New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has recalled all the files related to the appointment of special public prosecutors for the CBI in POCSO cases, while flagging that the files were pending with the city government since January, sources said on Saturday.
The files have been referred to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the sources at the LG’s office added. There was no immediate reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the national capital.
“Invoking Rule 19(5) of the Transaction of Business of GNCTD Rules, 1993, the Delhi LG has recalled all the files or proposals for the appointment of special public prosecutors and public prosecutors for the CBI in POCSO cases and referred those to the MHA for necessary appointments and notifications under section 24(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
“These extremely important files were pending at the level of the Delhi home minister, after having moved between him and the chief minister in January,” a source said.
Saxena flagged the delay on the part of the Delhi government in issuing notifications for the appointment of special public prosecutors (SPPs) for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which resulted in stalling the progress of trials in cases lodged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in various special courts of the national capital for the last nine months.
The LG noted that the file in this regard was inordinately delayed, while it kept moving from the minister in-charge to the chief minister. The file with a proposal to this effect has been pending since January. The file was submitted by the home department to the minister in-charge on January 11 and forwarded on January 16 to the chief minister, who returned it to the minister in-charge on February 6, the sources said.
Kailash Gahlot is the home minister of Delhi since March 9.
POCSO cases are sensitive in nature and the law says the trial in these cases will have to be completed within a year from the date of cognisance of offence and a delay in the appointment of SPPs will adversely affect the investigating agency’s case and may give undue benefits to the perpetrators of crime against innocent children, the sources said.
Since the issue of appointment was pending at the level of Gahlot for long, the principal secretary (home) proposed that the matter be referred to the MHA, they added.
More than 20 cases have been registered by the CBI on the allegations of circulation, storing and viewing of child sexual exploitation materials through various social media platforms and groups. PTI SLB RC
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