Do Special Courts Make A Difference? A Comparative Assessment Of Atrocity Case Disposal Trends In Moradabad Division

Abstract

Exclusive Special Courts created in accordance to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 are created to guarantee the rapid, sensitive, and efficient judgment of atrocities cases. Nonetheless, there is little empirical research on whether these courts do enhance better delivery of justice. This paper aims to estimate and give a trend analysis of atrocity cases disposed of in the Moradabad Division under which the district of Moradabad, Bijnor, Amroha, Rampur and Sambhal are located. The study assesses court registration trends, case pendency, rate of disposal, case conviction and acquittal, and disposal time using ten years of secondary data in terms of court records, NCRB reports, district judiciary portals and police charge-sheet statistics. Special Courts and Regular Courts are compared in order to find out the differences in efficiency, the timelines of processes, and the results. The results indicate contradictory patterns, as in some areas Special Courts demonstrate an improved processing of chargesheets and less pendency whereas in other areas there is high acquittal rates, inadequate infrastructure, intimidation of witnesses and variation in prosecution make their work less effective. The paper finds that Special Courts have a large and disproportionate contribution to enhancing the delivery of justice but proposes some specific administrative, procedural, and policy changes in order to improve its effectiveness.