Official Gazette Notification Text
Official TranscriptGOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1545 ANSWERED ON 12/02/2026 PENDENCY OF CASES UNDER POCSO ACT 1545. SHRI S NIRANJAN REDDY: Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state: (a) whether it is a fact that more than two lakh cases under the POCSO Act remain pending in courts across the country; (b) the number of Fast...
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1545 ANSWERED ON 12/02/2026 PENDENCY OF CASES UNDER POCSO ACT
1545. SHRI S NIRANJAN REDDY:
Will the Minister of Law and Justice be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that more than two lakh cases under the POCSO Act remain pending in courts across the country;
(b) the number of Fast Track Special Courts currently operational to deal with such cases;
(c) the average time taken for disposal; and
(d) the steps taken to improve judge strength, forensic support and child-friendly infrastructure? 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) and (b): As per the information made available by the High Courts, as of 31.12.2025, 774 FTSCs, including 398 exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) Courts were functional in 29 States/UTs, with pendency of 2,45,579 cases, of which 2,24,572 cases pertain to offences under the POCSO Act.
(c): As per the inputs received from the High Courts, the State/UT-wise details of the average trial time taken in FTSCs including exclusive POCSO courts during 2024, are given at Annexure.
(d): As regards the recruitment of judges/prosecutors and staff in courts, filling up of vacant positions of the judicial officers in District and Subordinate courts including the FTSCs, is the responsibility of the State/UT 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 State/UT Government in 1consultation with the respective High Court frames the rules regarding the recruitment and appointment of Judicial Officers.
With regard to forensic support, the Government of India has approved establishment of many new Central Forensic Science Laborateries.
As regards child-friendly infrastructure, Fast Track Special Courts have been encouraging the use of Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres within existing court complexes to facilitate victims and to promote a child-friendly judicial environment. Further, with a view to conduct periodic training programmes for manning and managing the VWDCs and sensitizing all stakeholders, the Supreme Court constituted a committee chaired by former Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the report submitted by the Committee, most of the High Courts have since adopted the Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres (VWDC) Scheme, with training programmes conducted covering over 10,000 participants.
**** 2Annexure State/UT-wise details of the average trial time taken in FTSCs including exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) courts during 2024 Sl. Average Time taken for the Trial in State/UT No. FTSCs (in days) 1 Andhra Pradesh 257 2 Assam 940 3 Bihar 941 4 Chandigarh 592.5 5 Chhattisgarh 332.5 6 Delhi 1639.5 7 Goa 547.5 8 Gujarat 1292.5 9 Haryana 575 10 Himachal Pradesh 434.5 11 Jammu & Kashmir 912.5 12 Jharkhand* 640.5 13 Karnataka 817 14 Kerala 796.5 15 Madhya Pradesh 380 16 Maharashtra 575 17 Manipur 1350 18 Meghalaya 910 19 Mizoram 1155 20 Nagaland 1185 21 Odisha 499.5 22 Puducherry 180 23 Punjab 590 24 Rajasthan 880 25 Tamil Nadu 466 26 Telangana 434.5 27 Tripura 1484 28 Uttarakhand 512.5 29 Uttar Pradesh 861.34 30 West Bengal 910 * The State of Jharkhand exited the Scheme vide its letter dated 07.07.2025.
Source: As per data provided by the High Courts 3