775 Fast Track Special Courts for rape, POCSO disposed 66,500 cases in 2025: Arjun Ram Meghwal
New Delhi, July 24
As many as 775 Fast Track Special Courts, including 398 exclusive POCSO Courts, functional in 29 States/UTs disposed 66,500 cases in 2025, with 2.45 lakh cases still pending at the end of the calendar year, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal, in reply to a question, said that in 2024 the FTSCs disposed 85,595 cases and in 2023 they disposed 76,319 cases.
The backlog of cases in these courts till December 31 of the respective years stood at 2.04 lakh in 2024 and 2.02 lakh in 2023, he said.
Meghwal said the Centrally Sponsored Scheme to set up FTSCs was launched in October 2019 for the expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
The Scheme has been extended twice, with the last extension valid up to March 31, 2026, for establishment of 790 FTSCs. The Scheme has been temporarily extended up to
September 30, 2026, said the Union Minister.
He said funds under the FTSC Scheme are released on the pattern of Centrally Sponsored Scheme to cover the salaries of one Judicial Officer, along with seven support Staff, per FTSC and a Flexi Grant for meeting the day-to-day expenses.
Meghwal said the funds are reimbursed to the States/UTs after receipt of the expenditure statements from them. The Department has released a sum of Rs1,259.51 crore to the States/UTs since its inception to ensure the smooth functioning of the courts.
He also shared information on another Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for District and Subordinate Courts by providing financial assistance to the State/UT Governments in the prescribed fund sharing between Centre and States since 1993-94.
At present, there are five components of the Scheme for which Central assistance is granted to the States/UTs - Court Halls, Residential Units, Lawyers' Halls, Toilet Complexes and Digital Computer Rooms, he said.
An amount of Rs 4,519.47 crore has been provided as financial assistance to the States/UTs under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the Development of Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary during the XV Finance Commission cycle, he said.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Finally some concrete action! 66,500 cases disposed in one year is no joke. But we can't stop here - every child deserves justice quickly. POCSO cases especially need sensitivity training for judges. Kudos to the judiciary for working with limited resources. 👏
While I appreciate the effort, these courts need to be accessible in rural areas too. My cousin in a small town had to travel 200 km for a POCSO hearing. The system needs decentralization. Also, why do funds release depend on expenditure reports? Should be faster!
Impressive disposal rate but the backlog keeps growing. The infrastructure scheme mentioned is crucial - we need proper court halls, digital rooms, and lawyers' halls in every district. Money isn't the only answer; we need better case management systems too. 🤔
As a lawyer handling these cases, I can say the pressure on judges is immense. But we need more than 790 FTSCs - India has over 4.5 crore pending cases overall. The POCSO Act is good but implementation takes time. At least the government is showing commitment. 👩⚖️
Numbers don't tell the whole story. In many cases, victims withdraw due to social pressure. Courts alone can't solve this. We need community awareness and psychosocial support. But good that Centre is funding salaries - that's a big step towards making courts functional.
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