Junior Science Refresher

Junior Science Refresher

Junior Science Refresher Published this article page no  45 After the Delhi gang rape case of 2012 the Verma Committee Report and public sentiment favoured speedy justice and states were requested to set up fast track special courts for trying cases of sexual assault. Issues with FTSCs  Systemic issues Inadequate staff and IT infrastructure delay in getting reports from the understaffed forensic science laboratories lack of victim support services and victimwitness protection measures frivolous adjournments are some of the issues. o Judges prosecutors and other court personnel are not trained for dealing with sexual offences. o This also leads to very high incidence of complainants and witnesses turning hostile.  Inadequate number of Judges Mostly fresh appointments are not done. When states hire from the current pool of judges it only increases the workload of the remaining judges. o Moreover data from the Supreme Courts Court News shows that even when the number of working judges increased in Karnataka pendency did not reduce. Similar trends were found in Maharashtra Kerala Delhi and West Bengal.  No legislative clarity There is no legislative foundation which sets out the purpose of these courts or specific fast track mode of functioning and any special time bound procedures to be followed. o They are technically special courts rather than fast track courts.  Lack of feedback and updation There has been no evolution in the conception of fast track courts since they were first established more than a decade ago. Way Forward  Apart from increasing number of judges equal attention must be paid to both the metropolitan and farflung nonmetropolitan areas.  Critical systemic issues such as inadequate court staff and improper infrastructure which affect the daytoday functioning of the FTCs must be comprehensively addressed.  Once established special courts should be subject to periodic monitoring and evaluation to assess their performance and effectiveness Junior Science Refresher buy. 

Junior Science Refresher