NEW DELHI: Despite the highest sensitivity shown by courts on speeding up rape cases and an existing law that provides for completion of trial of such cases within a year, the pendency of such cases has increased by more than 46% across the country since March 2018 with Delhi reporting the highest percentage increase of 353% during this period.The Union law ministry has collected data from different high courts on all pending rape cases across the country, including those against children. A comparative study between the data reported as of March 2018 and December 2019 show pending cases related to rape and those registered under Protection of Children against Sexual Offences ( Pocso ) Act have increased by over 77,000 — from 1,66,882 to 2,44,001.The highest pendency in absolute terms has been in UP where the number of cases has increased from 36,000 to 67,000 during this period. Maharashtra West Bengal , MP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Delhi, in that order, are among the states that have reported highest pendency of rape cases after UP.Two states, UP and MP, have shown increase in pendency of rape cases by over 80% while Delhi has shown a phenomenal growth of over 353% despite the fact that it has many fast track courts (FTCs) already running to dispose of the pendency.Established laws on rape and Pocso have failed to have any impact on speeding up disposal, it seems. “The Pocso Act mandates that the investigation in the cases involving children is to be completed in two months (from the date of registration of the FIR) and trial in six months. However, despite a strong law and policy framework, large number of rape and Pocso Act cases are pending in various courts in the country,” the law ministry has noted. It has, however, not mentioned for how long these cases have been undergoing trials.TOI had reported on December 7, 2019 that more than 96% of the total 1,66,882 pending rape trials were Pocso Act cases, a grim reminder of the fact that children continue to suffer mental trauma for years due to the delay in justice delivery.Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had then given an assurance to Parliament that all pending rape case, including 1,60,989 Pocso Act cases, would be disposed of within a year. The government set a target of one year, spread over 2019-20 and 2020-21, to complete trial of all these pending cases by setting up 1,023 FTCs across the country.The law ministry, which has received data on all pending rape and Pocso cases from each of the high courts, says there are 389 districts in the country where the number of pending cases under Pocso Act exceeds 100. The government has issued directives to set up a Pocso fast track court in each of these districts, which is also in compliance of a similar directive from the Supreme Court.A Pocso court also has provision for in-camera trial in a child-friendly environment without revealing the identity of children.