Fast Track Special Courts: Union Cabinet extends scheme to 2031

The Union Cabinet has approved Rs 3,788.04 crore to continue the Fast Track Special Courts scheme for five years, covering 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2031, according to the Cabinet announcement published by the Prime Minister’s Office. The approval provides for up to 850 courts across participating states and Union Territories to hear rape cases and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.

The Centre will contribute Rs 2,353.15 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund, while states and Union Territories will contribute Rs 1,434.89 crore, the announcement states. This is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, under which the Union government provides financial assistance to participating state and Union Territory administrations.

The Cabinet announcement provides for a dedicated judicial officer, a Special Public Prosecutor and six support staff for each court. It identifies women and children who are victims of the offences covered by the scheme as its primary beneficiaries.

Expansion tied to pending cases

The Cabinet announcement puts the existing network at 779 Fast Track Special Courts and provides for expansion to 850. Additional districts will be identified using data on pending rape and POCSO Act cases across states and Union Territories. The announcement does not name the districts that will receive additional courts.

POCSO is the law covering sexual offences against children. The Department of Justice’s administrative guidelines for 2023-24 to 2025-26 distinguish between combined Fast Track Special Courts, which hear rape and POCSO cases, and exclusive POCSO courts, which hear only cases under that Act.

Those guidelines required the courts to function full-time and restricted their work to the specified categories of cases. They expressly excluded the transfer of other categories of crimes against women and children to these courts. The arrangement was intended to keep judicial time and staff dedicated to the scheme’s caseload.

The staffing provision in the new approval differs from the earlier framework. The Department of Justice’s guidelines for the previous period provided for one judicial officer and seven support staff. The Cabinet announcement now specifies six support staff and introduces a Special Public Prosecutor assigned exclusively to each court – a lawyer responsible for conducting the prosecution.

The announcement also encourages Vulnerable Witness Deposition Centres, facilities intended to help vulnerable witnesses give evidence, and child-friendly court spaces. It presents these measures as ways to facilitate testimony without causing further distress, rather than reporting that such facilities are already available at every court.

A further extension of the dedicated-court scheme

According to the Cabinet announcement, the scheme began on 2 October 2019, initially for one year, and subsequently received extensions. The latest approval continues the dedicated-court programme rather than establishing a separate system.

The Department of Justice’s guidelines record that the Cabinet approved the preceding three-year extension on 28 November 2023. That approval covered 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026, with an outlay of Rs 1,952.23 crore, including a Central share of Rs 1,207.24 crore from the Nirbhaya Fund.

The earlier guidelines targeted 790 courts. They recorded 758 courts, including 411 exclusive POCSO courts, as having been established by 30 November 2023. These are historical figures for the previous phase, distinct from the existing-court count given in the new Cabinet announcement.

For that earlier phase, the Department of Justice described the scheme as temporary and said it did not intend to create permanent infrastructure or assets. Its financing provisions covered remuneration and flexible grants for daily operations and measures to make courts child- and women-friendly.

The new announcement provides financial assistance for operational expenditure under the approved funding pattern and prescribed guidelines. It does not set out a state-wise allocation of the total outlay.

Faster disposal remains an objective

The Cabinet announcement says the continuation is intended to reduce pending cases, improve disposal rates and facilitate time-bound trials. Those are the government’s stated objectives, not evidence that the additional funding has already shortened proceedings.

Earlier reporting points to the workload these courts face. The Times of India reported on 24 July 2026, citing its analysis of government data, that Fast Track Special Courts disposed of 66,500 cases in 2025, compared with 85,595 in 2024.

The same report said pending cases increased from a little over 2 lakh at the end of 2024 to nearly 2.5 lakh by the end of 2025. These figures describe that earlier period; they do not establish the backlog at the time of the new Cabinet approval.

The Department of Justice’s guidelines for the previous phase expected each court to dispose of at least 165 cases annually. The new Cabinet announcement sets out a general aim of improving disposal rates but does not specify a replacement annual numerical target for each court.

Department of Justice to track implementation

The Department of Justice will implement the continuation in coordination with state governments and Union Territory administrations, according to the Cabinet announcement. It will monitor court performance through the Fast Track Special Courts Dashboard, periodic progress reports and expenditure statements.

The earlier guidelines required states and Union Territories, in consultation with their High Courts, to appoint judicial officers and support staff and arrange for courts to function. They also required High Courts to submit monthly reports on operational and financial progress.

For the renewed scheme, the Cabinet announcement provides for consultations with High Courts and state governments to obtain implementation feedback. Expansion into additional districts will depend on their pending caseloads; the announcement gives no separate timetable for bringing the full proposed network into operation.