Bengaluru: At a time when Centre has announced setting up of Fast-Track Courts (FTC) to ensure expeditious trials in paper leak cases in the wake of the 2026 NEET fiasco, the country’s existing Fast-Track Special Courts (FTSCs) are buckling under mounting backlogs.Created to deliver swift justice in some of the country’s most sensitive criminal cases, FTSCs are being overwhelmed by the very pendency they were meant to reduce. These, though, should not be confused with the original FTCs, introduced nearly two decades ago, 880 of which are functional currently.Govt data analysed by TOI reveals annual disposals by FTSCs — operational since Oct 2019 — dropped to 66,500 cases in 2025, down from a record 85,595 in 2024, a decline of more than 22%. At the same time, pending cases rose from a little more than 2 lakh at the end of 2024 to nearly 2.5 lakh by the close of 2025.The trend suggests that despite expanding judicial capacity, fresh cases continue to outnumber disposals.Since 2021, pendency has increased by nearly one-third, from around 1.8 lakh to nearly 2.5 lakh, even as annual disposals almost doubled between 2021 and 2024 before falling last year.The figures point to a structural challenge rather than a temporary slowdown. Fast-track courts were conceived to shorten the time victims wait for justice, but rising case inflows, judicial vacancies, infrastructure constraints and limited courtroom capacity have continued to push pendency upwards.Latest data from the govt reveals that the FTSC scheme currently operates 775 courts, including 398 exclusive Pocso courts, across the country. This is against a target of at least 790 courts that should have been functional. The courts have disposed of nearly 3.9 lakh cases since inception. Yet, with nearly 2.5 lakh cases still pending, the gains have not translated into a sustained reduction in backlog.While some states have managed comparatively low pendency per court, others continue to operate under far heavier workloads, indicating that the effectiveness of the scheme depends not only on the number of courts, but also on staffing, infrastructure and volume of new cases.The latest figures relate specifically to FTSCs, which are a separate scheme launched by the Centre in Oct 2019 to hear rape and Pocso cases, which has since been extended up to Sept 30, 2026.BOX:History of FTCsIndia’s first FTCs were established in 2000, following recommendations of the 11th Finance Commission. The idea was to create additional courts on a temporary basis to clear long-pending sessions cases and reduce the number of undertrial prisoners.The Centre funded the scheme until March 31, 2011, after which states were expected to use their own resources. While several states retained or expanded FTCs, others allowed them to lapse, leading to wide variations across the country.The policy further evolved after the 2012 Nirbhaya case, as public pressure mounted for quicker trials in sexual offence cases. The 14th Finance Commission later supported the creation of 1,800 FTCs, using the increased fiscal space available to states, though without any dedicated central funding.In Oct 2019, the FTSC scheme under the Nirbhaya Fund was launched. Since then, ordinary FTCs remain the responsibility of state govts and high courts, while the Centre funds FTSCs.For Graphic:YearCases DisposedYoY ChangePending Cases (Year-end)202566,500▼ 22.3%2.4 lakh+202485,595▲ 12.1%2 lakh+202376,349▲ 19.2%2 lakh+202264,053▲ 75.6%1.9 lakh+202136,470—1.8 lakh+Source: Dept of Justice, Parliament, GoI | Pending cases figures rounded off to nearest decimal=
