Lok Sabha Question No. 102 (STARRED), answered on 2024-02-09
Subject: Fast Track Special Courts
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Sunil Kumar Singh, Khagen Murmu

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

## LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO. *102 ANSWERED ON - 09/02/2024

## FAST TRACK SPECIAL COURTS

- *102 . SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH: SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:

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

- (a) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  implement  the  Fast  Track  Special Courts scheme;
- (b) the details of the Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Courts operational in the country;
- (c) the number of cases resolved thereon so far, court-wise and State-wise;
- (d) the key achievements and outcomes of the Scheme;
- (e) the rate of disposal in rape and POCSO Act cases; and
- (f) whether the Government has made any assessment of the functioning of the FTSC scheme, if so, the details thereof?

## 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) to (f) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *102 FOR THE 09 th  FEBRUARY, 2024 REGARDING 'FAST TRACK SPECIAL COURTS'

(a)  to  (c): 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 timebound manner.

The  scheme  was  initially  for  one  year,  which  was  further  extended  up  to March, 2023. The Union Cabinet has extended the Scheme for another three years, from 01.04.2023 to 31.03.2026, at a total outlay of Rs. 1952.23 cr. including Rs. 1207.24 cr. as Central Share to be incurred from Nirbhaya Fund.

As per data submitted by various High Courts, up to December 2023, 757 FTSCs including 411 exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts are functional in 30 States/UTs across the country which have disposed of more than 2,14,000 cases. State-wise details of number of functional Fast Track Special Courts along with the number of cases disposed of as on 31.12.2023 is placed at Annexure-I.

(d)   : Setting up Fast Track Special Courts demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the Government towards women security, combating sexual and gender-based violence, reducing the backlog of pending cases related to Rape & POCSO Act, and providing expeditious access to justice  for survivors  of  sexual crimes. With professional and experienced judges and support staff specialized in handling sensitive sexual offense cases, these courts ensure consistent and expertguided legal proceedings offering victims of sexual offences swift resolutions in mitigating the trauma and distress, and enabling them to move forward. Fast Track Special  Courts  have  notably  adopted  the  approach  of  setting  up  Vulnerable

Witness Deposition Centres within the courts to facilitate the victims and to make the courts into Child-friendly Courts for providing crucial support for a compassionate  legal  system.  These  courts  have  disposed  of  more  than  2,14,000 cases as of December 31, 2023.

(e) :  As  per  the  information  provided  by  the  High  Courts  on  the  FTSCs dashboard,  a  total  of  81,471  cases  were  newly  instituted  from  January,  2023  to December,  2023,  while  76,319  cases  have  been  disposed  of  during  the  period, resulting in a disposal rate of 93.6%.

The State/UT-wise disposal of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) since the inception of the Scheme is given at Annexure-II.

(f) :  A third-party evaluation of the Scheme was carried out by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in the year 2023 which has inter-alia recommended for continuation of the scheme. The recommendations given by IIPA, are as under:

- IIPA strongly  recommended the continuation  of this  scheme as  its  primary objective is to handle cases of sexual offences against women and children through a streamlined and expedited judicial process.
- To  expedite  trials,  States  and  High  Courts  must  strengthen  parameters, including appointing Special Judges experienced in POCSO cases, ensuring sensitization training, and appointing female public prosecutors.
- The courtrooms need to be upgraded with modern technology, such as audio and  video  recording  systems  and  LCD  projectors.  To  be  at  par  with  the current evolving technologies, the court could enhance IT systems including electronic case filing and digitalization of court records.
- Forensic  Labs  to  increase  and  to  train  manpower  to  expedite  the  pending cases  in  courts  and  ensure  timely  submission  of  DNA  Reports.  It  will  not only help the skilled manpower to assist the scientist and reporting officers but moreover will help to give a fair and speedy justice.
- Vulnerable  Witness  Deposition  Centers  (VWDCs)  should  be  established  in all  districts  to  facilitate  a  better  process  of  recording  victim  testimonies, thereby  initiating  a  smoother  court  proceeding.  The  States  should  take initiative  to  conduct  the  trial  in  a  way  that  is  child-friendly,  behind  closed doors  without  disclosing  the  child's  identity.  Further,  every  FTSC  should have a child psychologist to assist the child with rigorous pre-trial and trial procedures

