14,92,586 Cases Pending In Fast-Track Courts; UP Tops The List
New Delhi: A total of 14,92,586 cases is pending in the Fast-Track Courts (FTCs) across the country, Ministry of Law and Justice said in the Parliament. As of February 28 this year, Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of pending cases in the FTCs across the state. There are 10,96,377 pending cases in Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra stands second with 1,76,064 cases.
Responding to a question raised by Parliamentarians Madan Rathore, Dr. Anil Sukhdeorao Bonde, Rekha Sharma, Lahar Singh Siroya, and Narayana Koragappa, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal gave details regarding the pending cases in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (April 3).
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FTCs were established in the country to annihilate the issue of judicial backlog and ensure speedy delivery of justice. These courts were designed to deal with cases pertaining to women, children, senior citizen, disabled persons, persons infected with terminal ailments etc. and property related matters which have been pending for more than 5 years.
“As per information made available by the High Courts, as of 28.02.2025, 857 FTCs are functional across the country with 14,92,586 pending cases,” Minister said.
Since 2015-16 onwards, the Union Government has repeatedly urged the State and UT Governments to set up more FTCs to achieve the target. The setting up of more FTCs has also featured as one of the agenda items in the Joint Conference of Chief Ministers and Chief Justices. No central assistance is being provided for setting up of FTCs, Minister added.
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With the aim of establishing 790 FTCs, including exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO), the Central Government is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for expeditious trial and disposal of pending cases pertaining to Rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in a time-bound manner, Minister said in the Parliament.
As per the information received from the High Courts, as on 28.02.2025, 745 FTSCs including 404 exclusive POCSO (e-POCSO) courts are functional in 30 States/UTs. These courts have disposed of more than 3,13,000 cases since the inception of the Scheme while more than 2,03,000 cases are pending, he added.
