New Delhi
Despite the strong policy and financial commitment of the central government, 2,43,237 POCSO cases are pending in fast track special courts till January 31, 2023.
Although no new case has been added to this long list, the India Child Protection Fund (ICPF) has revealed that it will take at least nine years to clear these pending cases. And in some states like Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar, the ICPF said it takes more than 25 years to clear the pending cases.
In the research paper ‘Justice Awaits: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Justice Delivery Mechanisms in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse in India’ released by the ICPF, the number of convictions in 2022 is only 3 percent.
Despite the central government’s landmark decision to set up fast-track special courts in 2019 to provide justice to victims of sexual violence, the paper’s findings have thrown a question mark on the effectiveness of the country’s judicial system, saying that despite spending crores every year, child victims are not getting any justice.
Given the current scenario, by January 2023 Arunachal Pradesh will take 30 years to complete the pending cases under POCSO, Delhi 27 years, West Bengal 25, Meghalaya 21, Bihar 26 and Uttar Pradesh 22 years to clear the backlog.
Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) were set up to speed up the trial process of cases related to sexual offences. Especially under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2019. The Central Government has recently approved the continuation of FTSCs. Also 1900 crore rupees have been allocated in the budget for this. The scheme would have given a legal mandate to complete the trial of such cases within a year. Of the total 2,68,038 cases that were still pending, only 8,909 cases resulted in conviction.
