Lok Sabha Question No. 1229 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-09
Subject: POCSO Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Rajeshbhai Naranbhai Chudasama

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

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1229 ANSWERED ON - 09/02/2024

## POCSO COURTS

## 1229 . SHRI RAJESHBHAI CHUDASAMA:

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

- (a) the number of POCSO courts, State-wise and district-wise;
- (b) the details of the progress made by POCSO courts in last five years;
- (c) the number of POCSO courts that have Video Conferencing system, State-wise;
- (d) the number of Judicial Magistrate courts that are equipped with audio-video facilities for recording statements of child victims under POCSO, State-wise; and
- (e) the number of POCSO courts that have been equipped with vulnerable witness safeguards?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE

(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)

(a) & (b) : Pursuant to the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2018, the Central Government is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for setting up of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts since October, 2019 for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases pertaining to Rape and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in a time-bound manner. As per the data submitted by High Courts, 757 FTSCs including  411  exclusive  POCSO  (e-POCSO)  Courts  are  functional  in  30  States/UTs,  as  on 31.12.2023. These courts have disposed of more than 2,14,000 cases since the inception of the Scheme, while more than 2,02,000 cases are pending.

Against the initial mandate of setting up 389 e-POCSO courts, 411 e-POCSO Courts have been made functional across the country. These courts have disposed of more than 1,38,000 cases since  the  inception  of  the  Scheme,  while  more  than  1,34,945  cases  remain  pending  as on 31.12.2023. State-wise total number of functional exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts along with the cumulative disposal and pendency of e-POCSO cases since the inception of the Scheme are given at Annexure -I .

(c) & (d) : In e-Courts Mission Mode Project, during Phase I of the project video conferencing facility has been operationalized between 488 court complexes & 342 corresponding jails. In eCourts Phase II of the project, one video conference equipment each has been provided to all Court Complexes including taluk level courts and funds have been sanctioned for additional VC equipment for 14,443 court rooms (High Court wise details attached at Annexure-II ). Funds for setting  up  2506  VC  Cabins  have  been  made  available  (High  Court  wise  details  attached  at Annexure-III ). Additional 1500 VC Licenses have been procured to promote virtual hearings. VC  facilities  are  already  enabled  between  3240  court  complexes.  These  VC  facilities  are available in the Court Complexes for the use of all courts, including FTSC and    e-Pocso courts.

India  has  emerged  as  a  global  leader  in  conducting  court  hearing  through  Video Conferencing. The District & Subordinate courts, till 31.12.2023, have heard 2,17,99,976 cases using video conferencing system. Funds amounting to Rs.5.012 crore and Rs.28.886 crore have also been released for 2506 VC cabins and VC equipments for 14,443 courtrooms, respectively.

(e) : FTSCs have adopted the approach of setting up Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres within the court complexes for facilitation of the victims and making the courts child-friendly thereby providing crucial support for a compassionate legal system. The State/UT-wise details of  POCSO  courts  that  have  been  equipped  with  vulnerable  witness  safeguards  are  given  at Annexure -IV .

## Annexures as referred to in Reply to the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1229 for 9 th  February, 2024

## Annexure-I

State/UT-wise functional e-POCSO courts and cumulative disposal of e-POCSO cases as of December, 2023

