Chandigarh, Feb. 6 -- The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) is considering introducing a system of quarterly review to monitor pendency in investigation and trials of rape and POCSO Act cases. The ministry plans to seek periodic reports from all states and Union territories on pending cases, following directions issued by Union home minister Amit Shah during the Northern Zonal Council meeting held in Faridabad last November. Shah, while addressing the meeting of the chief ministers, lieutenant governors and administrator of states and Union territories in the northern region as chairman of the council, asked the MHA to obtain reports from all states and UTs on the pendency of investigations and trials in rape cases and those registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, and to set up a system of quarterly review, according to a communication received last month by the Punjab government from the Union home ministry. The Northern Zonal Council comprises Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Chandigarh, J&K and Ladakh. According to information presented at the council meeting, as many as 15,801 cases were pending in fast-track special courts across the states and UTs of the northern zone as on August 31, 2025. These included 1,469 in Punjab, 4,538 in Haryana, 627 in Himachal Pradesh, and 492 in Jammu and Kashmir. Around 60% of these cases had been pending for more than one year. In Punjab, the proportion of cases pending for more than one year was significantly lower at 37%, compared with 55% in neighbouring Haryana. The secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat (ICSC), informed the meeting that fast-track special courts had been assigned a target of disposal of 165 rape and POCSO Act cases per year per court, or an average of 13.75 cases per month per court. However, the disposal rate was much lesser in all the Northern Zone states and needed to be increased to clear the backlog. The participating states and union territories were urged to set up and equip the fast-track special courts on priority. As of August 31, 2025, 773 fast-track special courts were operational across the country, including 400 exclusive POCSO (ePOCSO) courts. The home ministry is also examining the feasibility of linking the annual confidential reports/annual performance assessment reports (ACRs/APARs) of police personnel with the filing of chargesheets and forensic reports in rape and POCSO Act cases....