National Mission for Safety of Women
Incidents of rape and gang rape of minor girls below the age of twelve years and similar heinous crimes against women have shaken the conscience of the entire nation. Therefore, the offences of rape and gang rape of women and children require effective deterrence through fast and time-bound completion of the trial relating to sexual offences. To bring out more stringent provisions and expeditious trial and disposal of such cases, the Union of India enacted the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018.
The has taken up work of setting up of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) as a part of the National Mission for Safety of Women (NMSW). Accordingly, the Central Government has started a scheme for setting up of 1023 FTSCs across the country based on the pendency of subject cases obtained from various High Courts (1,66,882 numbers as on 31.03.2018) for time-bound trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and POCSO Act. Further, in pursuance to the direction of Supreme Court of India in Suo Moto Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 01/2019 dated 25.07.2019, out of 1023 FTSCs, 389 Courts have been proposed to be set up exclusively for POCSO Act related cases in Districts where pendency of such cases is more than 100. The Scheme was circulated to all concerned State Governments/ Union Territories Administrations in September 2019.
Out of total 31 States and UTs, so far, 24 have joined this scheme (Andhara Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, NCT of Delhi, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, UT of Chandigarh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh) for setting up of 792 numbers of FTSCs/ including 354 exclusive POCSO courts. Efforts are constantly being made to obtain consent/willingness of remaining States/UTs.
Ministry Of Law & Justice
[Press Release dt. 09-01-2020]
[Source: PIB]