Supreme Court Directs States & UTs To Ensure Deployment Of Para Legal Volunteers & Support Persons Under POCSO Act

The Supreme Court recently directed all States and Union Territories to take steps to deploy Para Legal Volunteers at police stations and to appoint support persons under Section 39 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

A bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice K.V. Viswanathan passed the order in a petition filed by Bachpan Bachao Andolan raising issues related to protection provided to victims under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO).

Appointment of Para Legal Volunteers

The petitioner submitted that several States and Union Territories had taken a casual approach towards appointing Para Legal Volunteers (PLVs) at each police station and towards ensuring funds for their expenses. It further contended that Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir had not implemented the PLV scheme at police stations.

When the Court asked counsel for these States for an explanation, they sought time to obtain instructions. There was no representation for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Court also recorded that in many other States the scheme had either not been notified or was not being implemented effectively because funds had not been made available.

The petitioner placed on record a chart from NALSA's status report dated November 29, 2025, listing deployment of PLVs across police stations.

The data placed before the Court showed wide gaps in the deployment of Para Legal Volunteers across police stations. Andhra Pradesh had PLVs in 42 of its 919 police stations, Manipur in 1 of 90, Odisha in 30 of 612 and Delhi in 50 of 204, while Tamil Nadu had none in its 1,577 stations.

Bihar and Haryana had not deployed any PLVs as their schemes had not been notified. Several large States showed significant shortfalls, including Maharashtra with 283 deployed out of 1,226 stations, Karnataka with 50 out of 1,099 and Uttar Pradesh with 1,037 out of 1,602.

Ladakh, Chandigarh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu had deployed PLVs in all police stations.

The Court directed counsels appearing for all States and Union Territories to verify the information in the chart and take steps where PLVs had not been empanelled.

“Learned counsel appearing for the respective States/Union Territories to verify this information and to take steps in the event the PLVs have not yet been empanelled and deployed in the police stations bearing in mind the practical aspects, such as the location of the police station etc”, the Court ordered.

The Court adjourned the matter so counsels for the States and Union Territories could seek instructions and submit updated information on whether schemes had been notified, volunteers empanelled and whether the PLVs were functioning in police stations.

It directed that if PLVs were not empanelled or adequate funds were not apportioned, the Chief Secretaries of the respective States and Union Territories must appear before the Court on the next date through video conferencing.

“In the event, the PLVs at each police station, as far as practicable, in the respective States and Union Territories have not yet been empanelled and sufficient funds are not apportioned for the said purpose, the Chief Secretaries of the respective States/Union Territories shall remain present before this Court on the next date of hearing through Video Conferencing facility”, the Court ordered.

Appointment of Support Persons u/s. 39 POCSO Act

The petitioner submitted a chart showing the large gap between the number of support persons required and those appointed.

The chart recorded 202,175 pending POCSO cases as of December 2023, with 10,095 support persons required under NCPCR guidelines and only 3,224 appointed across the country.

Uttar Pradesh had 84,778 pending cases, requiring 4,238 support persons, but had appointed 484. Kerala had appointed 959 support persons against a requirement of 370.

Many States, including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Puducherry and Odisha, had no figure for appointed support persons.

The Court directed all States and Union Territories to re-assess pending POCSO cases, determine the number of support persons required and specify steps taken for such appointments.

The Court noted a shortage in empanelment of support persons and directed State and Union Territory Legal Services Authorities to take steps to empanel support persons in each district.

“We find that there is a dearth of empanelment of support persons which is a requisite under Section 39 of the POCSO Act. In this regard, we find that the State/Union Territories' Legal Services Authority can take steps for empanelment of support persons in each district. The aforesaid direction is in addition to any empanelment of support persons that may have already been made by the State Governments”, the Court stated.

The Court further directed the Member Secretary of each District Legal Services Authority to consult the Presiding Officers of Special POCSO Courts on providing support persons to child victims. If a child victim has not been assigned a support person, the Special Court may appoint one, the Court said.

The Court further stated that Member Secretary of each State Legal Services Authority must also consult the Secretary of the Department of Women and Child in their State.

The Court directed NALSA to circulate the order to all Member Secretaries of State Legal Services Authorities and kept the matter on February 10, 2026.

Background

In 2023, the Court had noted that support persons play a critical role in assisting a child throughout investigation and trial. It had noted that the POCSO Rules require Child Welfare Committees to assign support persons and that the duty includes accompanying the child for statements, medical examination and all interactions during investigation, pre-trial and trial stages.

The Court had also noted the 2019 report in Alarming Rise in the Number of Reported Child Rape Incidents, In re, which found that support persons were appointed in only four percent of POCSO cases.

Against this backdrop, the Court had directed the State of Uttar Pradesh to frame guidelines under Section 39, and had asked the Ministry of Women and Child Development to place the judgment before the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights so that all States could frame guidelines as per Section 39.

Case no. – Writ Petition (Civil) No. 427/2022

Case Title – Bachpan Bachao Andolan v. Union of India & Ors.