The Supreme Court has asked the Governments, both Centre and States to create additional force for investigation of POCSO offences to ensure that all stages of investigation as well as trial, are completed within the time frame stipulated under the Act.
Shocking state of affairs, remarked the bench while perusing the report by SC Registrar Surinder S. Rathi, which stated that in 20% of the POCSO cases, even investigation is not completed within one year. Virtually, no support persons are provided and no compensation is paid to the victims and almost two-third of the cases are pending trial for more than one year, it noted.
The bench comprising of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna noted that one major reason for the inability of the stake holders to meet the deadline stipulated under the Act, is lack of awareness and lack of dedication in completing investigation, etc. within the time frame stipulated and also inadequacy of the number of courts which has resulted in cases remaining pending beyond the period mandated for completion of trial under the Act.
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