UP govt to bring new litigation policy for speedy trials of cases

Lucknow, July 10 The Uttar Pradesh government is bringing a new litigation policy that aims at time-bound completion of trials in cases filed under the POCSO Act sections and those involving sex-related crimes against women.

The new policy will also focus on bringing absconding and jailed gangsters to justice and the cases pending in MP/MLA courts against lawmakers.

According to official sources, the new policy would be notified very soon, replacing the present one which was brought by the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in 2012.

“The draft of the Uttar Pradesh Litigation Policy, 2023, has been discussed and drafted by senior officials of the law and the prosecution departments,” said a state government spokesman.

The proposed policy lays down guidelines for using video conferences as a tool to hear the cases against the absconding mafias who are lodged in jails outside Uttar Pradesh and get them punished speedily by effective pleading against them from the prosecution.

It also aims at the completion of court trials of cases under the POCSO Act, as well as cases involving sexual crimes against women, within one month of filing of the charge sheet in the court to get the maximum number of accused convicted by producing carefully-drafted charge sheets in courts.

The new policy is also expected to lay focus on a speedy trial of cases pending against lawmakers in the special MP/MLA courts in the state.

Currently, 60 MLAs and MPs are facing trial in special courts.

As per a report sourced from the state government, as many as 71,193 POCSO Act cases were pending in various courts in the state at the beginning of 2013 and of them, 3,622 (5.08 per cent involving 4,630 accused) were disposed of till June 15.

However, the accused were punished only in 1,336 of the 3,622 cases disposed of till mid-June, while in 2,283 cases, the accused (3016) were let off by courts, the conviction rate being merely 36.88 per cent.

Six of the accused in POCSO Act cases were awarded the death penalty and 168 accused in 135 such cases were awarded life imprisonment.

Similarly, a total of 1,31,161 cases pertaining to sexual crimes against women were pending in courts in January this year.

Only 2,382 (5.87 per cent) of those cases involving 4,119 accused could be disposed of in six months till June 15.

The conviction was done only in 1,060 of the 2,382 such cases disposed of by courts, and in 1,207 cases, the accused (2,544) were freed by courts.

Only in 44 per cent of the cases, the accused (1,575) were convicted.