Supreme Court

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court , which is attempting to craft a ‘ zero tolerance policy ’ on child rape incidents and sexual assault of minors in India, on Monday said the situation in the national capital appeared grim as it recorded 729 such cases in the last six months, or at least four cases every day.

“Let us take into account what is happening in the national capital. Police registered 729 such cases of which 260, or 36%, are still under investigation. Police have filed chargesheet in 469 cases, in which trial has not commenced in 297 cases, trial has begun in 170 cases and only in two cases the trial has been completed,” a bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta said.

Amicus curiae V Giri stressed on the need for separate courts for POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act and child rape cases as judicial officers and public prosecutor would require special training to handle such cases. He said POCSO Act mandated completion of trial in two months, but no state had reported compliance of this deadline in any case.

Justice Gupta said, “There is limited number of forensic laboratories, which hinders speedy investigation. Moreover, the designated POCSO courts are in the same court complex which decides criminal and civil cases. The idea was to provide a less stressful atmosphere to abused children and their parents. The special POCSO courts must be set up at a place away from court complexes. Just putting up a few pictures on the courtroom walls do not create the required ambience.”

The CJI, on whose initiative this case was registered as a suo motu PIL, said, “Delhi is the place where people are expected to be sensitised in the best possible manner. But if this is the ground reality here, we must find a solution fast rather than stressing on the problem.”

The bench asked the amicus curiae to coordinate with the registries of high courts to collect district-wise data on child rape incidents and cases under POCSO Act and collate them so as to enable the court to take a holistic approach to evolve a “zero tolerance policy” towards sexual crimes against children.

Though solicitor general Tushar Mehta had promised the court on Thursday of full assistance in this endeavour, his absence during the proceedings was noticed by the CJI, who said the SG might have been busy in another court. The bench fixed the next hearing on July 25.

In the last six months, police registered 24,212 FIRs across India on incidents of child sexual abuse. Of these, 11,981 cases are still under investigation, while in 12,231 cases, the police have filed chargesheets. But trial has commenced only in 6,449 cases while it is yet to commence in 4,871 cases. Trial courts have decided only 911 cases, or just 4% of the total.

Uttar Pradesh topped the list with police registering FIRs in 3,457 incidents of child sexual abuse. More than 50% of cases, or 1,779 FIRs, are still under investigation. Madhya Pradesh recorded 2,389 such incidents but appeared prompt in investigating the cases by filing chargesheets in 1,841 cases and courts completed trial in 247 cases.

Other states where police recorded large number of child rape incidents are Rajasthan 1,992; Maharashtra 1,940; West Bengal 1,551; Chhattisgarh 1,285; Karnataka 1,133; Gujarat 1,124; Tamil Nadu 1,043; Kerala 1,012; Odisha 1,005; Telangana 928 and Assam 904. Nagaland recorded the lowest number of child sexual abuse cases at nine.

