The Government of Tamil Nadu has been continuously taking several steps to prevent crimes against women and children, take prompt legal action against those involved in such crimes and ensure timely justice to the victims.
Meanwhile, in a meeting held to review the status of pending POCSO cases across Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay took detailed information about the details of POCSO cases, their current status and the additional courts required to hear cases registered only under the POCSO Act.
Based on the review, the Chief Minister directed that immediate steps should be taken to speed up the hearing of these cases, punish the culprits as per law and establish POCSO courts in all the districts.
There are already 22 special courts functioning in the state to hear cases registered under the 'Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012' and 4 more special courts are going to be operational soon. long
In view of the high volume of cases, as per the directions of the Chief Minister, a Government Order has been issued to set up a total of 26 new Special Courts (12 New Special Courts and 14 Additional Special Courts) at a cost of Rs 46.59 crore.
Through this, a total of 52 special courts in 47 police districts of Tamil Nadu will expeditiously hear cases registered under the POCSO Act, 2012. This will provide justice to the victims and harshest punishment can be given to the culprits, so that recurrence of such heinous crimes can be prevented in future.
Furthermore, the Government of Tamil Nadu is taking several steps to control drug trafficking and use under the “Drug-Free Tamil Nadu” campaign. Besides, efforts are also being made to dispose of the cases registered under the 'Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act' (NDPS Act) as soon as possible by following the legal procedures.
At present there are 11 special courts functioning in Tamil Nadu. In view of the need for speedy disposal of all the cases pending under this law, on the orders of the Chief Minister, the State Government has issued an order to set up 4 new special courts. These include one special court each in Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Vellore and an additional special court in Chennai.