | 24                  | 2263                                                    | 9793                                                    | 12056                                                   |
| 9     | Haryana          | 16                              | 12                  | 1572                                                    | 4675                                                    | 6247                                                    |
| 10    | Himachal Pradesh | 6                               | 3                   | 416                                                     | 1126                                                    | 1542                                                    |
| 11    | J&K              | 4                               | 2                   | 91                                                      | 101                                                     | 192                                                     |
| 12    | Jharkhand        | 22                              | 16                  | 2279                                                    | 4537                                                    | 6816                                                    |
| 13    | Karnataka        | 31                              | 17                  | 3740                                                    | 6657                                                    | 10397                                                   |
| 14    | Kerala           | 55                              | 14                  | 13530                                                   | 6123                                                    | 19653                                                   |
| 15    | Madhya Pradesh   | 67                              | 57                  | 3894                                                    | 22456                                                   | 26350                                                   |
| 16    | Maharashtra      | 14                              | 7                   | 7258                                                    | 11530                                                   | 18788                                                   |
| 17    | Manipur          | 2                               | 0                   | 146                                                     | 0                                                       | 146                                                     |
| 18    | Meghalaya        | 5                               | 5                   | 0                                                       | 462                                                     | 462                                                     |
| 19    | Mizoram          | 3                               | 1                   | 148                                                     | 55                                                      | 203                                                     |
| 20    | Nagaland         | 1                               | 0                   | 61                                                      | 3                                                       | 64                                                      |
| 21    | Odisha           | 44                              | 23                  | 4992                                                    | 9521                                                    | 14513                                                   |
| 22    | Puducherry       | 1                               | 1                   | 0                                                       | 83                                                      | 83                                                      |
| 23    | Punjab           | 12                              | 3                   | 2055                                                    | 2061                                                    | 4116                                                    |
| 24    | Rajasthan        | 45                              | 30                  | 4502                                                    | 10138                                                   | 14640                                                   |
| 25    | Tamil Nadu       | 14                              | 14                  | 0                                                       | 7225                                                    | 7225                                                    |
| 26    | Telangana        | 36                              | 0                   | 5993                                                    | 2731                                                    | 8724                                                    |
| 27    | Tripura          | 3                               | 1                   | 203                                                     | 186                                                     | 389                                                     |
| 28    | Uttarakhand      | 4                               | 0                   | 1614                                                    | 0                                                       | 1614                                                    |
| 29    | Uttar Pradesh    | 218                             | 74                  | 34091                                                   | 34998                                                   | 69089                                                   |
| 30    | West Bengal      | 5                               | 5                   | 0                                                       | 106                                                     | 106                                                     |
|       | TOTAL            | 755                             | 410                 | 90624                                                   | 162497                                                  | 253121                                                  |