Madras HC issues directions to fast-track rape, Pocso cases

More than three out of every four pending rape trials in Tamil Nadu have breached the mandatory two-month timeline prescribed under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), the State police told the Madras High Court on Wednesday, prompting it to issue a series of directions to expedite rape and POCSO trials across the State.HT ImageAccording to data placed before the court by the Director General of Police (DGP), 1,471 of the 1,916 rape trials pending across Tamil Nadu — 76.7% — have exceeded the statutory two-month period under Section 346(1) of the BNSS.The report was filed before a bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan in compliance with an earlier direction of the court.The data also revealed widespread delays in child sexual abuse cases, with more than half of the pending trials under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act remaining unresolved beyond the one-year timeline envisaged under the law.Describing the figures as “sobering”, the bench said it did “not propose to explain them away”.The court issued a series of directions aimed at ensuring “stricter compliance with statutory timelines and addressing systemic bottlenecks in the investigation and trial of sexual offences.”It directed all principal district and sessions courts, additional sessions courts, mahila courts and other special courts hearing rape and sexual assault cases to make every effort to comply with the mandatory two-month timeline under the BNSS. It said adjournments should be granted only in exceptional circumstances and only after recording reasons in writing.The bench also directed the Registrar General of the High Court to issue a circular within four weeks reiterating the obligation of trial courts to adhere to the statutory timelines. It asked the Registrar General to reissue an earlier circular reminding POCSO courts that child victims’ evidence should be recorded within “30 days of cognisance and trials concluded, as far as possible, within one year.”Among its other directions, the High Court asked the State government and the Registrar General to ensure that all POCSO cases are tried by duly constituted special courts. It directed the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy to conduct periodic training for judges handling POCSO cases and ordered the Director General of Police to annually review safeguards against the misuse of police authority during night patrols.The court also directed that vacancies in four POCSO courts be filled at the earliest and asked the government to expedite the establishment of six already sanctioned special courts.The directions came on a writ petition filed by a 26-year-old woman who alleged that she was raped by two police constables during a night patrol near Tiruvannamalai in September 2025.The petitioner approached the High Court not only to seek an expeditious trial in her own case but also to highlight “systemic delays” in rape, sexual assault and POCSO cases across Tamil Nadu.