New Delhi: Training of investigating officers and key stakeholders, mandatory vulnerable witness deposition centres, skilled and adequate manpower in forensic science laboratories and an electronic evidence management system – these are some of the key recommendations made by a research team of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) that has developed a fast- Stock of Track Special Courts (FTSC).
IIPA began the audit program by conducting field visits to FTSCs across India on the directions of the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, which had asked it to review the progress of such courts.
It submitted its report, accessed by ThePrint, to the Department of Justice under the law ministry last month, suggesting continuation of the Modi government’s FTSC scheme, which seeks to speed up the disposal of rape cases and crimes Special courts are set up. Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.
The FTSC was first launched in October 2019 following an amendment to the criminal law, which introduced tougher punishments for sexual offenses and a two-month time limit for completing trials in such cases.
As ThePrint had earlier reported, the Modi government has agreed in principle to continue Plan to set up special FTSC for sexual offences.
“After data analysis, it was observed that each state differs with its (case) disposal rate, which is a major factor when we look at the overall development of the scheme. Therefore, if the scheme is continued for at least three more years, the states will provide adequate manpower, and issues related to pendency can be addressed if the number of courts per district is decided based on the pendency rate in that particular state. The number is further increased. ,” says the IIPA report.
Under the FTSC scheme, the central government is required to fund 60 per cent of the expenses of the courts, while the respective state governments contribute the remaining 40 per cent.
While the scheme proposed 1,023 FTSCs across 31 states and union territories, only 765 are functional in 28 states. Of these, 418 are exclusive POCSO courts. Initially, the scheme was spread over two financial years with a total outlay of Rs 767.25 crore.
Underlining the need to audit FTSCs, a law ministry official told ThePrint: “It is important to know whether these courts and other stakeholders are able to deliver as mandated by the FTSC scheme. The idea behind FTSC was to ensure speedy disposal of cases. An audit exercise was carried out to identify the gaps in the implementation of the plan.
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What does the IIPA report say
One of the important suggestions made in the IIPA team’s report is to train the investigating officers and key stakeholders involved at the ground level.
“While recording the inputs of various courts, it was found that the problem of non-trained investigating officers was a common (one), affecting the disposal of cases as well as negatively impacting the delivery of justice, Says the report.
Since investigations into sexual offenses become a decisive factor in providing justice to victims, the report recommended “formal capacity building of investigating officers dealing with such sensitive matters”.
This should include aspects such as training on “how the Juvenile Justice Act, POCSO Act and other child-protection laws relate to each other”, education on rehabilitation and support options available under the POCSO Act and other laws, in coordination with key stakeholders Reforms for successful prosecution and how to preserve DNA evidence collected from crime scenes.
The IIPA report states that there is also a need for skilled and adequate manpower in forensic laboratories for fair and speedy justice.
Inadequate manpower and lack of necessary equipment in these laboratories is one of the biggest hurdles for “speedy conclusion of criminal investigation”.
Advocating periodic evaluation of special fast-track courts through monitoring committees formed under each high court, the IIPA report mandates the FTSC to decide “at least 165 cases” in a year Recommend to take another look.
The report states that settling these many cases “seems a bit far-fetched”.
Given the demographic size of India and the judicial process of the courts, IIPA believes that a specific mandate for all FTSCs is not appropriate, and decided a state-wise mandate after gaining insight into the settlement mechanism in each state. should go.
IIPA stresses the need for mandatory Vulnerable Witness Statement Centers in all districts across India, and calls for the appointment of child psychologists in these statement centers to assist child-abuse victims before they testify at trial .
The report states that wherever such centers have been set up, the courts that have heard these cases have seen positive results.
under FTSC scrutiny
The Law Ministry had earlier set up a dashboard to monitor the progress of FTSCs.
According to law ministry officials, data was uploaded on the dashboard every month, giving details of cases that were decided by a particular FTSC in a month.
The law ministry official had earlier said that the IIPA audit is in addition to new elements introduced in the dashboard, such as a new column that requires each FTSC to specify how long it took to decide a case.
“This data should reflect the time taken to dispose of cases between two and 12 months and beyond 12 months,” the official said.
Another column added to the dashboard pertains to pending cases, the official said.
“Under this, every court will have to inform as to how many cases are pending since the filing of the charge sheet. This is to be given under three categories – where cases are pending for more than five years, then between two and 12 months and again two months,” the official explained, adding that these details would be updated on the dashboard every month. is required.
(Editing by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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