The government is planning to set up 1023 fast track courts for sexual offences against women and children. The move comes six years after the implementation of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in November 2012, which mandates establishment of one such court in each district.

Currently, there are only 664 fast track courts operational in the country.

The Law Ministry had moved a note in December 2018 and had sought an annual funding of Rs 767.25 crore to set up the additional courts for two years.

Nirbhaya Fund empowered committee, set up under the Criminal Law amendments Act 2018, has approved the budget allocation. The central government’s share would be Rs 474 crore and rest would have to be borne by the states. An estimated Rs 75 lakh per annum would be spent on each fast track court in a state.

Section 28 (1) of the POCSO Act 2012 stipulates that every district should have an exclusive court to deal with sexual offences against children. However, the states have so far displayed a lack of seriousness in the matter, resulting in accumulation of pending cases filed under the act.

As per a Women and Child Development Ministry spokesperson, so far, only 18 states have come on board for the proposal. These include Maharashtra, Tripura, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Mizoram, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Haryana.

As per the latest National Crime Records Bureau data, there were 1.33 lakh rape cases and 90,205 POCSO cases pending trial at the end of 2016. The conviction rate in cases which went to trial stood at 25.5 per cent and 29.6 per cent, respectively.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Law and Justice and Woman and Child Development Ministry (WCD) have worked on the recommendations which have now been sent to the finance committee.

The implementation of the fast track special courts would be monitored by the MHA. The Ministry of Law and Justice would submit quarterly reports to oversee progress in these cases. The Law Ministry would need to take a decision on the issue of permanency of fast track courts, the government spokesperson said.