Bengal Polls: Centre Sanctions 123 Fast-Track Courts For POSCO Act Cases In Bengal

The central government on Monday announced that 123 fast-track courts have been sanctioned for the state of Bengal. The courts will be dealing with cases related to sexual offences committed against children.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that fast-track courts have been established all over the country that are working on fast-tracking the cases dealing with child sexual abuse and other crimes against children. Prasad said that such courts are 50% funded by the central government and the rest is provided by the states.

According to the central government, presently there are 597 fast-track courts in the country. Out of which, 321 exclusively deal with crimes charged under the POSCO act. Such courts are called POSCO courts.

In 2020, the government's press release had stated that they are going to establish 1023 Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) all over the country depending on the number of cases pending in states. As per the information provided by High Courts, there were 1,66,882 cases of sexual offences against women and children pending in courts as of March 31, 2018. Out of the proposed number of 1023, the government had proposed 389 FTSC exclusively for cases related to the POSCO act in districts with more than 100 such cases.

The Union Law Minister had submitted a written reply in Lok Sabha in March last year, in which he stated that West Bengal had 20,511 cases under the POSCO act pending in courts. The state came third in the list of the highest number of pending cases after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. The Ministry had then proposed for 123 fast-track courts in West Bengal.

At present, in spite of the rising number of pending cases of crimes committed against children, there is not even a single fast-track established in West Bengal.

According to Ravi Shankar Prasad's reply in Lok Sabha last year, 2,44,001 cases related to rape and the POSCO act were pending in the country as per the data recorded till December 2019.