(a) the State-wise status of setting up of special district courts to dispose of cases as per provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act;
(b) the State-wise reasons for delay in setting up of such special courts; and
(c) the concrete steps taken by the Government to ensure setting up of such courts in a time-bound manner?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE, COMMUNICATIONS AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a)-(c): Setting up of Special Courts and their functioning falls within the domain of the State and Union Territory Governments and respective High Courts who set up such courts as per their need and resources, in accordance with Section 8 of the “The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) (PoA) Amendment Act, 2015”. The Act further empowers a State Government to specify for each district, a Court of Session to be a Special Court for the purpose, in those Districts where less number of cases under this Act are filed. However as per information received from High Courts, the State/UT-wise status of special district courts set up is as per Annexure.
The 14th Finance Commission endorsed the proposal of the Union Government to strengthen the judicial system in States which included, inter-alia, establishing 1800 Fast Track Courts at a cost of Rs. 4144 crore for cases involving vulnerable and marginalized sections of the society. The State Governments were urged to use the additional fiscal space provided by the Commission in the form of enhanced tax devolution (from 32% to 42%) to meet such requirements.
ANNEXURE
Sl. No. Name of the State/UT No. of Special District Courts functional as per the provisions of the Prevention of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (PoA) Act (as on 31.03.2019)
1. Andhra Pradesh 13
2. Assam 0
3. Arunachal Pradesh 0
4. Mizoram 02
5. Nagaland 08
6. Bihar 37
7. Chhattisgarh 23
8. Delhi 11
9. Goa 02
10. Maharashtra 170
11. Gujarat 63
12. Haryana 21
13. Punjab 22
14. Chandigarh 01
15. Himachal Pradesh 0
16. Jammu & Kashmir 0
17. Jharkhand 24
18. Karnataka 32
19. Kerala & Lakshadweep 14
20. Madhya Pradesh 50
21. Manipur 0
22. Meghalaya 0
23. Odisha 94
24. Rajasthan 35
25. Sikkim 04
26. Tamil Nadu 06
27. Puducherry 0
28. Tripura 05
29. Uttar Pradesh 40
30. Uttarakhand 13
31. West Bengal & Andaman and Nicobar 0
32. Telangana 10
33. Daman & Diu 01
34. Dadra & Nagar Haveli 01
Total 702