New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS): Delhi Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena has given the go-ahead to the city's Home department to appoint four Special Public Prosecutor (SPPSs) to conduct trials of POCSO cases in accordance with Section 32 of the POCSO Act, 2012, an official said on Thursday.
According to officials, the city Government conceded that the opinion of L-G shall be required for the appointment of SPPs for CBI to conduct trial of POCSO cases in various special courts of the National Capital, which has been stalled for over nine months.
"The file on the issue kept moving from the Minister-in-charge to the Chief Minister since January and after LG on September 22 invoked Rule 19 (5) of ToBR, and recalled all the files/proposals, for appointment of SPPs for CBI in POCSO cases, they were submitted to him to approve the proposal on their appointment which has inordinately been delayed," said the official.
"On receiving communication from the L-G Secretariat requisitioning the files in this regard, the city Minister (Home), sought opinion from the Law Department which said the matter needs to be processed expeditiously for obtaining the opinion of LG so that the notification for appointment of SPPs may be issued under section 32 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012," said the official.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on October 6 endorsed that the file containing the proposal for issuance of notification on appointment of SPPs for CBI to conduct trial of POCSO cases be submitted to the LG, who had earlier taken serious note of the delay by the city government.
The CBI in December 2022 had requested for issuance of notification for appointment of CBI senior public prosecutors/prosecutors under section 32 of the POCSO Act for trial of POCSO cases in various courts in Delhi and a reminder was sent on March 15, 2023.
Besides, the probe agency had also intimated that more than 20 cases have been registered by it on the allegations of circulation, storing and viewing of child sexual exploitation materials through various social media platforms/groups.