| GOVERNMENT OF INDIA |
| MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE |
| LOK SABHA |
| STARRED | QUESTION NO: | 149 |
| ANSWERED ON: | 13.02.2019 |
| Special Courts for SCs and STs |
| Begum Tabassum Hasan |
| Will the Minister of | LAW AND JUSTICE | be pleased to state:- |
| (a) the total number of special courts set up throughout the country for hearing cases registered under the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as amended in the year 2016; (b) the number of cases disposed of within a period of sixty days along with the number of cases lying pending till date; and (c) the steps being taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to prevent the atrocities taking place against the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and to provide them speedy justice? ANSWERANSWER MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD) (a) to (c): A statement is laid on the Table of the House. STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (c) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.149 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 13TH FEBRUARY, 2019 REGARDING SPECIAL COURTS FOR SCs AND STs (a): The constitution of Special Courts for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and their functioning/monitoring falls within the domain of the State and Union Territory Governments, who set up such courts as per their need and resources, in consultation with the High Courts in accordance with Section 14 of the ‘The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (PoA) Amendment Act, 2015’, the Gazette Notification of which was published on 01.01.2016. State Governments and Union Territory Administrations either establish Exclusive Special Courts for one or more districts or designate for such districts where less number of cases under this Act are recorded, the Court of Session to be a Special Court to try offences under the Act. As per the available information, a majority of State Governments and Union Territory Administrations have designated District Session Courts as Special Courts. Further as per available information for ensuring speedy trial of cases under the PoA Act, 157 Exclusive Special Courts, have also been set up by twelve States [Andhra Pradesh(01), Bihar(05), Chhattisgarh(03), Gujarat(16), Jharkhand(04), Karnataka(08), Madhya Pradesh(43), Maharashtra(03), Odisha(03), Rajasthan(25), Tamil Nadu(06) and Uttar Pradesh(40)]. (b): As per information received from the High Courts, total number of Special Courts set up throughout the country along with total number of cases disposed of during the Calendar Year 2018 and lying pending in such Courts as on 31.12.2018 State/UT wise is provided as per Annexure. (c) In order to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against the members of the SCs and the STs and to deliver greater justice to members of SCs and STs, The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Act, 1989, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Amendment Act, 2015(No. 1 of 2016) and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2018 were enacted. The provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) {PoA} Act, 1989 and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities){PoA}Rules, 1995 are implemented by the respective State Governments and Union Territory Administrations under a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and admissible Central assistance is provided to them mainly for strengthening of the enforcement and judicial machinery. During the year 2018-19, Central assistance of Rs 389.44crore has been released to the concerned State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. ANNEXURE INFORMATION ON TOTAL NO.OF SPECIAL COURTS SET UP, TOTAL NO. OF CASES DISPOSED OF DURING THE CALENDER YEAR 2018 AND TOTAL NO. OF CASES PENDING AS ON 31.12.2018 Sl. No. Name of State/ Union Territory No. of Special Courts functional (as on 31.12.2018) No. of cases disposed of during Calender Year 2018 No. of cases pending (as on 31.12.2018) 1. Andhra Pradesh 13 3357 8121 2. Bihar 37 2807 43778 3. Chhattisgarh 23 686 990 4. Delhi 11 42 3309 5. Goa 2 10 27 6. Maharashtra 173 1029 6248 7. Gujarat 63 1369 4209 8. Haryana 21 295 763 9. Punjab 22 178 219 10. Chandigarh 1 3 5 11. Himachal Pradesh 0* 49 238 12. Jharkhand 24 716 1838 13. Karnataka 32 1108 5044 14. Kerala 4 223 529 15. Madhya Pradesh 50 5183 17790 16. Odisha 94 965 9705 17. Rajasthan 35 31110 26348 18. Sikkim 4 4 2 19. Tamil Nadu 6 515 1353 20. Tripura 9 3 1 21. Uttar Pradesh 40 8796 66733 22. Uttarakhand 13 71 248 23. West Bengal 0** 81 604 24. Telengana 10 709 3877 25. Daman & Diu 1 0 1 26. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 1 0 8 Total 689 59309 201988 *All District and Sessions Courts in the state of Himachal Pradesh have been specified to try the offences under Section 14 of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 **In West Bengal every 1st Court of Additional District & Sessions Judge in headquarters of each district judgeship has been designated to act as Special Court to try cases under the Act except the district of Malda where the Court of District & Sessions Judge is designated for the same vide Govt. of West Bengal Notification No. 2974-J dated 15.02.1990 |
