SAMBALPUR: The lawyers’ strike over the demand of a High Court bench in Western Odisha has become an obstacle for delivery of justice to hundreds of child victims of sexual abuse. With court work affected, cases booked under the Protection Of Child from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the district are piling up.
As many as 358 POCSO cases registered from 2013 to 2019 in Sambalpur are pending in the Additional District Judge (ADJ) court of the district. While 80 of the total cases have been registered so far in 2019, 72 were booked in 2018, 60 in 2017, 56 in 2016, 41 in 2015, 37 in 2014 and 14 in 2013.
While the number of POCSO cases has seen an alarming increase in the district over the years, the delay in providing justice to the child victims for years together is quite disturbing.
Among the reasons for the delay is the lawyers’ agitation which brought the justice system to a complete standstill last year. Advocate Santosh Panda, who deals with POCSO cases in Sambalpur, said no cases could be taken up last year as the courts were completely paralysed due to the lawyers' agitation over High Court bench demand. Besides, filing of chargesheet and hearing are being delayed as a huge number of other cases is pending in the district court since long, he said.
The POCSO Act, 2012 states that if any case of sexual abuse on a minor is registered, the chargesheet should be filed within two months of the incident. Subsequently, the trial should start and court proceedings cleared within a year.
In July this year, the Supreme Court had directed to set up special courts in each district of the country which had over 100 pending cases of child abuse and sexual assault. In Sambalpur, the directive is yet to be implemented.
Panda said the only possible way to dispose of the cases pending in Sambalpur at the earliest is to transfer them to the courts of other districts.