BHUBANESWAR: IN 2018, just one trial could be completed in a span of one to three months in Odisha. And that was not in a fast track court. If one goes by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2018 report, not even a single trial in any fast track court could be completed within the first six months. With about 7,04,615 cases pending trial by the end of 2018, delay in court proceedings remains a grave concern in Odisha.
A whopping 5,63,240 cases registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) were pending trial at the courts across the State in 2018 whereas about 1,41,375 cases registered under Special and Local Laws (SLL) were pending trial during the same period. During the year, trial of not a single case registered under IPC or SLL was completed within a month. Trial in one case was completed in one to three month period and in four cases, trial was completed between three and six months. Even in the Fast Track courts, not a single case was disposed of in less than or within six months.
On the contrary, in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, trial of four cases were completed in Fast Track courts within a month, trial of 160 cases were completed between one and three months and trial of 230 cases were completed between three and six months. In Special Courts, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) courts and SC/ST courts of the State, trial of not a single case was disposed of within a year. Twelve cases took anything between one and three years. Mahila courts, Judicial Magistrate-II, Juvenile Justice Board and other courts of the State also could not complete trial of a single case in less than a month.
In one of the courts, trial of one case was completed between one and three months and trial of four cases concluded between three and six months in 2018. The conviction rate of cases registered under IPC and SLL has also dropped significantly. Conviction rate of cases registered under IPC and SLL stood at 5.7 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively in 2018, while the conviction rate of cases registered under IPC and SLL was 9.3 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively in 2017.