Parliament Question: Crime Against Children and Women

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †2259 TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 12TH DECEMBER, 2025 CRIME AGAINST CHILDREN AND WOMEN †2259. SHRI AJAY BHATT: Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state: (a) the details of Special Courts established and functioning in the country at present to deal with crimes against children and women, State-wise; (b) the number of cases registered, pending and disposed of by the courts related to crime against children and women during the last three years; (c) whether the Government has any plans to set up more Special Courts in every district of the country including districts in Uttarakhand to expedite the disposal of cases; (d) if so, the details thereof; (e) whether the Government proposes to appoint women judges/prosecutors in such courts; (f) if so, the details thereof; and (g) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE; AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL) (a): A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the establishment of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs), including exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) Courts was launched in October, 2019, following the enactment of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 and the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court [Suo Motu Writ (Criminal) No. 1/2019]. These courts are dedicated to the time-bound trial and disposal of pending cases related to rape and crimes under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. 1This Scheme for establishment of 790 courts has been extended twice with the latest extension up to 31st March 2026. The financial outlay under the Scheme is ₹1952.23 crore with ₹1207.24 crore as Central Share to be incurred from Nirbhaya Fund on the CSS pattern. As of 30.09.2025, 773 FTSCs, including 400 exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts are functional in 29 States/UTs, which have disposed of 3,50,685 cases since the inception of the Scheme. The State/UT-wise details of functional Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) including exclusive POCSO courts, are given at Annexure-I. (b): The State/UT-wise details of number of cases registered, pending and disposed of by the FTSCs dealing with rape and POCSO Act cases during the last three years, are given at Annexure-II. (c) & (d): The primary responsibility of setting up of District and Subordinate Courts including Special Courts falls within the domain of the State/UT in consultation with the respective High Courts, as per its need and availability of resources. Accordingly, the States/UTs have designated/dedicated POCSO Courts and Fast Track Courts dealing with the cases of crime against women and children. These Courts are in addition to the FTSCs established under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The Department remains fully committed and actively engages with States and UTs to get more FTSCs operationalized. On the request of Government of Uttrakhand, 3 additional FTSCs [Dehradun (Vikasnagar), Udham Singh Nagar (Kashipur) and Nainital District Hqts.] have been allocated to State. (e) to (g): As regards the recruitment of women judges/prosecutors and staff in courts, filling up of vacant positions of the judicial officers in District and Subordinate courts is the responsibility of the State Governments and the concerned High Courts. As per the Constitutional framework, in exercise of powers conferred under proviso to Article 309 read with Articles 233 and 234 of the Constitution, the respective State Government in consultation with the High Court frames the rules regarding the appointment and recruitment of Judicial Officers. ***** 2Annexure -I State/UT wise details of functional