NEW DELHI: Alarmed by the increasing number of child sexual assault cases being reported from across the country, the Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the matter.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose, on Friday, appointed senior advocate V Giri as amicus curiae to assist the court in framing guidelines on what directions can be issued to states on infrastructure and video recording of the proceedings.
The amicus curiae will work with the SC to evolve a mechanism for quick disposal of such cases.
The court noted 24,212 FIRs have been registered between January 1 and June 30 this year in connection with child sexual assault cases.
This translates into 133 incidents per day. This is more than twice the number of cases reported in 2016, at 54 incidents per day.
Of the 24,212 cases reported so far this year, 11,981 are still under investigation. Chargesheets have been filed in 12,231 cases.
The trial has commenced only in 6,449 cases, with no progress in 4,871 cases. Data show that only 911 cases, or 4% of the total, have been disposed of.
The bench also asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist in the case. The SC also considered the option having dedicated courts to deal with cases of child assault cases so that these can be expedited.
The bench directed the apex court registry to register the case as a writ petition and posted it Monday for issuance of directions.