Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren approves formation of 22 fast track special courts

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Monday, January 6, approved the formation of 22 fast track special courts for the trial of rape cases. According to reports, this includes the cases of minors under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the State as well. The Office of the Chief Minister on Monday tweeted about the approval. 

Hemant Soren's tweet 

The tweet written in Hindi read, "Chief Minister Hemant Soren has approved the administrative formation of 22 Fast track Special Courts for faster disposal of rape cases and cases under POCSO Act."

Another tweet read, "Approval has been given for the formation of 22 posts for District and Additional Sessions Judge. In addition to that, 7 posts in each of these 22 courts would be created under Class III and Class IV for operations. The total number of posts will be 154 under the non-gazetted category." 

Read: BJP Leader Shaina NC backs President's view on no mercy petition for POCSO accused

Govt's proposal to set up special fast-track courts

The Union Government earlier in September last year had proposed to set up a total of 1,023 fast-track special courts for expeditious trial of over 1.66 lakh pending cases of crime against women and children across the country.

The Department of Justice under Union Law Ministry had stated that the special courts are expected to dispose of at least 165 cases per year. 

Further, as per the Supreme Court's direction, out of the total courts, 389 courts are expected to exclusively handle all the cases that are registered under the POCSO Act while the remaining courts will be dealing with either rape cases or both rape and POCSO act cases. 

Read: Rape, POCSO case probes should be completed in 2 months: Ravi Shankar Prasad

About POCSO Act

The Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was enacted to Protect the Children from Offences of Sexual Assault, sexual harassment and pornography with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well being of children. Further, the Act defines a child as any person below 18 years of age and regards the best interests and welfare of the child as a matter of paramount importance at every stage -- to ensure the healthy physical, emotional, intellectual and social development of the child. 

Read: CRPF Commandant demands public apology from Jharkhand Police for "animal-like treatment"

Read: Kejriwal govt's health, education initiatives inspiration for Jharkhand: Soren

(WITH AGENCY INPUTS)