Exclusive courts for clearing the pendency of cases booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in two years will start functioning before March.
As many as 28 such courts will be made operational across the State before the end of the fiscal. It is estimated that nearly 7,000 POCSO cases are pending.
Thiruvananthapuram will have four courts, the maximum number among all districts. It has been decided to set up one court for every 165 pending cases.
All courts will be headed by District and Sessions Judges who are in the judicial service of the State.
The State government had earlier toyed with the idea of appointing retired judges to the post on contact basis.
The government had even sought the views of the Kerala High Court in this regard. However, the move did not go down well with the judiciary.
The Kerala Judicial Officers Association had also made its disagreement known to the proposal. Those who opposed the move had raised questions about the accountability of the judicial officials who would have been appointed on contract in handling the sensitive cases.
Presiding officers
It has now been agreed in principle that the appointments of the presiding officers for these courts shall be made by promoting the senior judicial officers. Some of the court staff may have to be appointed on contract, judicial sources indicated.
The current proposal is for operating the exclusive courts for two years. The government will take a call on the fate of the courts by the end of the two-year term, sources said.
It is estimated that each court would require ₹75 lakh. While the Central government will meet 60% of the expenses, the State will have to chip in with the remaining 40%.
Though an exclusive POCSO court, the first in the State, was sanctioned earlier for Kochi, it could not start functioning for want of infrastructure facilities. The hunt for suitable locations for the 28 courts is on and they could start functioning before the deadline, sources indicated.