J
In Conversation With
Justice (Retd.) Shalini Bhatt
Former Judge, Bombay High Court; POCSO Oversight Committee Member
Interview conducted by
Arjun Krishnan
· May 1, 2026
**TestLaw:** The POCSO Act was heralded as a landmark. Ten years later, what is your assessment?
**Justice Bhatt:** The statute itself is sound — child-sensitive procedures, mandatory timelines, special courts, in-camera hearings. But the gap between the statute and ground reality is severe. We found in our committee's survey that only 28% of POCSO special courts across India had a dedicated courtroom. The rest were sharing space with regular criminal courts. Can you imagine conducting an in-camera child witness examination when the court is double-booked?
**TestLaw:** What about the mandatory one-year trial timeline?
**Justice Bhatt:** Almost universally breached. The national average trial completion time in POCSO cases is four years and three months. The reasons are structural — understaffed courts, inadequate forensic labs, backlogged DNA testing, police who are not trained in child-sensitive investigation. Children become adults during these trials and sometimes refuse to continue testifying. The trauma of repeated court appearances breaks families.
**TestLaw:** What is the single most important reform?
**Justice Bhatt:** Witness protection and support. The conviction rate in POCSO cases is low partly because children retract their statements under family pressure or fear. If we had a robust witness protection programme — safe houses, counsellors at every special court, video-link examination as the default not the exception — we would see dramatically different outcomes. Some High Courts have issued model orders on this. But without central funding, states are not implementing them.
**TestLaw:** Is there political will for these reforms?
**Justice Bhatt:** There is political will to pass laws. There is less will to fund implementation. Every state government I have spoken to agrees that POCSO courts need more resources. But it competes with a hundred other budget priorities. What we need is a centrally-sponsored scheme specifically for POCSO court infrastructure — dedicated courts, trained personnel, forensic capacity. I am hopeful that the new National Mission for Children's Justice will address this, but I have been hopeful before.
**Justice Bhatt:** The statute itself is sound — child-sensitive procedures, mandatory timelines, special courts, in-camera hearings. But the gap between the statute and ground reality is severe. We found in our committee's survey that only 28% of POCSO special courts across India had a dedicated courtroom. The rest were sharing space with regular criminal courts. Can you imagine conducting an in-camera child witness examination when the court is double-booked?
**TestLaw:** What about the mandatory one-year trial timeline?
**Justice Bhatt:** Almost universally breached. The national average trial completion time in POCSO cases is four years and three months. The reasons are structural — understaffed courts, inadequate forensic labs, backlogged DNA testing, police who are not trained in child-sensitive investigation. Children become adults during these trials and sometimes refuse to continue testifying. The trauma of repeated court appearances breaks families.
**TestLaw:** What is the single most important reform?
**Justice Bhatt:** Witness protection and support. The conviction rate in POCSO cases is low partly because children retract their statements under family pressure or fear. If we had a robust witness protection programme — safe houses, counsellors at every special court, video-link examination as the default not the exception — we would see dramatically different outcomes. Some High Courts have issued model orders on this. But without central funding, states are not implementing them.
**TestLaw:** Is there political will for these reforms?
**Justice Bhatt:** There is political will to pass laws. There is less will to fund implementation. Every state government I have spoken to agrees that POCSO courts need more resources. But it competes with a hundred other budget priorities. What we need is a centrally-sponsored scheme specifically for POCSO court infrastructure — dedicated courts, trained personnel, forensic capacity. I am hopeful that the new National Mission for Children's Justice will address this, but I have been hopeful before.