Madras high court issues directions to speed up rape, POCSO trials

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 directions to speed up rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act trials across the state.The high court asked the state government and the registrar general to ensure that duly constituted special courts try POCSO cases. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)In a report submitted to a bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice G in compliance with a court order, the state police chief said that 1,471 of the 1,916 rape trials (76.7%) pending before courts across the state have exceeded the statutory two-month period under Section 346(1) of the BNSS.The statistics showed more than half of child sexual abuse cases pending trials remained unresolved beyond the one-year timeline under the POCSO Act.The bench described the numbers as sobering and said that it did not propose to explain them away. It issued directions aimed at ensuring stricter compliance with statutory timelines and addressing systemic bottlenecks in the investigation and trial of sexual offences.The court directed all principal district and sessions courts, additional sessions courts, women courts and other special courts hearing cases of rape and sexual assault to make every effort to comply with the mandatory two-month timeline. It said adjournments should be granted only in exceptional circumstances and only after recording reasons in writing.The bench directed the high court registrar general to issue a circular within four weeks reiterating the obligation of trial courts to adhere to the statutory timelines. It directed 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.The high court asked the state government and the registrar general to ensure that duly constituted special courts try POCSO cases. It directed the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy to conduct periodic training for judges handling these cases.The high court ordered the police chief to annually review safeguards against misuse of authority during night patrols. It directed that vacancies in four POCSO courts be filled at the earliest. The high court asked the government to expedite the establishment of six sanctioned special courts.The directions came on a writ petition of a 26-year-old woman who alleged two police constables raped her during a night patrol near Tiruvannamalai in September 2025.The woman approached the high court to seek expeditious progress in her trial and highlight systemic delays in cases of rape and sexual assault, including under the POCSO Act across Tamil Nadu.The petition said the matter had not progressed beyond the stage of framing of charges by April 2026, well beyond the two-month period under the BNSS, even as the charge sheet in her case was filed in November 2025.The state informed the high court that the trial had since commenced and witnesses were being examined on a day-to-day basis.The high court directed the trial court to continue hearing the matter without unnecessary adjournments and conclude it as expeditiously as possible. It recorded that the state government had initiated measures to improve the system.The high court noted that the police attributed the delays to pending forensic reports, delays in recording statements, shortage of sanctioned POCSO courts in 20 districts, vacancies of presiding officers, lack of integration between court and police digital platforms, and procedural delays in taking charge sheets on file.