98% Pocso cases pending for over 5 years disposed of by Delhi courts: High Court data

The Delhi High Court data shows that 201 of the pending cases, or 39 per cent, ended in convictions, in 294 cases, or 57 per cent, the accused were acquitted, and three cases were quashed.

While the East, North, Northwest, Shahdara, South, and West districts have disposed of all cases that had been pending for over five years, the Central, New Delhi, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest districts are yet to dispose of three, two, four, and one case each.

A 2023 research paper by the India Child Protection Fund (ICPF) estimated that under the current pendency rates, Delhi courts would take 27 years to clear the backlog in Pocso cases. The study, titled ‘Justice Awaits: An Analysis of the Efficacy of Justice Delivery Mechanisms in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse in India’, pointed out that Pocso courts are disposing of just 28 cases per year on average.

In light of this older data, the recent notice suggests that Delhi’s courts disposed of on average 102 cases per year – 3.6 times the average of other courts in the country. On average, 650 cases are registered under exclusive Pocso courts in the capital.

Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) were set up in 2019, specifically for trying cases related to sexual offences, particularly those under the Pocso Act. The primary motive behind establishing these courts was to handle these cases exclusively, aiming to expedite their trials within one year. Currently, there are more than 1,000 such courts in the country.

A November 2022 study, A Decade of Pocso’ by Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, pointed out that the average time of disposal was 1,373 days or close to four years, in Pocso cases where a conviction took place in Delhi’s courts.