State to set up 138 special courts to deal with sexual offences

Staff Reporter :

Ahead of the International Women’s Day, Law and Judiciary Department of Maharashtra Government has given nod to setting up of 138 special courts to deal with sexual offences against women and children. The courts are to be set up under National Mission for Safety of Women. Of these 138 special courts, as many as 33 are to be set up in Vidarbha region. Of total 11 districts of Vidarbha, the highest seven courts are to be set up in Amravati district, followed by five in Nagpur, four each in Akola and Buldhana, three in Yavatmal, two each in Chandrapur, Gondia, Wardha, and Washim, and one each in Bhandara and Gadchiroli districts. In Nagpur district, one court will deal with Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and four will be special fast-track courts.

In Amravati district, one court for POCSO Act cases will be set up in Amravati city, and three special courts to deal with cases of crime against women will be set up at Amravati and Achalpur each. In Akola district, POCSO Act court will be set up at Akola, and two special courts will be set up at Akola and one at Akot. Buldhana district headquarters will have one POCSO court. Besides, special courts dealing with cases of crime against women will be set up at Buldhana, Malkapur, and Khamgaon. Bhandara district will get only the POCSO court in Bhandara city. One POCSO court and one special court for women will be set up in Chandrapur city and Gondia city each. Gadchiroli district headquarters, however, will have only one special court for women and there will be no POCSO court.

Wardha, Washim, and Yavatmal each will have one court each dealing with cases under POCSO Act, and one court each dealing with crimes against women. As far as State is concerned, the Law and Judiciary Department has given nod to setting up 30 courts dealing with cases under POCSO Act, and 108 special fast-track courts. These courts are to be set up under National Mission for Safety of Women. These courts are being set up in accordance with the Supreme Court directives issued in July 2019. The Apex Court had directed that exclusive/designated special courts should be set up at the district headquarters where more than 100 cases under POCSO Act were pending.

Hence, of the total 138 special courts proposed now by State Government, 38 will be designated as exclusive courts dealing with POCSO Act cases. The scheme under which these courts are being set up is a Centrally sponsored one. Under the scheme, Centre will provide for 60 per cent of the expenditure and State will have to bear remaining 40 per cent. As per the scheme, annual allocation of Rs 75 lakh per annum has been fixed for each of 138 courts. Bombay High Court, in November 2019, furnished to the State Government a list of places where these special courts were to be set up. On February 15, 2020, the High Court submitted a proposal for recurring and non-recurring expenditure of Rs 99,33,16,880/- for setting up of these courts and creation of requisite posts.

Finance Department cleared the proposal. In accordance with the Finance Department’s approval, now Law and Judiciary Department of State Government has given nod to creation of 1,104 temporary posts for 138 special courts. Each of these courts will have staff strength of eight including one Judicial Officer and seven assisting staff. But, for 112 courts to be set up outside Mumbai, all 896 posts are to be filled on contractual basis from the retired judges and staffers including the employees in Class ‘C” and Class ‘D’. The posts created for the special courts will be approved for a period of one year.