|         |                  | Functional Courts       | Functional Courts   | Cumulative Disposal of e- POCSO cases since the   |                                      |
|---------|------------------|-------------------------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Sl. No. | State/UT         | FTSCs including e-POCSO | e-POCSO             | inception of the Scheme                           | Cumulative Pendency of e-POCSO cases |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh   | 16                      | 16                  | 4083                                              | 7231                                 |
| 2       | Assam            | 17                      | 17                  | 4979                                              | 5207                                 |
| 3       | Bihar            | 46                      | 46                  | 9939                                              | 17716                                |
| 4       | Chandigarh       | 1                       | 0                   | 0                                                 | 0                                    |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh     | 15                      | 11                  | 3614                                              | 1809                                 |
| 6       | Delhi            | 16                      | 11                  | 1034                                              | 2744                                 |
| 7       | Goa              | 1                       | 0                   | 34                                                | 0                                    |
| 8       | Gujarat          | 35                      | 24                  | 8273                                              | 4843                                 |
| 9       | Haryana          | 16                      | 12                  | 3982                                              | 3100                                 |
| 10      | Himachal Pradesh | 6                       | 3                   | 967                                               | 383                                  |
| 11      | J&K              | 4                       | 2                   | 70                                                | 324                                  |
| 12      | Jharkhand        | 22                      | 16                  | 3809                                              | 3278                                 |
| 13      | Karnataka        | 31                      | 17                  | 5894                                              | 3145                                 |
| 14      | Kerala           | 54                      | 14                  | 5165                                              | 2148                                 |
| 15      | Madhya Pradesh   | 67                      | 57                  | 20092                                             | 7671                                 |
| 16      | Maharashtra      | 19                      | 10                  | 10221                                             | 2010                                 |
| 17      | Manipur          | 2                       | 0                   | 0                                                 | 0                                    |
| 18      | Meghalaya        | 5                       | 5                   | 382                                               | 1061                                 |
| 19      | Mizoram          | 3                       | 1                   | 48                                                | 34                                   |
| 20      | Nagaland         | 1                       | 0                   | 3                                                 | 0                                    |
| 21      | Odisha           | 44                      | 23                  | 7950                                              | 6930                                 |
| 22      | Puducherry       | 1                       | 1                   | 44                                                | 221                                  |
| 23      | Punjab           | 12                      | 3                   | 1902                                              | 429                                  |
| 24      | Rajasthan        | 45                      | 30                  | 9009                                              | 5016                                 |
| 25      | Tamil Nadu       | 14                      | 14                  | 6228                                              | 4440                                 |
| 26      | Telangana        | 36                      | 0                   | 2731                                              | 0                                    |
| 27      | Tripura          | 3                       | 1                   | 184                                               | 73                                   |
| 28      | Uttarakhand      | 4                       | 0                   | 0                                                 | 0                                    |
| 29      | Uttar Pradesh    | 218                     | 74                  | 28283                                             | 52184                                |
| 30      | West Bengal      | 3                       | 3                   | 48                                                | 2948                                 |
|         | TOTAL            | 757                     | 411                 | 138968                                            | 134945                               |

Annexure-II High Court-wise details of VC equipment for Court Rooms*

| Sl. No.   | High Court       |   Number of Functioning Court Rooms |   Number of VC equipments already provided |   Number of additional equipments to be provided |
|-----------|------------------|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Allahabad        |                                2438 |                                        150 |                                             2288 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh   |                                 550 |                                        212 |                                              338 |
| 3         | Bombay           |                                2178 |                                        486 |                                             1692 |
| 4         | Calcutta         |                                 840 |                                         88 |                                              752 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh     |                                 395 |                                         90 |                                              305 |
| 6         | Delhi            |                                 479 |                                          6 |                                              473 |
| 7         | Gauhati          |                                 442 |                                        194 |                                              248 |
| 8         | Gujarat          |                                1078 |                                        327 |                                              751 |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh |                                 135 |                                         43 |                                               92 |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir   |                                 218 |                                         86 |                                              132 |
| 11        | Jharkhand        |                                 417 |                                         28 |                                              389 |
| 12        | Karnataka        |                                1029 |                                        200 |                                              829 |
| 13        | Kerala           |                                 508 |                                        159 |                                              349 |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh   |                                1274 |                                        203 |                                             1071 |
| 15        | Madras           |                                1169 |                                        267 |                                              902 |
| 16        | Manipur          |                                  38 |                                         37 |                                                1 |
| 17        | Meghalaya        |                                  36 |                                         64 |                                                0 |
| 18        | Orissa           |                                 688 |                                        141 |                                              547 |
| 19        | Patna            |                                1046 |                                         76 |                                              970 |
| 20        | Punjab &Haryana  |                                 972 |                                        118 |                                              854 |
| 21        | Rajasthan        |                                1239 |                                        238 |                                             1001 |
| 22        | Sikkim           |                                  21 |                                         17 |                                                4 |
| 23        | Telangana        |                                 440 |                                        129 |                                              311 |
| 24        | Tripura          |                                  78 |                                         66 |                                               12 |
| 25        | Uttarakhand      |                                 184 |                                         52 |                                              132 |
|           | TOTAL            |                               17892 |                                       3477 |                                            14443 |

