India clears more child sexual abuse cases in 2025 than new filings, marking judicial progress

The Hindu
The Hindu
36m ago
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India disposed of more child sexual abuse cases than filed in 2025, reducing judicial backlog under POCSO but facing state-level disparities and delays.
India clears more child sexual abuse cases in 2025 than new filings, marking judicial progress
A What happened
A C-LAB report highlights India’s unprecedented judicial achievement in 2025: courts disposed of 87,754 child sexual abuse cases under the POCSO Act, surpassing the 80,320 new filings, pushing the disposal rate to 109%. While 24 states and UTs exceeded 100% disposal rates, substantial backlog remains, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. The report stresses ongoing structural challenges such as fluctuating conviction rates and uneven progress across states. It recommends establishing 600 more e-POCSO courts with ₹1,977 crore funding over four years, potentially using the Nirbhaya Fund to eliminate pendency. This milestone indicates progress but underscores the need for sustained efforts to ensure timely justice for child victims.
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Key insights

  • 1

    Structural backlog disparities hinder uniform justice delivery: The concentration of long-pending POCSO cases in a few large states suggests systemic inefficiencies and uneven resource allocation, complicating national efforts to reduce delays uniformly.

  • 2

    Judicial throughput exceeding new case filings signals inflection point: Clearing more cases than filed marks a shift from accumulating backlog to active reduction, reflecting improved judicial capacity and procedural efficiency under the POCSO framework.

  • 3

    Resource scaling essential to sustain momentum: The proposal to create 600 additional e-POCSO courts and significant funding allocation illustrates that process improvements alone are insufficient; targeted investments are critical for durable backlog resolution.

Takeaways

India’s surpassing of case disposal over filings under the POCSO Act marks a pivotal step in addressing judicial delays, but substantial challenges remain in ensuring uniform and timely justice nationwide.

Topics

World & Politics Policy & Regulation Governance Human Rights