West Bengal has third highest number of fast track courts says TMC leader Derek O'Brien

NEW DELHI: Amid a nationwide uproar over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien on Friday said West Bengal has the third highest number of fast track courts in the country. In a post on X, O'Brien shared a part of a written reply from Rajya Sabha dated July 27, 2023, which gave the numbers of fast track courts in the country.

According to the reply, West Bengal had 88 functional fast track courts till May 2023. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of 372 fast track courts, while Maharashtra came second with 97 fast track courts till May 2023.

In a post tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi, O'Brien, TMC's parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha, said, "Since people from your team are shooting off letters to Bengal CM Mamata Baerjee, thought you might find this answer in Parliament on fast track courts very informative".

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"Bengal has the third highest number of functional fast track courts in country," he said. Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi has written to West Bengal Chief Minsiter Mamata Banerjee on Monday, alleging that the state has not taken any step to start the remaining 11 fast track special courts in spite of a pendency of 48,600 rape and Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) cases.

In the letter, Devi had also criticised the West Bengal government for failing to implement key emergency helplines such as the Women Helpline (WHL), Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) and Child Helpline. CM Banerjee wrote to PM Modi on Friday asserting that 88 fast-track special courts and 62 POCSO-designated courts are already functioning in West Bengal on state funding.

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Banerjee wrote that helpline numbers 112 and 1098 are functioning in the state and that Dial-100 is extensively used in emergency situations. She also reiterated her request for stringent central legislation and exemplary punishment on heinous crimes like rape and murder.