Overview
- Government replies published on July 24 showed 775 Fast Track Special Courts, including 398 exclusive POCSO courts, were functional across 29 States and Union Territories and had 245,579 cases pending as of December 31, 2025.
- FTSCs recorded 143,936 new cases in 2025 but disposed only 66,500 that year, which raised the backlog from about 204,122 at end‑2024 to 245,579 by 2025‑end.
- The Centre has paid Rs 1,259.51 crore to states for the FTSC scheme since 2019 and temporarily extended central funding for the programme to September 30, 2026.
- Officials and reporting point to concrete capacity limits as drivers of delay: judicial vacancies, shortfalls in court infrastructure and staff, uneven state implementation with Uttar Pradesh operating 218 FTSCs and Jharkhand exiting the scheme.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans for fast‑track courts to try exam paper‑leak cases and this policy push could add caseload pressure that will likely require faster judge recruitment, more courtrooms and sustained funding to avoid further delays.