Only 16.8 per cent of the cases disposed of in the special fast track courts trying sexual assault cases on women and 7.2 per cent cases disposed of in the special court for children ended in conviction, a report by the Centre for Law and Policy Research states.
The report points out that of the 107 cases disposed of in special fast track courts, only 18 ended in convictions. Similarly, of the 51 cases disposed of in the special court for children, only four ended in conviction.
The report titled ‘The Myth of Speedy and Substantive Justice’ written by Jayna Kothari and Aparna Ravi analyses judgement delivered by fast track courts between September 2013 to December 2014, drawing data from 10 fast track courts for women across Karnataka and one special court for children here.
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The report said it was witnesses turning hostile that led to 81 per cent and 61.7 per cent acquittals in special fast track courts for women and special courts for children, respectively. It was lack of medical or corroborative evidence that led to acquittals in 12.5 per cent and 38.2 per cent of cases in the same categories.
At a discussion organised by Bangalore Political Action Committee, Ms. Kothari said special courts did not have any specific fast track or special procedures or even sufficient resources to dispose large number of cases. Special courts continued to rely upon outdated forms of medical evidence such as the two-finger test and prior sexual history of women, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly held to be discriminatory, she added. N. Santosh Hegde, former Lokayukta, said that the conviction rate were abysmally low and there was a need for the Union government to increase allocation of funds for effective functioning of the courts.