Backlog of POCSO cases in Maharashtra surges to nearly 42,000 amidst lack of dedicated special courts
This troubling development comes despite legislative mandates designed to expedite trials, primarily due to the absence of sufficient dedicated courts to handle such cases.
The alarming statistics were revealed in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by city-based activist Vihar Durve on February 6, 2025, requesting details on the pendency of POCSO-related cases in the state.
A reply provided by the Bombay High Court’s Public Information Officer on March 4 disclosed that the number of pending cases rose from 32,988 at the beginning of 2023 to 41,977 by January 31, 2025. This increase occurred even as laws stipulate the fast-tracking of cases involving child victims.
The backlog has been growing significantly each year. In 2024 alone, 12,838 new cases were registered, while only 7,942 were resolved, contributing nearly 5,000 additional cases to the pile. The pendency rate has risen by 11.2% in 2023 and 13.3% in 2024, with 405 new cases added to the backlog in the first month of 2025 alone.
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One of the most striking revelations from the RTI response is that, despite 30 special court positions being sanctioned by the government in March 2020, only one special court, headed by a retired judicial officer, is currently operational.
«The most shocking revelation is that despite 30 posts being sanctioned, currently only one special court is functional,» Durve told ToI.
He further pointed out that regular judicial officers are burdened with handling sensitive POCSO cases alongside their other duties, further straining an already overwhelmed system.
The inability to dispose of cases at a faster rate than they are being registered has been a persistent issue. While about 70% of new cases