## Annexures as referred to in Reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *102 for 09.02.2024

## Annexure-I

## State/UT-wise number of functional FTSCs and cumulative disposal of cases as of December, 2023

|         |                  | Functional Courts       | Functional Courts   | Cumulative Disposal since the inception of the Scheme   |
|---------|------------------|-------------------------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No. | State/UT         | FTSCs including e-POCSO | e-POCSO             |                                                         |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh   | 16                      | 16                  | 4083                                                    |
| 2       | Assam            | 17                      | 17                  | 4979                                                    |
| 3       | Bihar            | 46                      | 46                  | 9939                                                    |
| 4       | Chandigarh       | 1                       | 0                   | 244                                                     |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh     | 15                      | 11                  | 4377                                                    |
| 6       | Delhi            | 16                      | 11                  | 1503                                                    |
| 7       | Goa              | 1                       | 0                   | 44                                                      |
| 8       | Gujarat          | 35                      | 24                  | 10295                                                   |
| 9       | Haryana          | 16                      | 12                  | 5342                                                    |
| 10      | Himachal Pradesh | 6                       | 3                   | 1282                                                    |
| 11      | J&K              | 4                       | 2                   | 151                                                     |
| 12      | Jharkhand        | 22                      | 16                  | 5822                                                    |
| 13      | Karnataka        | 31                      | 17                  | 8897                                                    |
| 14      | Kerala           | 54                      | 14                  | 16878                                                   |
| 15      | Madhya Pradesh   | 67                      | 57                  | 23613                                                   |
| 16      | Maharashtra      | 19                      | 10                  | 16907                                                   |
| 17      | Manipur          | 2                       | 0                   | 127                                                     |
| 18      | Meghalaya        | 5                       | 5                   | 382                                                     |
| 19      | Mizoram          | 3                       | 1                   | 169                                                     |
| 20      | Nagaland         | 1                       | 0                   | 57                                                      |
| 21      | Odisha           | 44                      | 23                  | 11960                                                   |
| 22      | Puducherry       | 1                       | 1                   | 44                                                      |
| 23      | Punjab           | 12                      | 3                   | 3565                                                    |
| 24      | Rajasthan        | 45                      | 30                  | 13003                                                   |
| 25      | Tamil Nadu       | 14                      | 14                  | 6228                                                    |
| 26      | Telangana        | 36                      | 0                   | 7799                                                    |
| 27      | Tripura          | 3                       | 1                   | 349                                                     |
| 28      | Uttarakhand      | 4                       | 0                   | 1355                                                    |
| 29      | Uttar Pradesh    | 218                     | 74                  | 55021                                                   |
| 30      | West Bengal      | 3                       | 3                   | 48                                                      |
|         | TOTAL            | 757                     | 411                 | 214463                                                  |

## State/UT-wise Disposal of cases in FTSCs as of December, 2023

| Sl. No.   | State/UT         |   Total cases instituted since inception of the Scheme |   Cumulative disposal since inception of the Scheme |   Cumulative pendency |
|-----------|------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh   |                                                  11314 |                                                4083 |                  7231 |
| 2         | Assam            |                                                  10186 |                                                4979 |                  5207 |
| 3         | Bihar            |                                                  27655 |                                                9939 |                 17716 |
| 4         | Chandigarh       |                                                    447 |                                                 244 |                   203 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh     |                                                   6641 |                                                4377 |                  2264 |
| 6         | Delhi            |                                                   5313 |                                                1503 |                  3810 |
| 7         | Goa              |                                                    200 |                                                  44 |                   156 |
| 8         | Gujarat          |                                                  16633 |                                               10295 |                  6338 |
| 9         | Haryana          |                                                   9541 |                                                5342 |                  4199 |
| 10        | Himachal Pradesh |                                                   2116 |                                                1282 |                   834 |
| 11        | J&K              |                                                    604 |                                                 151 |                   453 |
| 12        | Jharkhand        |                                                  10308 |                                                5822 |                  4486 |
| 13        | Karnataka        |                                                  14311 |                                                8897 |                  5414 |
| 14        | Kerala           |                                                  24279 |                                               16878 |                  7401 |
| 15        | Madhya Pradesh   |                                                  33806 |                                               23613 |                 10193 |
| 16        | Maharashtra      |                                                  21262 |                                               16907 |                  4355 |
| 17        | Manipur          |                                                    221 |                                                 127 |                    94 |
| 18        | Meghalaya        |                                                   1443 |                                                 382 |                  1061 |
| 19        | Mizoram          |                                                    258 |                                                 169 |                    89 |
| 20        | Nagaland         |                                                    108 |                                                  57 |                    51 |
| 21        | Odisha           |                                                  23020 |                                               11960 |                 11060 |
| 22        | Puducherry       |                                                    265 |                                                  44 |                   221 |
| 23        | Punjab           |                                                   5003 |                                                3565 |                  1438 |
| 24        | Rajasthan        |                                                  19125 |                                               13003 |                  6122 |
| 25        | Tamil Nadu       |                                                  10668 |                                                6228 |                  4440 |
| 26        | Telangana        |                                                  16262 |                                                7799 |                  8463 |
| 27        | Tripura          |                                                    591 |                                                 349 |                   242 |
| 28        | Uttarakhand      |                                                   2263 |                                                1355 |                   908 |
| 29        | Uttar Pradesh    |                                                 139799 |                                               55021 |                 84778 |
| 30        | West Bengal      |                                                   2996 |                                                  48 |                  2948 |
|           | TOTAL            |                                                 416638 |                                              214463 |                202175 |