HYDERABAD: In the national push to clear POCSO backlogs, Telangana is moving faster than neighbouring Maharashtra and several other states, but the gains are uneven. Hyderabad’s courts disposed of more child sexual abuse cases than they registered in 2025, a clear marker of efficiency. Yet conviction rates remain among the lowest in the country, revealing a growing gap between speed and justice.
These findings emerge from Pendency to Protection: Achieving the Tipping Point to Justice for Child Victims of Sexual Abuse, a study by the Centre for Legal Action and Behaviour Change for Children (C-LAB), an initiative of India Child Protection.
The report notes that India has crossed a critical threshold in POCSO enforcement for the first time since the law came into force, as courts disposed of more cases in a year than they registered, signalling a shift from managing backlog to actively reducing it.
In 2025, courts across the country disposed of 87,754 POCSO cases against 80,320 new filings, taking the national disposal rate to 109%. “Twenty-four states and Union Territories crossed the 100% mark, showing that courts are finally clearing older cases along with new inflows,” said Purujit Praharaj, director (research), India Child Protection.
Telangana falls in the mid-performing bracket. In 2025, the state registered 3,654 cases and disposed of 3,935, placing it in the 100–120% disposal range. In terms of volume, Mumbai led with 11,714 registrations, followed by Chennai at 8,946. Hyderabad recorded 3,654 cases — comparable to Bengaluru’s 3,289 and far higher than Delhi’s 1,006.
Despite handling a moderate caseload, Telangana has managed to keep pace with fresh inflows, unlike Maharashtra, where disposals continue to lag registrations. Telangana posted 3,935 disposals against 3,654 registrations, while Maharashtra recorded 10,564 disposals against 11,714 registrations.
The contrast is sharper when it comes to convictions. In 2024, Telangana’s Fast Track Special Courts recorded a conviction rate of just 7%, well below the national average of around 19%. Tamil Nadu recorded 12–13%, Delhi 10–11%, Karnataka 9–10%, Telangana 7% and Maharashtra 6%.
Experts caution that faster disposal without stronger investigation, prosecution and survivor support risks reducing justice to a numbers exercise. The report identifies conviction outcomes as the weakest link in states that rely heavily on mixed courts and overstretched systems.
Not enough special courts
Court specialisation is a key differentiator. Telangana has 36 Fast Track Special Courts — the same as Maharashtra — but does not have a single exclusive e-POCSO court, with cases tried alongside other serious offences.
Nationally, the POCSO backlog stood at 2.62 lakh cases in 2023. The study argues that the current momentum offers a rare opportunity to eliminate pendency by setting up 600 additional exclusive e-POCSO courts over four years at an estimated cost of `1,977 crore, potentially funded through the Nirbhaya Fund.
“India is at a tipping point. When disposals outpace registrations, the system moves from intent to impact. But speed must be matched with quality, or survivors risk being failed again,” Praharaj said.
“For Telangana, the picture is mixed. It manages caseload growth better than high-burden states like Maharashtra, but lags behind Tamil Nadu and Delhi on court specialisation and conviction outcomes. The challenge ahead is not just to close cases faster, but to ensure trials deliver accountability and justice for child survivors,” he added.