SC asked High Courts - Speed Up Cases under POCSO Act

The Supreme Court on Tuesday moved to ensure speedy trial in cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. A three-judge bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra issued guidelines to make trials in cases of child sexual abuse under the POCSO Act conform to the intent of the legislation.

A three-judge bench led by chief justice of India Dipak Misra on Tuesday asked high court chief justices

• To set up a committee of three judges to monitor progress of these cases under POCSO Act and take remedial steps wherever necessary & to ensure that they stay on fast track.
• To ensure that all child sexual abuse cases were dealt with by special courts under the procedure prescribed in the act.The SC said the HCs would ensure that special courts provided a child-friendly atmosphere as per the spirit of the law. The special courts would include all kinds of sexual assault as well as use of a child for pornographic purposes.

Ordered DGP :-

• They also ordered the DGP of each state to constitute a special task force to professionally investigate child sexual abuse cases and ensure timely production of witnesses in courts. The SC also asked DGPs to provide adequate security to witnesses as well as the child in sexual abuse cases.

The bench, however, rejected a suggestion to include mentally-retarded women in the definition of a child under POCSO. The Act mandates that all investigations must be completed in two months and an appeal decided in six months.

The government had recently issued an ordinance to make rape an offence punishable with death penalty if the child is 12 years or younger following the national outrage over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, Jammu.

The court was acting on a PIL which had sought guidelines to hasten the process of trying accused in all offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. Petitioner Alok Srivastava had contended that statistics showed very large pendency of such cases in almost all states, ranging from 89% to 95%. In at least Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh the figures stood at over 30,000 and 10,000, respectively, the court was told.