Poor infra, staff shortages: Here's what is slowing down fast-track courts

 

Fast track courts (FTCs) were first recommended by the Eleventh Finance Commission in 2000 "to substantially bring down, if not eliminate, pendency in the district and subordinate courts"

Swift justice in fast-track courts, established in the early 2000s to reduce the time it takes to decide cases, is still elusive: Nearly 81% of the 26,965 cases completed by fast-track courts in 2019 took anywhere between one and 10 years for the trial to be completed, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

Further, 69% of the 17,155 cases disposed of by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) courts in 2019 took between one and 10 years, the data show. This is despite the fact that the POCSO Act 2012 specifies that the special courts must complete trial, as far as possible, within one year from the date of taking cognisance of the offence. (Pending child trafficking cases were transferred to POCSO courts, hence the longer pendency than the eight years that the Act has been in force.)

Fast-track courts address different kinds of cases pertaining to, for instance, crime against women, child trafficking under POCSO Act, crime against senior citizens, crime against the disabled, and heinous crimes, according to this reply in parliament by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

Their performance has been below par: At the end of 2019, rape cases had a pendency rate--pending cases at the end of the year as a percentage of total cases for trial--of 89.5% and the conviction rate of 27.8%, according to NCRB data. For POCSO cases, 88.8% cases were pending at the end of the year, and of those disposed of, 34.9% ended in a conviction, data show. Overall,

After nearly 20 years of existence, why do India's fast-track courts remain sluggish, defeating the very purpose of their institution--faster disposal of pending cases? Lack of physical infrastructure, shortage of dedicated judicial officials, and clear mandates are the reason, legal experts say, suggesting that increased staff strength and procedural reforms can fix the situation.