- India
- Nov 05
- Sreesha V.M
Cabinet clears Rs 3,788 crore to strengthen Fast Track Special Courts
• The Union Cabinet approved the continuation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO courts, for a further period of five years.
• The primary beneficiaries of the scheme are women and children who are victims of rape and offences under the POCSO Act, 2012.
• The scheme is proposed to be expanded to cover up to 850 FTSCs.
• This expansion is intended to include additional districts, which shall be identified on the basis of the pendency of rape and POCSO Act cases.
What is the scheme about?
• Incidents of sexual offences and prolonged trials of accused necessitated dedicated court machinery to provide immediate relief to the victims.
• The key motive behind introducing harsh punishment is to create deterrence, but it is only possible if trials are completed within the time frame and justice is delivered expeditiously to the victims.
• The Supreme Court took up the issue of “completion of timely investigations and consequential trials in the offences under POCSO Act” in suo moto writ petition and issued several directions in this regard on July 25, 2019.
• It highlighted that in each district of the country, if there were more than 100 cases under the POCSO Act, an exclusive/designated special court will be set up which will try no other offence except those under the POCSO Act.
• A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the establishment of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO courts for expeditious disposal of rape and POCSO Act cases was introduced in October 2019, following the enactment of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and the order of the Supreme Court.
• These courts are dedicated to the time-bound trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and crimes under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
• As per the existing scheme, 790 courts are to be set up out of which 779 courts are functional as on October 30, 2026.
• The funds are released on the pattern of Centrally Sponsored Scheme to cover the salaries of one judicial officer along with seven support staff and a flexi grant for meeting the day-to-day expenses per court.
• Hence, the sanctioned judicial strength is one judicial officer per functional court for 775 courts.
• Setting up of more courts is to be decided by the participating states/UTs in consultation with their respective High Courts, taking into account the number of cases pending.
• The primary responsibility for the development of infrastructure facilities for District and Subordinate Courts rests with the state/UT governments.
Major features of the expanded scheme:
• Continuation of the scheme for five years — from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2031.
• The scheme has a total financial outlay of Rs 3,788.04 crore (central share of Rs 2,353.15 crore and state/UT share of Rs 1,434.89 crore).
• The central share will be funded from the Nirbhaya Fund.
• The scheme has provision of operationalisation of 850 FTSCs, including exclusive POCSO courts, across various participating states/Union Territories.
Impact of the scheme
• By prioritising cases involving vulnerable groups (women and children), the scheme intends to reduce inequalities in access to justice.
• With professional and experienced judges and support staff specialised in handling sensitive sexual offense cases, these courts ensure consistent and expert-guided legal proceedings and offer victims swift resolution for mitigating the trauma and distress.
• The FTSCs have adopted the approach of setting up Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres within the courts to facilitate the victims and to make the courts child-friendly.
• As per the inputs received from the High Courts, the disposal rate of rape and POCSO Act cases in FTSCs appears to be significantly higher than in regular courts.
• While the average disposal rate of rape and POCSO Act cases in regular courts is estimated at 3.26 cases per court per month, FTSCs achieve an average of 9.51 cases per court per month. This suggests an enhanced efficiency in case disposal through FTSCs.
(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)