{"id":39620,"date":"2025-03-22T19:08:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T13:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=39620"},"modified":"2025-03-22T19:08:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-22T13:38:56","slug":"fast-track-special-courts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/22-03-2025\/fast-track-special-courts","title":{"rendered":"Fast Track Special Courts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Polity, Judiciary&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>With an disposal rate of 96.28%, <strong>Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs<\/strong>) have significantly expedited justice for survivors of sexual crimes by ensuring swift legal proceedings in cases of rape and offenses under the POCSO Act.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012<\/strong> is a gender-neutral law aimed at safeguarding children from sexual crimes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>About: <\/strong>They are dedicated courts set up in India to reduce the pendency of cases involving heinous crimes like rape and child sexual abuse by delivering time-bound justice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Establishment:<\/strong> Initiated in 2019 by the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law &amp; Justice, as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with funding shared between the central and state governments.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>60:40 (Centre:States) for most States\/UTs with Legislature.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>90:10 for Northeastern and Hilly States\/UTs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Target:<\/strong> Under the Scheme, a total of 790 FTSCs, including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) courts, are to be set up.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Each FTSC is expected to dispose of 41-42 cases per quarter and at least 165 cases annually to ensure timely justice and case backlog reduction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court of India in 2019 issued directives for the speedy disposal of POCSO cases as both the <strong>Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the POCSO Act, 2012<\/strong> mandate strict timelines for investigation and trial.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inadequate judicial resources<\/strong> leading to prolonged trials. Delayed justice fails to serve victims and weakens the law&#8217;s deterrent effect.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By speeding up the judicial process, FTSCs help to send a <strong>clear message that society will not tolerate these crimes.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Recommendations by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Continuation of the Scheme:<\/strong> FTSCs must continue, as they are essential for ensuring streamlined and expedited trials in cases of sexual violence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening Judicial Infrastructure:<\/strong> States and High Courts should appoint special judges experienced in handling POCSO cases. Ensure sensitization training for judicial officers and staff.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technological Upgradation of Courtrooms: <\/strong>Equip courtrooms with audio-video recording systems, e-filling of cases &amp; digitization of court records.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Strengthening Forensic Support<\/strong>: Increase the number of Forensic Labs &amp; train manpower with necessary skills.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ensure timely submission of DNA reports, thereby accelerating trials and ensuring fair justice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Establishment of Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres (VWDCs):<\/strong> Set up VWDCs in every district to enable sensitive and child-friendly recording of testimonies.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Appoint a child psychologist at every FTSC to assist victims through the pre-trial and trial processes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2113344\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>PIB<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With an disposal rate of 96.28%, Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) have significantly expedited justice for survivors of sexual crimes by ensuring swift legal proceedings in cases of rape and offenses under the POCSO Act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39621,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39620\/revisions\/39621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}