More than 24,000 cases of rape and sexual harassment are pending before various courts in India
By Nita Bhalla
NEW DELHI, March 5 (TrustLaw) - More than 24,000 cases of rape and sexual harassment are pending before various courts in India, the Indian Express said on Tuesday, prompting the government to push judges to set up fast-track courts for speedy trials.
With 8,215 cases, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous, tops the backlog list, the report said, quoting figures from the law ministry. Of the overall 24,127 pending cases, 335 of them were before the Supreme Court.
The report said the law ministry had asked the chief justices of the country's 21 high courts to set up fast tracks courts for speedy trial of rape accused in lower courts.
The huge backlog underlines the challenge the government faces in delivering swift justice in cases of abuse against women, a promise it had made after a national outcry over the gang rape of a young student last year.
With more than 30 million cases pending in various Indian courts, about 25 percent of them five or more years old, India's courts are struggling to clear a startling pileup of untried accused and unsatisfied aggrieved.
There are myriad reasons slowing down India's justice system - a 40 percent shortage in judicial staff, a culture of adjournments easily granted by overwhelmed judges, poor infrastructure and corruption, experts say.
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