Fast-track special courts slow as backlog mounts; nearly 2.5 lakh cases pending
India's Fast-Track Special Courts, designed to expedite sensitive criminal cases like rape and POCSO, are facing a significant backlog with nearly 2.5 lakh cases pending. Despite government efforts to increase capacity, rising case inflows and infrastructure constraints have led to a decline in annual disposals.
Why it matters
The failure of these courts to clear backlogs undermines the judicial system's ability to provide timely justice for victims of serious crimes.
BENGALURU: At a time when Centre has announced setting up of Fast-Track Courts (FTC) to ensure expeditious trials in paper leak cases in the wake of the 2026 NEET fiasco, the country’s Fast-Track Special Courts (FTSCs) — operating under the most recent scheme introduced in Oct 2019 — are buckling under mounting backlogs.Govt data analysed by TOI shows that annual disposals by FTSCs, created to deliver swift justice in some of the most sensitive criminal cases (rape and Pocso), dropped to 66,500 cases in 2025, down from a record 85,595 in 2024, a decline of more than 22%. At the same time, pending cases rose from a little more than 2 lakh at the end of 2024 to nearly 2.5 lakh by the close of 2025.The trend suggests that despite expanding judicial capacity, fresh cases continue to outnumber disposals.
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