FTSCs along with exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) courts as on 30/09/2025 Functional Courts Sl. State/UT No. FTSCs including Exclusive POCSO exclusive POCSO 1 Andhra Pradesh 16 16 2 Assam 17 17 3 Bihar 54 48 4 Chandigarh 1 0 5 Chhattisgarh 15 11 6 Delhi 16 11 7 Goa 1 0 8 Gujarat 35 24 9 Haryana 18 14 10 Himachal Pradesh 6 3 11 J&K 4 2 12 Karnataka 30 17 13 Kerala 55 14 14 Madhya Pradesh 67 56 15 Maharashtra 36 1 16 Manipur 2 0 17 Meghalaya 5 5 18 Mizoram 3 1 19 Nagaland 1 0 20 Odisha 44 23 21 Puducherry 1 1 22 Punjab 12 3 23 Rajasthan 45 30 24 Tamil Nadu 20 20 25 Telangana 36 0 26 Tripura 3 1 27 Uttarakhand 4 0 28 Uttar Pradesh 218 74 29 West Bengal 8 8 30 Jharkhand * 0 0 31 A&N Islands** 0 0 32 Arunachal Pradesh*** 0 0 TOTAL 773 400 Note: At the inception of the Scheme, the allocation of FTSCs across the country was based on a criterion of 65 to 165 pending cases per court, meaning one FTSC would be established for every 65 to 165 pending cases. Based on that, only 31 States/UTs were eligible to join the Scheme. Puducherry made a special request to be included in the Scheme and has since operationalized one exclusive POCSO Court in May, 2023. * The State of Jharkhand exited the Scheme vide its letter dated 07.07.2025. Under the Scheme, 22 FTSCs were functional in the State until May 2025, with a cumulative disposal of 9,114 cases since the Scheme’s inception. **A&N islands has consented to join the Scheme, but is yet to operationalize any court. ***Arunachal Pradesh has opted out of the Scheme citing a very low number of pending cases of Rape and POCSO Act. 3Annexure -II State/UT wise details of cases registered, pending and disposed of by the FTSCs dealing with rape and POCSO Act cases during the last three years 2023 2024 2025 (Jan. - Sept.) Cases pending Cases pending Cases pending Sl. Cases Cases Cases Cases Cases Cases States/UTs (up to Dec. (up to Dec. (up to September No. Registered Disposed Registered Disposed Registered Disposed 2023) 2024) 2025) 1 Andhra Pradesh 2279 2368 7231 1419 2138 6512 1779 1949 6342 2 Assam 3624 2300 5207 3847 2685 5984 2446 1953 6477 3 Bihar 6515 4464 17716 6245 4556 19321 5922 4442 22934 4 Chandigarh 198 128 203 99 73 229 77 96 210 5 Chhattisgarh 1066 1450 2264 1164 1365 1975 849 1065 1492 6 Delhi 1005 756 3810 768 833 3663 494 595 3515 8 Goa 32 23 156 38 51 143 41 43 141 7 Gujarat 4003 4275 6338 3593 4228 5703 2484 3052 5135 9 Haryana 1939 2094 4199 2045 1911 4235 1518 1295 4544 10 Himachal Pradesh 214 299 834 237 432 639 202 236 605 11 J&K 76 41 453 164 112 509 60 75 494 12 Jharkhand* 2216 2189 4486 2151 2313 4447 929 979 0 13 Karnataka 3595 3713 5414 3570 3553 5436 2619 2519 5231 14 Kerala 7255 7044 7401 5462 6324 6524 3094 3962 6301 15 Madhya Pradesh 5896 8130 10193 6238 6152 10259 4463 3856 10879 16 Maharashtra 2817 6811 4355 1454 3716 1354 39653 472 33630 17 Manipur 12 48 94 18 45 64 20 40 44 18 Meghalaya 204 135 1061 252 265 1049 202 124 1128 19 Mizoram 120 60 89 63 73 72 63 44 90 20 Nagaland 5 6 51 9 11 49 15 5 59 21 Odisha 4626 5153 11060 4264 5747 9577 3491 3939 9129 22 Puducherry 59 44 221 79 78 222 70 62 230 23 Punjab 1089 1502 1438 1221 1127 1561 844 935 1470 24 Rajasthan 3533 4213 6122 3615 4288 5449 2503 3033 4919 25 Tamil Nadu 2847 1861 4440 2903 2670 4672 5807 1719 8135 26 Telangana 2486 1720 8463 2461 2499 8425 2242 1817 8850 27 Tripura 88 163 242 66 89 219 93 89 221 28 Uttar Pradesh 23246 14898 84778 33393 27640 90531 33314 12114 94826 29 Uttarakhand 351 383 908 606 437 1077 248 212 1113 30 West Bengal 75 48 2948 1458 184 4222 1588 339 5471 TOTAL 81471 76319 202175 88902 85595 204122 117130 51061 243615 * The State of Jharkhand exited the Scheme vide its letter dated 07.07.2025. Under the Scheme, 22 FTSCs were functional in the State until May 2025, with a cumulative disposal of 9,114 cases since the Scheme’s inception. 4