## Annexure-III

High Court-wise details for VC Cabins and Connectivity in Court Complexes**

| Sl. No.   | High Court       |   Number of VC Cabins |
|-----------|------------------|-----------------------|
| 1         | Allahabad        |                   438 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh   |                    57 |
| 3         | Bombay           |                   271 |
| 4         | Calcutta         |                   128 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh     |                    58 |
| 6         | Delhi            |                   103 |
| 7         | Gauhati          |                    77 |
| 8         | Gujarat          |                    94 |
| 9         | Himachal Pradesh |                    18 |
| 10        | Jammu &Kashmir   |                    34 |
| 11        | Jharkhand        |                    78 |
| 12        | Karnataka        |                   128 |
| 13        | Kerala           |                    52 |
| 14        | Madhya Pradesh   |                   169 |
| 15        | Madras           |                   140 |
| 16        | Manipur          |                    12 |
| 17        | Meghalaya        |                    11 |
| 18        | Orissa           |                    84 |
| 19        | Patna            |                   171 |
| 20        | Punjab &Haryana  |                   135 |
| 21        | Rajasthan        |                   143 |
| 22        | Sikkim           |                    11 |
| 23        | Telangana        |                    52 |
| 24        | Tripura          |                    17 |
| 25        | Uttarakhand      |                    25 |
|           | TOTAL            |                  2506 |

Annexure-IV

State-wise status of POCSO courts that have been equipped with vulnerable witness safeguards

|   Sl. No. | States/UTs       | Number of POCSO courts that have been equipped with vulnerable witness safeguards                                                          |
|-----------|------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andhra Pradesh   | Temporary set up atADR Centre with video conferencing system/ audio video linkage till permanent VWDCs are established and made functional |
|         2 | Assam            | 10                                                                                                                                         |
|         3 | Bihar            | 42                                                                                                                                         |
|         4 | Chandigarh       | 1                                                                                                                                          |
|         5 | Chhattisgarh     | 36                                                                                                                                         |
|         6 | Delhi            | 35                                                                                                                                         |
|         7 | Goa              | 0                                                                                                                                          |
|         8 | Gujarat          | 26                                                                                                                                         |
|         9 | Haryana          | 14                                                                                                                                         |
|        10 | Himachal Pradesh | 6                                                                                                                                          |
|        11 | J&K              | 7                                                                                                                                          |
|        12 | Jharkhand        | 19                                                                                                                                         |
|        13 | Karnataka        | 31                                                                                                                                         |
|        14 | Kerala           | 18                                                                                                                                         |
|        15 | Madhya Pradesh   | Arrangements have been made inADR building/child-friendly court/mediation centre                                                           |
|        16 | Maharashtra      | 128                                                                                                                                        |
|        17 | Manipur          | 0                                                                                                                                          |
|        18 | Meghalaya        | 9                                                                                                                                          |
|        19 | Mizoram          | 7                                                                                                                                          |
|        20 | Nagaland         | 1                                                                                                                                          |
|        21 | Odisha           | 30                                                                                                                                         |
|        22 | Puducherry       | Data not provided                                                                                                                          |
|        23 | Punjab           | 11                                                                                                                                         |
|        24 | Rajasthan        | 55                                                                                                                                         |
|        25 | Tamil Nadu       | Data not provided                                                                                                                          |
|        26 | Telangana        | 69                                                                                                                                         |
|        27 | Tripura          | 6                                                                                                                                          |
|        28 | Uttar Pradesh    | Interim arrangements have been made in all districts.                                                                                      |
|        29 | Uttarakhand      | 4                                                                                                                                          |
|        30 | West Bengal      | 10                                                                                                                                         |