SC to frame guidelines to deal rise in child rape cases

The Supreme Court on Friday decided to examine suo motu, the alarming rise in number of child rape incidents in country with a focus on expediting the disposal of such cases by assigning the investigation to special teams and setting up more special courts.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose appointed senior advocate V Giri as amicus curiae to formulate the guidelines in this regard.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta agreed to render his assistance on behalf of the Union government.

The court, which had registered the suo motu case on the basis of news reports and after seeking reports from the high courts, said that it would pass directions to ensure a "concerted" and "clear" national response against such acts.

The court noted that since January 1 to June 30 this year, 24,212 FIRs have been filed across India.

Out of over 24,000 cases, 11,981 are still being probed by the police and in 12,231 cases, police have filed the charge sheet, it said.

Trials have commenced in 6,449 cases only, it said, adding that they are yet to commence in 4,871 cases. Till now, the trial courts have decided only 911 cases, about 4% of the total cases registered.