The Delhi High Court today sought reply from its Registrar General's office on a PIL challenging its administrative order abolishing a special court set up under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to hear child sexual abuse cases.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath asked the concerned authorities to file a short affidavit with regard to the issue raised in the petition within two weeks.
The court, which listed the matter for further hearing on September 23, was hearing a PIL filed by a lawyer who has contended that the high court's May 16 order, abolishing the POCSO court in Saket district court complex here, was "illegal and unconstitutional".
Also Read
The petitioner claimed that the high court's decision has gone against its own earlier order constituting the special court under the POCSO Act.
The plea by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal also opposed the distribution of cases of the special court among other Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) in the Saket district court.
"Abolition of the court of ASJ-01, district south, Saket, and distribution of the said court's POCSO cases is nothing but illegal, improper, unconstitutional and against the rule of law and law of the land," the petition contended.
"By abolishing the court of ASJ-01 (special court), the high court has not only violated its own order of March 16, but has also failed to implement the POCSO Act in letter and spirit," it has said.
It has also said that as the national capital has in recent times seen a spurt in offences against children, the abolition of the special court would cause "great hardship" to child victims of sexual abuse.
Recently in a related matter, the high court was told that there were 200-600 cases of sexual offences against children pending in each of the designated courts in the six district courts set up under the POCSO Act here and more public prosecutors were needed to handle them.
The city government too in an affidavit had told the court that there were 3,216 cases relating to sexual offences against children under POCSO Act pending before different sessions courts in the capital.
