Examine the role of Fast Track Special Courts in ensuring speedy justice to survivors of sexual offences. What administrative bottlenecks hinder full operationalisation of such Centrally Sponsored Schemes?

Speedy trial is an integral facet of Article 21, and nowhere is delay more damaging than in sexual offences, where survivors face prolonged trauma and witness attrition. The Fast Track Special Courts (FTSC) scheme, launched in October 2019 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for expeditious trial of rape and POCSO Act, 2012 cases, was designed precisely to close this gap [1].

Role in delivering speedy justice

• Dedicated adjudicatory capacity: 775 FTSCs are functional across 29 States/UTs as of 30.04.2026, insulating sexual-offence trials from the general docket backlog [1].
• Child-sensitive specialisation: 398 of these are exclusive e-POCSO courts, enabling child-friendly procedures and video-linked deposition that reduce survivor re-traumatisation [1].
• Statutory timelines operationalised: the scheme gives institutional shape to the POCSO Act's mandate of time-bound trial, converting a legal promise into court infrastructure [1].
• Federal reach with central funding: the Centrally Sponsored design allows uniform national coverage while leaving implementation with States and High Courts [1].

Administrative bottlenecks

• Sanction–operationalisation gap: 775 of 790 sanctioned courts are functional, showing that sanction does not automatically translate into working courts [1].
• Funding uncertainty from short-horizon extensions: the scheme has been extended twice, and after the extension lapsed on 31.03.2026 it received only a temporary extension to 30.09.2026 — such stop-gap renewals deter States from making long-term staffing commitments [1].
• Dependence on State machinery: courtrooms, support persons and prosecutors are State responsibilities, so uneven State capacity produces uneven outcomes.
• Weak real-time monitoring: functional-status data is compiled from High Courts, making central oversight periodic rather than continuous [1].

FTSCs have demonstrably expanded specialised capacity for survivors, but their promise is limited less by design than by delivery. A multi-year sanction with assured funding, coupled with real-time dashboard monitoring and joint Centre–State staffing plans, would convert this scheme into a durable guarantee of Article 21's speedy-trial mandate and of SDG-16's access-to-justice goal.