Hindustan Times (Lucknow)

SC directs HCs to fasttrack trials under Pocso Act

SC directed high courts to also ensure investigat­ions in such cases be completed within two months of registrati­on of FIR

- HT Correspond­ent letters@hindustant­imes.com ▪

NEW DELHI: The SC ordered the high courts on Tuesday to ensure that all cases related to sexual offences against children are fast-tracked so that trials are completed within six months.

Investigat­ions of pending cases should be completed within two months of a first informatio­n report being registered, the apex court said.

A bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachu­d directed all HCs to constitute 3-member panel of judges to “regulate and monitor” the completion of trials within time frame and ensure relief and rehabilita­tion for victims of the offences.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court ordered high courts on Tuesday to ensure that all cases related to sexual offences against children are fast-tracked so that trials are completed within six months. Investigat­ions of pending cases should be completed within two months of a first informatio­n report (FIR) being registered, the apex court said.

A bench of chief justice Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachu­d directed all high courts to constitute three-member committees of judges to “regulate and monitor” the completion of trials within the time frame and ensure relief and rehabilita­tion for victims of the offences. Special courts must be designated as prescribed under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (Pocso) Act , 2012. Judges presiding over such courts should not order unnecessar­y adjournmen­ts in the cases they hear, the SC said.

Disposing of a public interest litigation filed by advocate, Alakh Alok Srivastava, the bench asked the director general of police in the states to form special task forces to assist in investigat­ions of Pocso cases, provide protection to witnesses so that they appear in court to record their statements and to ensure that witnesses are produced in court on scheduled dates to avoid delays.

Srivastava had filed the petition early this year after an eightmonth old baby was raped by her maternal uncle in Delhi’s Shakur Colony. He had also sought harsher punishment­s for those convicted for rape of children.

In April, after widespread outrage over the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua and the alleged rape of a teenager last year by a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao, the Centre proposed and brought an ordinance to introduce the death penalty for those found guilty of raping girls aged less than 12 years.

Srivastava presented a table of Pocso cases pending in various states to the apex court. He said 30,884 cases were pending in Uttar Pradesh, 16,099 in Maharashtr­a and 10,117 in Madhya Pradesh. The court read the report before issuing the directives. Srivastava complained that although the Pocso Act contemplat­ed completion of trials within six months of offences being committed, cases have continued to be pending for the past six-seven years.

 ?? HT ?? ▪ The top court said special courts must be designated as prescribed under Pocso.
HT ▪ The top court said special courts must be designated as prescribed under Pocso.

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