New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Registrar Generals of all the High Courts to furnish data regarding the number of cases registered and pending under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012. A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud passed this order on a writ petition filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava seeking a direction for expeditious disposal of such cases. The PIL was filed to save the life of the child brutally raped by a 24 year relative at a Delhi hospital.
Counsel brought to the notice of the court that over one-lakh cases were registered under POCSO and only 11,000 cases had been disposed off. He also pleaded for death penalty to those who sexually assault children in the wake of the shocking rape of an eight-month-old infant by a youth in Delhi. Taking note of the submissions, the Bench directed the Registrar Generals of High Courts to furnish details in the form of chart indicating the status of each cases under POCSO and pending from the date of institution.
Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand informed the court that the child underwent a surgery at AIIMS and one more surgery would be performed on the child next month. The government had already released a compensation of Rs. 75,000 to the parents. The Centre also made it clear that death penalty is not the answer for all problems of the country.
